Hot Pot Chinatown Chicago

Many of my friends and peers on Facebook  has seen me post videos and pictures of a type of meal I would call 'a hot pot'.  I'm sure my friend's friends are curious about this style of cooking also.  Hopefully I can help eliminate all questions and curiosity.

First of all before I begin, let's take a little history lesson about this unique style of cooking.  This style of cooking has dated back thousands of years ago in the region of Mongolia, then slowly made it's way through China, Japan, Korea and then Southeast Asia.  Hundreds of years ago when the Chinese Army invaded Southeast Asia(led by General Tso), they brought the hot pot style dining and another well known dish called the General Tso Chicken.  This was their choice of food cause it was cheap and would be a hearty meal for their journey.  Respectfully, they named the chicken dish after their General.

Each country has different names for the hot pot.  For instance, Singaporeans and Malaysians would name it the steamboat, the Thai would name it Sukiyaki, the Japanese and Taiwanese would call it shabu shabu and the Chinese simply just calls it 'Chinese fondue'.  Basically, a hot pot is flavored broth in a metal pot heated traditionally with coals or nowadays by means of electricity that serves as fondue style cooking.

My first experience of hot pot came in Chinatown Chicago.  I've chosen a place nestled in Chinatown Square called Lao Sze Chuan.  At least a group of two or more people is needed for this hearty meal.  Price can range from fourteen dollars to eight-teen dollars a person not including extras.  On the menu you'll have a choice of the broth flavor you want with a base setup of raw ingredients that can range from seafood, beef, chicken, pork and assorted vegetables.  The extras will include raw exotic meats and seafood that you can order on the side.

I've ordered two basic setups(raw seafood and beef).  My setup came with, very thinly sliced beef and lamb(so they cook faster), prawns, squid, surf clams, oysters and mussels. Each setup usually comes with vegetables that can range from leeks, bok choy, mushrooms, lettuce, water cress and whatever else you can think of.  Vermicelli is traditionally the noodle of choice to soak up the broth with.  The broth came in an electric metal pot that is setup at the center of the table.  Skewers and chopsticks are prime weapons of choice to attack this hearty meal.  As for the sauce, sukiyaki mixed with peanut sauce and garlic pepper.  They're also an array of other sauces such as, hot mustard, sweet and sour, garlic and soy sauce.

We now have our ingredients laid out for us, so here's how you prepare yourself for this unique style of dining.  First, you each get your own little bowl and mix your sauce in it, then you skewer the meat of your choice and gracefully dip it in the pot without splattering any hot liquid on your friends.  The vegetables will cook faster, so all you have to do is throw in whatever vegetables you would like to eat at that moment because they will liquefied if you leave them in too long.  Once the vegetables is done, scoop it out along with the hot broth and put it in your big bowl that already has vermicelli noodles waiting patiently to be doused on.  The hot broth will cook the clear rice noodles instantly so I recommend you eat it right away before they get soggy.  You can choose to mix your sauce in with the bowl or if you prefer just dip your meat in the smaller bowl that you premixed earlier.  Most of the flavor comes from your sauce and the raw ingredients you mixed in.  Since we are all friends I certainly think the double dipping rule doesn't apply.

This is a great dish for long cold winter days and also a great cure for hangovers.  What makes food taste better is the interaction you have with others and the food itself.  Why just order one dish when you can go hot pot style and have an array of ingredients to cook?  This can easily be made at home too.  All you have to do is boil beef bones for hours to render out the flavor, then dump it in an electric powered wok.  Most of the labor is the prep work of cutting all the ingredients and putting them together.   http://chicago.menupages.com/restaurants/lao-sze-chuan/