Hot Pot!

I love Chinese hot pot (huo guo). It's basically like fondue, but Chinese style. Growing up, my family would reserve this for special occasions like Chinese New Year. It's a time for everyone in the family to get-together. Now that the weather has become more cold, coming home to eat hot pot is definitely something that warms my stomach up (even if it's just for two people). It's like drinking chicken soup when you're sick. If my stomach would allow me to have it my way, I'd go for the spicy style (ma la). It's so good, but it totally burns my stomach up. I usually end up with a bad stomachache for a few days thereafter. But I still love it. It's a love and hate relationship.

My list of must haves for hotpot:

- thinly-sliced ribeye and pork
- frozen tofu (the texture becomes chewy when you freeze tofu)
- tofu skin (dou pi)
- enoki mushrooms
- napa cabbage
- pork meatballs (gong wan)
- slices of fish
- shrimp
- squid
- mung bean noodles (the wide kind)

My sauce:

- HOT sauce!!
- soy sauce
- vinegar
- Chinese bbq sauce (sha cha jiang)
- minced scallions
- coarsely chopped cilantro