A friend called me Friday afternoon and asked: “Would you like to come over to my house this evening and have hot pot dinner together? I just thought about this.”
That’s what we did. My family of four went over to her house after work and had hot pot dinner with her family. The kids played together while we adults sat and talked.
Hot pot dinners are popular in China, especially in winter. It’s an easy way to get together with friends and have a meal together—no advance cooking is necessary. You only need to prepare some meat and vegetables.
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My friend prepared some raw thin slices of beef, fish, shrimps, mushrooms, seaweeds, tofu, bean thread noodles, and meatballs made fresh with pork, shrimp and tofu.
I brought some vegetables—squash, spinach, lettuce, Napa cabbage, Bok Choy and cilantro.
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As the dipping sauce, we used soy sauce, sesame paste, chili oil and fermented bean curd.
My friend set two pots filled with boiling broth on the dinner table—one pot with spicy ingredients for adults and another one without for kids.
With the hot pot, each person dips and cooks his own food in the hot pot briefly or picks whatever he wants from the pot.
Hot pot meals are easy, tasty and convenient. It’s a great way to get together with friends and enjoy a meal and conversation.
We thought it was just past 10 pm when we left my friend’s house, but her clock was running an hour behind. When we got home, it was almost midnight.
Time flies by so fast when you enjoy your time with friends.
