Hot pot #1

My in-laws have arrived from China, and they’re settling in nicely. It takes some time for four adults to ease into a routine, but we’ll get there—we always do. I’ve been able to make my word count these days, so that is a success! Yesterday’s mission was to buy shorts for my father-in-law and plant some green bean plants given to us by a neighbor. It doesn’t seem like much, but my in-laws move considerably slower than my wife and I, and buying shorts took two and a half hours. Much of this time was spent waiting for my father-in-law while he tried on his shorts. I swear it took ten minutes per leg. It’s ok. It is helping my wife and I slow the pace of our lives.

We then had hot pot for dinner, or hua guo, a great communal meal. For those unaware, hot pot consists of a central pot of boiling soup (often spicy) and raw ingredients that are added and cooked communally and then dipped in a dipping sauce- for us, a mixture of sesame paste, peanut butter, fermented tofu, and green onion (but there are many variations). It’s technically a Mongolian dish and usually focuses on thinly sliced lamb, but it has evolved to include everything under the sun. The Mongol Yuan Dynasty ruled China for 97 years (1271-1368), and the popular dish is a leftover from that time. There is now a hot pot place on every corner in China, and they have begun to pop up here, too, although it is usually costly- especially seeing you do all the cooking.   

I have many great memories of eating hot pot over the years, and it was probably a weekly occurrence when I lived in China. The last time my wife and I saw all her cousins at once was over hot pot several years ago. It’s bittersweet as they are now spread all over with their own families, some in China and some in the US, and it is unlikely we will be able to pull it off again. That night, we laughed and drank lots of beer. We then stumbled around the city and ended up at a little cart selling lamb skewers barbequed over hot coals and sprinkled with spicy pepper and cumin. We sat on little plastic stools and enjoyed the warm spring night. The memory is particularly salient for me as I finally felt accepted as part of my little Chinese family, which was no easy feat for a foreigner. 

Last night, we had a feast- little bok choy, tofu in various iterations, different types of mushrooms, eel dumplings, fishballs, taro, potato, sweet potato, noodles made from sweet potato starch, Korean glutinous rice sticks (tteokbokki), and pickled garlic. There was no thinly sliced lamb this time, but we didn’t miss it. The broth was nice and spicy, and our house was filled with fragrant steam, laughs, and memories- just how I like it.

Today’s mission? Introducing my in-laws to a traditional boiled dinner (corned beef) and doing some grocery shopping.

Cheers!