If you use social media even the slightest bit, then you would be well aware of the new food trend making the rounds and quickly becoming a favorite among people. If you guessed hotpot then you’re absolutely correct. Hotpot or steamboat food, is originally a Chinese cooking method that originated in mainland China some time ago. This trend has taken over the world by a storm. People, not only in China but all across the world now wish to try hotpot at least once in their life. This new found popularity of hotpot can be credited to various social media sites and influencers on such sites.

What is the concept of hotpot and why is it so popular?

When we talk about hotpot, instantly an elaborate set up comes to mind and very rightly so. The entire concept of hotpot includes various types and cuts of raw meats, multiple soup bases and sauces. When people visit a hotpot centre they have the option to choose these for them, from a plethora of variety. Usually the meat options are plenty, but beef wagyu is the most popular hotpot meat option.

The entire process involves, two soup bases and a stand for meats, accompanied by sauces. This soup stand is then placed on a heating pad on the table. Each table in a restaurant contains extremely strong heating pads. The visitor then dips their raw meat in boiling hot soups and cooks them with their flavour to their liking. It is then dipped in sauces and enjoyed by a person. Not only this but these restaurants often offer multiple raw condiments such as garlic, sesame oil, sesame seed, sesame sauce, peanut sauce, soy sauce, celery, chopped veggies such as green onions etc to people for them to make their sauces in whatever way they fancy.

Evolution is a necessary and inevitable part of life. This evolution happens to trends also. As these trends gain popularity and travel across the globe, people add certain twists and customizations to better suit their taste. The goal is to maintain the authenticity as much as possible while changing certain bits to suit your taste buds. However, authentic hot pot still remains the very best. Provided that it may be a little too rich for certain people to experience and some people who like their meat well done, might not like the entire concept of hotpot so much so, but this does not mean that hotpot is an experience that you shouldn’t even try atleast once in your life.