Hello, Hivians and Foodies!
For a long time, I have been reading posts about hotpot on Hive. Even some time ago, LivingUKTaiwan was kind enough to write a post about How to have hotpot at home, and since then I have wanted to try hotpot. In Venezuela, no restaurant makes it and even though it was an option to make it at home, I always had doubts about which cuts of meat to use, and above all I was worried about knowing the right cooking time for each item, especially for meats. But when we were in Chicago in April, we had the opportunity to try the hotpot.
But before I tell you about my experience, for those of you who are not familiar with what a hotpot is, here is what Wikipedia says:
Hot pot or hotpot is a dish whereby a heat source placed on the dining table keeps a pot of soup stock simmering, and accompanied with an array of Chinese foodstuffs and ingredients and food offerings provided for the diners to dip into the flavorful broth.
We went to a place called Happy Lamb Hotpot. It's a chain. And they offer an all-inclusive menu. However we didn't have much time because we were going to the movies later, so we decided to order on demand.
There was a bar with different sauces. And some appetizers like spring rolls and some little balls of rice agglutinated with sesame seeds that I found addictive. And you can help yourself to as many as you want.
We ordered the broth without spicy, but if you like it spicy, you can order both and they serve you a divided pot with both types of broth.
We ordered three types of noodles, mushrooms, pack choy, and fish balls.
To be honest, my husband and I were a bit apprehensive about the meats because we didn't want to eat something raw that would make us sick to our stomachs. So for everyone's peace of mind we decided not to order seafood or pork. And we ordered three different meat and lamb dishes.
When they bring you the ingredients they give you indications of the cooking time for each item. The only thing I didn't like was the fish balls. My son had already warned me that he didn't like them, but I wanted to try them anyway and I was disappointed. And the thinner noodles although I love them were difficult to fish in the broth 😆.
Although it is not the tastiest food I have ever tried, the experience was good. Overall I found it to be fun and for a family gathering or a group of friends, it is an ideal meal. I would love to eat it again another time.
Have you ever had a hotpot?
Thank you for reading!
! [Text In Spanish]
¡Hola Hivianos y Foodies!
Durante mucho tiempo he estado leyendo posts sobre hotpot en Hive. Incluso hace algún tiempo, LivingUKTaiwan tuvo la gentileza de escribir un post sobre Cómo hacer hotpot en casa How to have hotpot at home, desde entonces había querido probar el hotpot. En Venezuela no hay ningún restaurante que lo haga y aunque era una opción hacerlo en casa, siempre tenía la duda de qué cortes de carne usar y sobre todo me preocupaba saber el tiempo de cocción adecuado para cada cosa, especialmente para las carnes. Pero cuando estuvimos en Chicago en abril, tuvimos la oportunidad de probar el hotpot.
Pero antes de contarles mi experiencia, para los que no estén familiarizados con lo que es un hotpot, esto es lo que dice la Wikipedia
El hot pot es un conjunto de comidas que se cocinan en un caldo caliente ubicado en el centro de una mesa. Los alimentos de un «hot pot» incluyen carne, verduras de hojas, setas, wontons, huevo dumplings y diversos mariscos.
Fuimos a un local llamado Happy Lamb Hotpot. Es una cadena. Y ofrecen un menú todo incluido. Sin embargo nosotros no teníamos mucho tiempo porque iríamos luego al cine, así que decidimos ordenar a la carta.
Había una barra con diferentes salsas. Y algunos aperitivos como lumpias y unas bolitas de arroz aglutinadas con semillas de sésamo que me parecieron adictivas. Y puedes servirte todas las que quieras.
Nosotros pedimos el caldo sin picante, pero si te gusta picante, puedes pedir los dos y te sirven una olla dividida con los dos tipos de caldo.
Pedimos tres tipos de noodles, hongos, pack choy y fish balls.
Con las carnes confieso que estabamos mi marido y yo un poco aprensivos porque no queríamos comer algo crudo que nos hiciera enfermar del estómago. Así que para tranquilidad de todos decidimos no pedir mariscos, ni cerdo. Y pedimos tres platos diferentes de carne y cordero.
Cuando te traen los ingredientes te dan indicaciones del tiempo de cocción de cada cosa. Lo único de lo que pedimos que no me gustó fueron las fish balls. Ya mi hijo me había advertido que a él no le gustaban, pero yo igual las quise probar y me decepcionaron. Y los noodles más finitos aunque me encantan eran dificil de pescar en el caldo 😆.
Aunque no es la comida mas sabrosa que he probado, la experiencia fue buena. Sobretodo me pareció divertido y para una reunión familiar o de un grupo de amigos es una comida ideal. Me encantaría volver a comerla en otra oportunidad.
¿Has comido Hotpot alguna vez?
Gracias por leer!
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