Sichuan hot pot

Have dinner at 呉銘火鍋, a popular restaurant chain for Sichuan hot pot, with my former Japanese supervisor, his Chinese student, this student's female friend from Sichuan, and her former middle school classmate.

Broth in a pot (as shown in the above) is heated to boil, and a variety of meats, seafoods, and vegetables are poured into it. For some foods like thinly sliced beef, you pick up a piece with your chopsticks and dip and hold it into the broth until baked (about a minute). Cooked foods are then dipped in dipping sauce mixed with sesame oil, coriander, etc. before you put them into your mouth. It's very hot (the broth includes not only chili but also Sichuan pepper, which adds a distinct, tongue-paralyzing flavor to chili's hotness). But I cannot stop eating because it's very delicious. I'm also impressed by the variety of foods that Chinese people eat with this hotpot.

I end up eating a lot. For the following two days, my stomach feels uneasy. :)


Restaurants in China typically offer the cover sheet for a coat or a jacket that customers hang over the back of a chair.