A Tour of Spicy Chinese Cuisine: From Hot Pot to Bobo Chicken
Have you ever tasted the classic Chinese hot pot or spicy hot soup? Hot pot is a star in the world of Chinese cuisine, with a pot full of ingredients gathering various flavors of spiciness, fragrance, and freshness. In China's rich culinary landscape, spicy delicacies have been beloved by people since ancient times. Besides hot pot, there are similar foods such as spicy hot soup, skewered food, and Bobo chicken. At first glance, you might think they are very similar, but in fact, they are not. These delicacies often make diners salivate. Although they are all closely related to spiciness, each one has its unique characteristics, and a careful taste can reveal the significant differences.
The Fiery and Boiling Hot Pot
Let's start with hot pot. It holds a significant position in the world of Chinese cuisine. It's like a grand food party, extremely lively. Hot pot usually has a large pot base. The Yuanyang pot is a classic among classics, with one side being the hot red soup. Chili辣椒(là jiāo) peppers, Sichuan peppers, and other seasonings are boiling and jumping in the wrapped butter, emitting a rich and mellow aroma. The other side is the refreshing clear soup, or the fragrant mushroom soup, rich bone soup, etc., meeting the taste needs of different diners.
辣椒 (là jiāo), noun, chili
Examples:
- I can't eat food with too much chili.
我不能吃有太多辣椒的食物。
wǒ bù néng chī yǒu tài duō là jiāo de shí wù。 - The chili is very hot.
这辣椒很辣。
zhè là jiāo hěn là。
When eating hot pot, there are rich and diverse ingredients. Various meats such as fat beef, lamb rolls, tripe, duck intestines, vegetables such as enoki mushrooms, tofu skin, kelp, and various meatballs. Diners can put the ingredients into the pot one by one according to their preferences to cook. Everyone sits around the hot pot, chatting and laughing while waiting for the ingredients to cook, and then dips them in the dipping sauce made of sesame oil, minced garlic, cilantro, scallions, etc., and puts them in the mouth. The spicy, fresh, and fragrant flavors instantly spread on the tip of the tongue.
Eating hot pot is not just about the food, but also about the atmosphere, a warm and cozy scene where relatives and friends gather together to share joy.
Casual and Free Spicy Hot Soup
Spicy hot soup is like the "convenient version" of hot pot. It is usually in the form of a small pot for a single person or cooked in advance by the store and served in a large bowl. The base soup of spicy hot soup is mainly spicy, but compared to the pot base of hot pot, the soup of spicy hot soup is thinner and has a more refreshing feeling after being boiled with bone soup or spices.
The selection of ingredients overlaps a lot with hot pot. Diners can choose their favorite dishes, such as meatballs, vegetables, bean products, vermicelli, etc. After giving them to the store, the store will cook these ingredients in the soup pot and serve them together with the soup and dishes.
When eating spicy hot soup, people often add some sesame paste, chili oil, vinegar醋(cù), and other seasonings to enhance the flavor. Then, sitting at the small table on the street, eating the steaming hot spicy hot soup in big mouthfuls, feeling the spicy heat sliding down the throat. In the cold winter, a bowl of spicy hot soup can warm people from the stomach to the heart.
醋 (cù), noun, vinegar
Examples:
- Please pass me the vinegar.
请把醋递给我。
qǐng bǎ cù dì gěi wǒ。 - A little vinegar can enhance the flavor of the dish.
一点醋可以提升这道菜的味道。
yī diǎn cù kě yǐ tí shēng zhè dào cài de wèi dào。
Rich and Diverse Skewered Food
Skewered food is similar to spicy hot soup. It also strings various ingredients on bamboo sticks. The pot base of skewered food has multiple options such as red soup, clear soup, and Yuanyang soup. The spicy taste of the red soup base is rich and mellow, and the flavor of the spices is fully integrated into the soup.
The types of ingredients for skewered food are extremely rich. Besides common meats, vegetables, and bean products, there are also various characteristic offal ingredients such as chicken hearts, chicken gizzards, chicken livers, etc.
Diners hold the skewered food and put them into the pot to cook. After cooking, they eat directly by holding the bamboo sticks. It's convenient and casual. Moreover, skewered food stores often provide unique dipping sauces, such as dry dipping sauce, which is a mixture of chili powder, Sichuan pepper powder, salt, monosodium glutamate, etc. Wrap the cooked skewered food in the dry dipping sauce, and the spicy and fragrant taste is addictive.
The atmosphere of skewered food stores is usually relaxed and casual. It's a good place for young people to gather and chat. Everyone can eat skewered food while drinking refreshing beverages and chatting about interesting things in life.
Refreshing and Spicy Bobo Chicken
Compared to the previous three, Bobo chicken has a unique charm of "cold eating". Its ingredients are also strung on bamboo sticks. But unlike the boiling hot pot, spicy hot soup, and skewered food, Bobo chicken is soaked in well-seasoned cold soup.
The soup base of Bobo chicken is its soul. Based on chicken soup, a large amount of red oil, sesame, rattan pepper oil, chili oil, and other seasonings are added to prepare two classic flavors: the attractive red oil flavor and the refreshing and numbing rattan pepper flavor.
The ingredients such as chicken, chicken offal, and vegetarian dishes are soaked and flavored in the soup base. When eating, pick up a skewer. The chicken is tender and juicy, and the aroma of the seasonings instantly spreads in the mouth. That cold and spicy taste has a distinctive flavor. Bobo chicken often appears at snack stalls on the streets or in characteristic restaurants. People can have it as a delicious snack while walking, or sit in the store, pair it with a bowl of rice, and leisurely enjoy this unique delicacy.