Chinese hotpot feasts in winter

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"Major Snow," the 21st solar term of the Chinese lunar year, begins this year on December 7. As the name suggests, there will be more snow and it's getting colder. The most enjoyable pastime on a cold winter day is having friends and relatives sitting around eating a steaming hotpot.

China's hotpot has a history of more than 1,000 years. There are five major hotpot categories, namely Sichuan spicy style, Northern style, Jiangsu and Zhejiang style, Yunnan style and Guangdong style, which are based on geographic location. Let's see how the five kinds of hotpot cater to different appetites.

1. Sichuan spicy

Sichuan spicy hotpot, probably the most well-known style in China, is famous for its numbing and spicy flavor. Its typical broth is made from Sichuan pepper, chili, chili oil and other spicy ingredients.

Don't forget to make yourself a "tailor-made" dipping sauce as there are so many different ingredients that you can choose from: sesame sauce, chili oil, garlic, scallion, Sichuan pepper, seafood sauce, and vinegar, among others. Typical Sichuan hotpot dipping sauces are sesame oil sauce and chili sauce.

Sichuan spicy hotpot. /VCG Photo

You're highly recommended to order some "perfect partners" of Sichuan hotpot – duck intestine, ox stomach, blood tofu. But of course, you can dip almost any food in the pot. When you cook the ox stomach, simply dip it in and out of the boiling soup eight times and it should be nicely cooked.

Remember to drink more water as you eat Sichuan spicy hotpot, or you might have a sore throat the next day after having too much spicy food.

2. The northern

Different from Sichuan style, northern-style hotpot uses a white-colored soup base, with medlars, mushrooms, dates and green Chinese onions in it. Instead of being spicy, the soup is luscious and fresh.

The typical northern-style hotpot is also called Beijing copper hotpot, which goes perfectly with paper-thin lamb slices. Local residents dip the lamb into a sesame sauce containing fermented bean curds and green onions.

Beijing copper hotpot. /VCG Photo

3. The southern

Jiangsu- and Zhejiang-style, Yunnan-style and Guangdong-style hotpots are collectively known as the Southern-style. Just like there are various dialects spoken in the southern part of China, there are also many local-style hotpots that local residents enjoy most during winter.

Since many homes in southern China lack a heating system, hotpot has gradually become a popular addition to many people's daily lives, providing a good way for them to keep warm during winter months.

Yunnan-style hotpot. /VCG Photo

Yunnan-style hotpot is known for its soup base with wild mushrooms – special treats for visitors to Yunnan Province. In particular, most wild mushrooms are vacuum stored for further use in order to keep the original taste.

Residents of east China's Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces add chrysanthemums to their hotpot to remain in good health.

Cantonese are well known for their creative ways of dining. As for Guangdong-style hotpot, there are many kinds of soup bases, including beef and seafood, and the most popular forms are Chaoshan beef hotpot and chicken hotpot.

Chaoshan beef hotpot. /VCG Photo

Hotpot is not only a traditional food that Chinese people enjoy during the winter, it's also a chance to communicate with friends and family. People share stories and build relationships over a steamy pot.

Apart from the various Chinese hotpot styles, there are also many foreign hotpots entering the Chinese market that are popular with today's young people, such as Thai and Japanese hotpots. However, the quality of the hotpot is what really matters if it wants to keep its popularity in China.

Friends have hotpot together. /VCG Photo

(Cover: It's always joyful to have families around the hotpot in winter. /VCG Photo)