Hot Pot-errific!

If you are a new arrival in Chengdu, the first question everyone asks is, "Do you like spicy food?"

"I'm working on my spice tolerance," I shrug in response, which inevitably leads to the next question:

"Have you tried Hot Pot?"

Hot Pot is a standard of spiciness everyone here understands. It is a spicy that surpasses the maximum number of chili peppers punctuating the menu of an Indian restaurant. It is a spicy that pierces and numbs your tongue all at once.

It is a spicy that I have survived. Oh yes.

I went with a couple of other teachers, another American and her Kiwi fiance, for an authentic Hot Pot experience. We slogged through the rain toward a well-lit, crowded restaurant filled with wooden tables, wooden benches, and aromatic cauldrons in the center of each table. The waitress led us to a table where the previous diners' broth was still bubbling like lava in the huge, metal pot. Luckily, my friends knew how to ask for the "yin-yang" version of Hot Pot, which has one spicy side and one side with a milder soup.

The waitress brought us our ying-yang pot, complete with a fish head floating on the top, and she turned on the propane stove underneath it. While we waited for the broth to heat up, we selected skewers stacked with dumplings, eggplant, quail eggs, various meats, and potatoes. We dipped all of these in the soup and waited for the flavor to sink in.

Like many experiences in China, it wasn't as bad as it sounded. My mouth went numb pretty quickly after eating the skewers out of the spicy side, but there was a coconut beverage that helped cut the spice. I don't know how much I enjoyed the meal, but at least I can claim to have survived the ultimate spice test.

Later in the week, I got to go to a Fish Hot Pot restaurant where we picked a live fish from a tub for the chef to slice up for our stew. At that restaurant, we had plates full of ingredients rather than skewers, and we got to add our own spice to our individual bowl. They even threw in long strips of dough that turned into noodles in the broth! Once it starts getting cold, I'll probably opt for Fish Hot Pot more often than not, but the yin-yang spicy stuff was definitely an experience.