In winter, in addition to longing for "poetry and distance", the most pleasant thing is "hot pot and ideals". The cold outside the house hits people, the indoor aroma is overflowing, the boiling old hot pot is injected with the unique flavor of spicy and fresh fragrance, the color of the view is bright, the food is hearty, and it is difficult for ordinary people to resist.
As the saying goes: "A hundred miles of different winds, a thousand miles of different customs." "Different places have different diets, and hot pot is the same. Most of the southern region is called "side stove", the northwest region likes to shout "pot", and the area of Chongqing in Sichuan is called "hot pot".
In my hometown of Hunan, the kind of hot pot with firewood and charcoal on a copper stove is added with spices, chili peppers, garlic, meatballs, eggs, shiitake mushrooms, celery, etc., and simmers slowly, the pot is steaming, and the house is suddenly full of fragrance. Without the permission of their parents, the children could only stare dryly, swallow their saliva, and salivate in the hope that the elders would soon sit down at the Eight Immortals table.
To be sure, what really got me pumped was the hot pot in Chongqing and Sichuan. It is said that in addition to the difference between the old soup in these two places, it must not be wrong to summarize it with the seven words "numb, spicy, hot, fresh, fragrant, tender and crispy".
Eat with whom?This is the first ingredient in eating hot pot. On weekdays, in addition to the invitation of a few members of their family to eat hot pot, shouting in the group will cause a moment of noise, and the focus of the discussion is often not "agree or refuse", but where to eat and what to eat. The people who can go to eat hot pot together must be people in the same world. Regardless of whether you happen to be unable to go due to work arrangements or are entangled in family trivialities, you will still have three or five friends happy to make the trip in the end, which is indeed an exciting and beautiful thing.
Choosing a hot pot restaurant is all based on personal preference, and the Internet celebrity shops and high-decorated places on mobile phones may not live up to their names. In other places, I especially like to go with my local friends to the old places they frequent, even if it is a small and simple place. My philosophy is that you go for the food and the taste, not for the service. When I go back to the city where I live, I often ask my friends if they have any good stores to recommend to me, and generally speaking, the stores that are strongly recommended will have unexpected surprises.
When you arrive at a hot pot restaurant, if you happen to have friends from Sichuan or Chongqing, then you can rest assured, and you can leave the order of pot, food and ingredients before the meal to them. When the waiter serves hairy tripe, yellow throat, duck intestines, crispy meat, blood clots, tribute vegetables, kelp, tofu, winter melon slices, lotus roots, coriander, etc., red, white, green, golden colors, large, large, uniform and delicate dishes, all the same in front of you, impacting your vision. When encountering a hot pot restaurant, they will put the dishes on chic plates, some hang them on bamboo racks, some spread them on small straw mats, and some put the dishes on dry ice, pour a little water, and immediately the fairy spirit wafts in, and the ritual of eating hot pot will challenge your taste buds nakedly.
The waiter adjusts the heat gear, the red soup in the hot pot slowly begins to bubble, the whole room is filled with heat and aroma, when the red soup is turbulent, you can sandwich the dishes you want to eat in it up and down left and right to boil, and then watch the color out of the pot, dip it in a small bowl of seasoning, put it in your mouth, and fall into the stomach
Three or five friends around a red hot pot, chatting about things around them, talking about common things, this feeling of comfort and self-satisfaction must really sit around the hot pot table to truly experience. If someone suggests a drink to spice things up, it's the icing on the cake.
Some people say that eating hot pot is the least respect for winter, and this should be praised by many people. Invite your favorite people around a table, have stories and wine, talk about life, and laugh at the rolling red dust, what a proud life blessing. Each hot pot seasoning and side dish has its own unique taste, and when blended together, we have a taste of life.
*: "The Corps**".