What's in My Bowl?

I'm thinking of starting a new series called "What's in My Bowl?" or WMB for short. I wanted to share more about my culture with you and show there's more to Chinese cuisine than just egg rolls and fried rice. The great thing about Chinese cooking is that there's a variety of dishes to try from and each province in China is known for their specialty dishes. One particular province that stands out (in terms of tastebuds) is Sichuan and they are known for their notoriously spicy food: just about every dish has at least a handful of chilies. My dad's hometown, Beijing, is known for roasted duck, dumplings, and noodles to name a few.

My neighbors invited me over for a hot pot dinner. There's numerous ways to do hot pot and the one I'm eating has a spicy broth. This is a winter dish and it's meant to be enjoyed at a slow pace. It's a simple dish to prepare and can serve a large party with minimal cleanup and preparation. Basically hot pot is a pot of boiling water placed on the dinner table and everyone adds in what they like such as vegetables, meat, tofu, or seafood, and the ingredients depends on what you prefer.

*Note: all photos in this post were taken with my iPad Air.