Hot Pot

This past summer and fall it was hot. All the time. And humid. While I was melting and the local people around me seemed to be doing just fine, this West Michigan-born-and-breed boy consoled himself by thinking “Oh yeah, well, just wait till it get’s cold around here. Then we’ll see who is equipped to survive.”

And sure enough, as soon as the weather was less-than-tropical, out came the boots, parkas, and hats. Sixty-five degrees and these people were wearing mufflers. Ah, not so tough now are we?

But I now know that the fifteen-degree drop in temperature was simply an excuse to break out a new season’s wardrobe. Instead of wearing those Ug boots with shorty-McShort shorts and a t-shirt, they could now start wearing those Ug boots with the crop pants and that new orange puffy vest they had been dying to debut.
Turns out the people of Hong Kong are champs at not only surviving the hot weather, but the cold(-ish) weather as well.

It’s pretty standard for many of the restaurants throughout Hong Kong to spill over onto the sidewalks. This summer, I assumed that those tables would all disappear as the weather cooled. Not so. Even as temperatures dropped into the forties, it’s been a regular sight to see groups of Hong Kongers gathered around sidewalk tables.

The favorite dish by far is Chinese hot pot. As the name suggests, it’s a pot (or two) of spicy chicken broth in the center of the table. You order whichever ingredients the people at the table agree upon and then -fondu-style- you dump everything in. At this point it’s every man, woman, and child for him or herself. Using chopsticks, you fish out whatever meat or vegetables or mushrooms you want.

The fact that the pots are heated by little Bunsen burners that throw off a little heat helps to endure the cold.

After being here in Hong Kong for almost eight months, Julie, the girls and I finally got around to having some hot pot. My principal, his family, a second family, and we went to “the restaurant with no name” where Bobby works. Bobby speaks English and will hook you up. Which is exactly what he did last week Tuesday night.

It was a great evening of fun, food, and fellowship.

And this boy from the Windy City only shivered a little bit.

-Jack