The List: Hot Pot Heaven - Dining by dunk and dip

You can’t beat hot pot (huo guo 火锅) in the winter, and while most people tend to identify hot pot exclusively with Beijing’s own lamb hot pot (shuan yangrou, 涮羊肉) or the spicy Sichuanese variety, there are many twists on the formula. The following is a rundown of different types of hot pot that you can enjoy around town.

Beijing
As Beijing hot pot mainly uses lamb (yangrou, 羊肉) rather than other meats, it is also often called shuanyangrou (涮羊肉). Cooked over charcoal, Beijing huo guo is traditionally served in a distinctive brass bowl with a chimney rising from the bowl’s center. Dong Laishun, one of Beijing’s best lamb hot pot restaurants, is famous for its carefully selected meat, which is skillfully sliced into paper-thin strips. The meat and vegetables cooked in the hot pot are eaten with a special dipping sauce consisting of preserved bean curd, sesame paste and leek flower.
Dong Laishun Daily 11am-9pm. 5/F, Xindong’an Plaza, Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District. (6528 0932) 东来顺, 东城区王府井大街新东安市场5层

Sichuan/Chongqing
The Sichuan and Chongqing varieties of hot pot are so similar that they are usually categorized together. Both use a spicy soup made from red peppers, chilli, salted black bean and herbs, but Chongqing hot pot tends to use more oil and herbs. Most restaurants offer varying degrees of spice, from light (wei la) to super spicy (te la). Sichuan and Chongqing hot pot is usually served in a bowl partitioned into two or even three sections, each with a different soup. Of course, the main advantage of that is that people who can’t take the heat can eat from a lighter soup (qing tang).
Chongqing Kongliang Hot Pot Daily 10am-3.30am. 218 Dongzhimennei Dajie, Chaoyang District. (8404 4906)
重庆孔亮火锅, 朝阳区东直门内大街218号

Mala Xiangguo (soupless hot pot)
A cousin of hot pot rather than a direct member of the family, this “dry hot pot” has its origin in the countryside of Chongqing, where people mix up lots of ingredients seasoned and cooked together in a large pot. Anything goes, LISTbut the people of Chongqing will add seafood and sausages for important occasions. As ever, if it’s from Chongqing,
it ought to be spicy, and like hot pot mala xiangguo can be ordered to suit your own preference, but at its best the dish can be at once spicy, fresh and fragrant.
Chuanchengyuan Mala Xiangguo 1) Daily 10.30am-10pm. Bldg A, Jianwai Soho, 39 Dongsanhuan Zhonglu, Chaoyang District. (5869 9986); 2) Daily
11am-9.30pm. Food Court, The Malls at Oriental Plaza, 1 Dongchang’an Jie, Dongcheng District.
川成元麻辣香锅, 1) 朝阳区东三环中路39号建外SohoA座; 2) 东城区东长安街1号东方新天地B1楼大食代

Suantang Yu
Another distant cousin of hot pot proper, this hot pot comes from the Miao minority in Guizhou province. The soup is tomato-based and made from fermented rice flour. Instead of meat, diners order a fish that is boiled whole in the soup and brought out to the table, where it continues to bubble away as you eat. Fill out the soup with vegetables, noodles and tofu, and mix a spoonful of soup with the saucer of nuts and spices provided to make a delicious, tangy dipping sauce.
Miaoling Suantangyu Daily 24hrs. 232 Dongzhimenneidajie, Dongcheng District. (6404 3923) 苗岭酸汤鱼, 东城区东直门内大街232号

Yangxiezi (Lamb Spine)
Hot Pot Low in fat, cholesterol and sugar, and high in protein, lamb spine has numerous health benefits. Yangxiezi hot pot involves cooking chunks of lamb spine (bones included) in a salty savory soup. It’s not to everyone’s tastes, and some may complain that the ratio of bone to meat favors the former. However, Beijingers will tell you that aside from the health benefits, they love yangxiezi for the flavor rather than quantity of the meat on the bones, not to mention the fun of prizing the meat away from the bones.
Fuhuilong Dongzhimen Yangxiezi Daily 10am-6am. 1) Bldg 5, Dongzhimennei
Dajie, Dongcheng District. (8406 4086); 2) 1-1 Chaoyanggongyuan
Nanlu, Chaoyang District. (6586 1301) 福惠龙东直门羊蝎子, 1) 东城区东直门内大街5号楼; 2) 朝阳公园南路1-1号

Japanese Paper Hot Pot
Yes, you read correctly – the container used in this hot pot is made of paper. Japanese paper hot pot limits the amount of fat diners consume in one sitting, giving it an advantage over its bronze or earthenware counterparts. If you don’t pierce the pot with your chopstick, it can go on burning for around three hours. In keeping with the traditional Japanese diet, seafood and vegetables are the main ingredients
rather than the red meat which dominates Chinese hot pot. Unlike other styles of hot pot, which tend to account for the entire meal, this hot pot usually makes up only part of the meal and is ordered with other dishes in Japanese restaurants.
Hatsune Daily 11.30am-2pm, 5.30-10pm. 2/F, Heqiao Bldg C, 8A Guanghua
Lu, Chaoyang District. (6581 3939)
隐泉日本料理, 朝阳区光华路甲8号和乔大厦C座2层

Hong Kong Style (Dabianlu)
Hot Pot and Porridge Hot Pot Traditional Cantonese hot pot is eaten in a pottery pot with eaters with extra long chopsticks standing around. The soup is usually very thick, flavored with herbs or seafood. But nowadays, it has adapted the convenient characteristics of Sichuan style hot pot – a metal pot, sometimes divided into two sections for different soups, and eaten sitting down. The soup is much clearer and thinner, and has also adopted some spice, though much less hot than Sichuan style. After eating the cooked ingredients, people wash it down with the soup. Snake meat is a popular ingredient in Guangzhou and Hongkong but not so much in Beijing. Sometimes a congee broth is used.
Daily 10.30am-2pm, 4.30-10pm. North of Yuyang Hotel, 8 Zhongjie Xinyuanli, Chaoyang District. (6465 0514) 珍滋味港式火锅, 朝阳区新源里中街8号

Ice Cream Hot Pot
And now for something completely different. Haagen-Dazs’ ice cream hot pot brings warm ice cream, fruits and cookies together
in a bubbling chocolate soup. Perhaps not the smartest thing to eat after a Chongqing hot pot dinner.
Haagen-Dazs Daily 10am-9.30pm. 1) L125, West Wing, China World Trade Center, 1 Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District. (6505 6527); 2) 1/F, Xindong’an Shopping Mall, 138 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District. (6559 6277) 1) 朝阳区建国门外大街1号国贸西楼L125; 2) 东城区王府井大街138号新东安市场1楼

Swiss Fondue
This Euro take on the theme is a sauce made of melted Swiss cheese seasoned with garlic flakes and white wine cooked in an earthenware pot over a burner. Diners dip chunks of bread and vegetables into the semi-liquid sauce. Another Swiss twist is to replace the cheese sauce with chocolate and eat with fruit, bread and ice cream.
La Mansarde Mon-Fri 11am-2pm, 6-10.30pm, Sat-Sun 11am-10.30pm. 29 Haoyun Jie, Zaoying Lu, Chaoyang District. (5867 0255) 法兰香西餐厅, 朝阳区枣营路好运街29号