Episode 1-- Chengdu, Hot Pot

We would like to introduce the iconic food in chengdu, hot pot, this time. Hope you guys will enjoying it.S: Hey! Lucia. L: Hello! Sunny. S: How are you? I haven’t seen you for a while. L: Pretty good. We haven't seen each other for about two months. How’s your vacation? It feels like you've put on some weight hahaha...... S: Yeah, I know hahaha. I feasted on tons of great food back home! L: Sounds great! So what did you eat? S: Em......I had Hot pot, barbecue, Dim sum, grilled fish... that’s so many, I can’t even name them all. L: Wow！It sounds mouth-watering! So Sunny, what is your favorite one? S: That must be Hot Pot! It gets me every-time, so the first meal I had back in China was hot pot. L: Mmm~I’m also really enjoy eating hot pot! But I always choose tomato soup pot. S: Tomato soup pot slap! But for the people in my hometown-- the Sichuan province, spicybroth is still the first choice for us, or double-flavor hot pot-- half spicy broth, half plain broth , because the flavors of the dishes we love can only be outstanding in the spicy broth. L: Ah~I see. Like duck blood cud or duck intestine? I usually order these when eating spicy broth. S: So do I! But my family and I will also add tripe, omasum, beef slice roll, shrimp slippery, glass noodles... Oh, by the way! You must try taro next time. Taro will becomes very tender and sticky in the spicy broth, almost falls apart in your moth. Plus the mala flavor of spicy broth, it's delicious with a capital D! L: Wow! Sounds scrumptious, I wanna fly to Sichuan for hot pot right ! now! S: I know~ But in fact, the most famous hotpot is in Chongqing municipality. The main seasoning for the base of Chongqing's hot pot is chili, pepper, sesame oil, scallions, ginger. So the taste is numbingly hot and spicy.Sichuan's hot pot’s base is mainly seasoned with red hot pepper and bean-based sauce. So Sichuan’s spicy broth is less tingly . L: Ah~I see. I have been eating hotpot for so many years and I don't even know the differences between Sichuan hot pot and Chongqing hotpot ! S: Yeah~ And do you know what the best partner for hotpot is? L: Um... let me guess... is it cola or Sprite? S: No~It's the ice jelly and ice with rice dumpling, which we called Bing-fen and Bing Tang-yuan. Have you ever eaten it? L: Hmm... I have eaten ice jelly, but I have never eaten ice rice dumpling... S: I should guess it, ice jelly is more famous than ice rice dumpling. Ice jelly has gradually developed from the initial appearance of jelly topped with brown sugar syrup to desserts that can be topped with lots of toppings now. It has become visible everywhere, unlike before, we can only order it in hotpotrestaurants. L: Yes! Nowadays, people can add red beans, pearls, taro balls, coconut slices, and more to ice cream. Not only that, but we can also replace brown sugar syrup with jams like passion fruit jam and osmanthus jam. So, what's the ice rice dumpling like? S: Ice rice dumpling is a large piece of broken ice with some small rice dumpling. Then add brown sugar syrup and fermented glutinous rice soup on the top. Stir them together thoroughly while eating, it's such a cool piece comes in handy when the broth is too spicy for you . It’s precisely because of Chongqing hot pot's pungent and spicy, it is necessary to offer this kind of refreshing thing. L: Well! Then I must go to Chongqing for the authentic Chongqing spicy broth next time! S: You bet! But I must remind you that when ordering the base, mildly spicy is enough , otherwise your stomach will suffer for a week! L: Hahahaha, okay. Thanks for reminding!Actually, I also saw a hot pot restaurant near the school. Have you tried it before? How’s it compared to Sichuan’s? S: You can’t compare them, they’re apples and oranges! Welcome to visit Sichuan or Chongqing for the authentic hot pot in the future! L: That’s for sure! And your treat, right? Hahahaha S: Of course! After eating hot pot, we can also go to visit the Chengdu panda base. I used to lie to my foreign friends that‘Every family in Chengdu own a panda, hahahaha. ’ L: hahahaha. You're such a liar hahahaha. S: Sorry, my friends. But after talking about hot pot for so long, I kind of missed chengdu again... L: yeah...I feel homesick too . S: Do you have any special cuisine that you wanna recommend for us in your hometown? L: Of course I have. But let's leave it for the next time!S: I am super looking forward to the next blog sharing. And our sharing today is ending on a positive note, can’t wait to see you next time! L: See you next time! Goodbye! S: Bye bye!Intro/Outro music: Blue Bossa by Jazz at Mladost Clubhttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jazz_at_Mladost_Club/Jazz_Night/Blue_bossa/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode