As the year draws closer to the end, the Chinese Food Club met for the last time this year over a hearty meal of hot pot at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the 1912 Center.
Hot pot is a traditional Chinese cuisine where a mixture of meat, vegetables and noodles are cooked in a steaming pot of broth. People usually have hot pot during family reunions or get-togethers with friends in cold weather.
“To have hot pot, it can increase the intimate relationship among family members and among friends,” said Hexian Xue, co-director of the UI Confucius Institute.
Approximately 30 guests were seated around four tables covered with red table cloths. The tables had broths varying in strength of the spiciness in their hot pot. Meat and vegetables were laid spread out on the table, surrounding the hot pot placed at the center of each table.
Before guests began to feast, Xue gave an introduction to the hot pot and explained which sauces and condiments would best suit the meal.
After the meal, guests were presented with a cooking demonstration where they learned how to make authentic egg fried rice.
Among the attendees was UI President Chuck Staben. Staben said he has previously attended Confucius Institute events before, including Food Club, and has always enjoyed the food.
“My favorite part of tonight is sharing the food with other folks. I must admit I do enjoy the flavors very much. I like spicy food and I just enjoy the Chinese food,” Staben said. “I actually like the thick rice noodles quite a bit. They get the flavor of the broth and they’re kind of chewy and kind of a fun texture.”
Tina Bender, a German exchange student, attended the event with a few friends, also exchange students, from Germany and the Isle of Man. Bender said she had seen pictures of the previous Chinese Food Club event and thought it would be fun to attend.
Bender said she enjoys going to cultural events and trying food she has never had before.
“I really enjoyed the event because I love to eat authentic food from different countries. I would definitely recommend going to the Chinese Food Club event,” Bender said
Also in attendance were Trent and Kelsey Boulter, a married couple who just moved to Moscow in August from Austin, Texas. Trent, a broadcasting professor at WSU, said a friend had recommended the Chinese Food Club to him.
“I was asking him for date ideas and he mentioned it. He thought we would really enjoy something like this and told us about it, so I looked it up on the website and decided to surprise my wife,” Trent said.
Kelsey said she enjoyed her first experience with hot pot. She said it was a dish people would not usually consider when thinking of Chinese food.
“I liked that this was authentic,” she said.
She said she was, however, disappointed the fried rice demonstration included a different kind of fried rice than the one served at the event’s provided dinner. She said she liked the beef fried rice that was served with the hot pot.
Trent said it would also have been nice to be able to taste the egg fried rice that was being demonstrated.
Xue said, due to eggs being an allergen, they refrain from serving eggs to the guests.
“It was a lot of fun. Some fellowship around the hot pot, a good thing for kind of a cold, fall evening,” Staben said.
Xue said the next Chinese Food Club will likely be in February. She said the event falls on the second Friday of every month during the school year, with the exception of December and January due to winter break.
May Ng can be reached at [email protected]