My Thanksgiving Dinner

The holidays are just around the corner, and Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays, not because of the food but because of how thankful I am for everything. I would tell God how grateful I am, but Thanksgiving is a day to show it and to celebrate. Honestly, the food isn’t even the best part of Thanksgiving. For me, the holiday is more about showcasing my gratitude for all of my friends and family.

Growing Up Chinese: Hotpot Over Turkey

“Hot pot is an interactive and communal dining experience where diners cook their own ingredients in a simmering pot of broth at the center of the table. A typical meal includes a variety of raw ingredients like thin-sliced meats, seafood, vegetables, and noodles, which are cooked in the broth and then dipped in a custom-made sauce.”

Growing up Chinese in the United States meant that my Thanksgiving didn’t look like an American one. Instead, my family always celebrated Thanksgiving with hot pot. For us, it was still a day to gather around and celebrate while integrating our culture. 

Each Thanksgiving morning, I would walk downstairs to see many ingredients out on the table, everything from sliced meats to vegetables. The entire process felt like our own kind of holiday ritual. As a child and even now, I sometimes wonder if we were “missing out” on the American traditions. I would see what Thanksgiving was “supposed” to look like on social media or hear from friends. However, when I’m with my family gathered around the table, enjoying food from the same pot, I realize I wasn’t really “missing out” much. What mattered the most to me was that I was with my family, celebrating together. I didn’t appreciate this as much when I was younger, but I look forward to it a lot now. 

In short, I would love to try American Thanksgiving, but I still love my hot pot.

My Favorite Hot Pot Add-Ins

My favorite thing to put in a hot pot is the noodles. I love noodles so much, especially those made from potato starch, specifically because they are so chewy and delicious. For meats, I love sliced pork and beef belly. Some vegetables I add to my hot pot are napa cabbage and watercress. Besides meat, noodles, and vegetables, there are also a variety of fish balls and fish cakes. Finally, since it’s Thanksgiving, we usually have seafood in our hotpot, and I love lobster. 

For the broth, we usually use just plain water or a hot pot flavor pack from the asian grocery store. The ones we buy are spicy, but I typically like bone broth since I can’t handle spice well. 

How to: Hot Pot at Home

First, you would need a pot to boil the broth. Next, you would add hot water and preferably any premade flavor packet from an Asian grocery store. Now the fun part: thinly sliced meats, vegetables, and any sides that could be fish cakes, mini sausages, tofu, or noodles. 

For sauces, you could make something yourself, or you could buy a premade one at an Asian grocery store as well. To set everything up, you only have to heat the broth in the pot; everything else is pretty simple because you simply add everything to the broth to cook it. Lastly, the most important part is to gather around the table with family or friends and enjoy the delicious meal together!