Korean hotpot is basically all your favourite veggies, noodles and your choice of protein cooked in a delectable broth and served to you hot in a big pot. But to my pondering self, Korean hotpots hold a deeper meaning than just being a communal dining experience.
Firstly, Korean hotpots are cooked/served in a large metal pot but I personally love it served in a traditional Korean ceramic pot but that's not the point. The point is that I think of this whole concept of Korean hotpots to be a metaphorical representation of us humans.
The pots in which it is served resembles a vessel, the vessel being that of a human body. Inside, all the drastically different ingredients like veggies, meat, etc. remind me of the various components of one's personality. All of these different ingredients are brought together and balanced by the broth, which to me, is like our souls.
Our personality is balanced out and stabilized by our soul. Our soul is what directs and drives our personality traits and without it, humans would pretty much mean nothing, just like that without the broth, the Korean hotpot doesn't have any essence and will have no flavor at all.
And after all, the whole point of having a Korean hotpot is the broth, right? It's all about that simmering hot, light and flavorful broth at the end of the day, where one can experience maximum comfort with every slurp (can you tell I'm a huge soup person?)
But Korean hotspots aren't a standard recipe. One can literally pick whatever ingredients one has or wants and cook it all together in the broth, just like we tend to pick our friends or the people we shower our love and care upon. We tend to take their traits into consideration, what and how they think and how their soul actually is. Similarly, each one of us are like different flavors of hotspots, having different personalities and thoughts.
Hotspots can be super flavorful or super bland or moderate in flavor, ranging widely in its taste which entirely depends on the ingredients you pick and cook it with. Just like a happy go lucky person is like a super flavorful hotpot, vibrant and delightful; people who tend to keep themselves are more like the simply salted version of Korean hotpots, but that's all one wants on sick days right? Translating into the fact that each one of us is not meant for everyone or every place. We each have our own purpose, our own direction and our own people in life. So while simply salted hotpots won't be liked by everyone nor will the super flavorful ones, meaning to each their own. But no matter what, as long as you manage to find your crowd, your presence will always be enjoyed and savored, just like a hotpot on a winter's evening.
All in all, food is way deeper than most of us come to realise. It's not merely about taste or what it looks like, its complexity resides in its meaning and how it manages to resonate with our lives, just like everything else in life. So the next time you're having a hotpot or any other dish for that matter, don't forget to let it be food for your thoughts!
