Hot spices, such as chili peppers, contain capsaicin, a chemical compound which is an irritant to our gastric system, but also to our skin or eyes. This is not the case for everyone: there is a desensitization that occurs with frequent consumption of spicy foods. How spicy hotpot is depends on the style of hot pot you are eating, but especially the Sichuan styles can get really, really spicy.Įating spicy foods can cause stomach aches and bowel irritation for many people, causing diarrhea. If you have used your own chopsticks for raw meat, make sure to dip them in the boiling hot pot broth for some time to kill the bacteria. This is a mistake many people make when eating hotpot: they will pick up a raw piece of chicken to put in the pot, and then use that same pair of chopsticks to eat cooked food with, unintentionally contaminating their cooked food with raw bacteria.Īlways have a separate set of chopsticks available to use only for the raw meat. Use separate chopsticks for raw meat and eating Pick your restaurants wisely to make sure you can trust them to serve the best-quality broths and ingredients.Ĥ. In the past, there have been frequent reports about the use of recycled oil or ‘gutter oil’ (地沟油) in Chinese hotpot restaurants. In the case of a ‘C’, be aware of what you eat and if you want to eat there. An ‘A’ or ‘B’ means that the restaurant passed its hygienic standard. In China, restaurants will have a food safety inspection sign hanging near their entrance or in the main dining hall. When you go out to eat, you can always first check the reviews of a restaurant. If you are making hotpot at home, this is something you have control over. Meat and vegetables that are beyond their expiry date or that have been kept outside the fridge for too long can become spoiled or contaminated. Instead of putting that hot bite straight into your mouth, you can first dip it in your sauce and let it cool down just a bit before consuming. Research on this is still ongoing, but there is a general assumption that eating foods above the temperature of 50-60 degrees could cause gastritis and is even linked to a higher risk for stomach cancer. It is very tempting to put those vegetables or meatballs straight into your mouth when taking it from the simmering hot boiling broth, but directly eating food that is very hot (temperature wise) might not be that good for your stomach. Most Chinese hotpot restaurants will serve thinly sliced meat that will be cooked within no-time, but it still helps to stay vigilant. One of the tricky aspects of using a colorful and rich broth for hotpot is that it is not always clear whether or not a piece of meat has been thoroughly cooked yet.Įspecially when putting chicken, lamb, pork, shrimp, or other meats in the pot that need to be properly cooked, pay attention that you keep it in long enough so that it is no longer raw when eating. What are some of the reasons to get an upset stomach, and how can it be avoided? ( Please note that getting an upset stomach/diarrhea after eating may be because one of the reasons described here, but it can also be a sign of a more serious underlying reason, always consult a doctor in case of doubt.) It has happened that three people out of a party of five people having hotpot together would have stomach aches the day after, while the others were perfectly fine. It only seemed logical to me that the term was related to those spicy hotpots and dinners, and it did not really help that my Chinese friends, politely, never corrected me when I texted them I was suffering from some ‘hot stomach’ (‘辣肚子’) after that Chongqing hotpot!Īnyone who eats hotpot will know that it happens every now and then after a night of eating hotpot, your stomach might get (really) upset. The Chinese term for having an upset stomach is lādùzi (拉肚子), literally meaning ‘pulling stomach’ or ‘loose bowels.’ But for the longest time I assumed the correct term was actually làdùzi (辣肚子), literally meaning ‘hot stomach’ or ‘spicy stomach.’ There are so many reasons to love hotpot, but while it can be all fun and games, many people suffer from stomach ache the day after.
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