Immediately, he was hooked and started ordering hot pot at restaurants wherever he traveled and perfecting his own game at home. A homesick student, he decided to make it himself for his then-girlfriend (now wife) with whatever meats he could find in the nearest grocery store’s freezer section along with Napa cabbage, lettuce, enoki mushrooms, and vermicelli. But he was stunned to find virtually none in his college town of Ithaca, New York. When he was growing up in Taiwan, Sze was surrounded by many different types of hot pot restaurants. “Everyone is part of the journey with you,” says Eric Sze, the chef-owner of 886 and wenwen in New York City. It demands that you be hospitable as beef slices reach peak medium-rare or thin rounds of potatoes soften to the perfect snappy texture-a signal for you to swiftly ferry them over to your fellow diners’ bowls. It’s a communal dining experience that calls for your attention and participation, as you throw handfuls of chrysanthemum greens or blocks of fish tofu into the broth. Commonly found in East and Southeast Asian cooking, hot pot is centered around a vessel of roiling broth, into which diners plunk meats, seafood, vegetables, and starches.

You cannot feel lukewarm about hot pot because hot pot does not feel lukewarm about you.

Lotus seed paste potatoes