Hazards of Spicy Hot Pot
Release time : 06/12/2025 09:30:03
I've read news reports about cases where people have died suddenly after consuming spicy hotpot. There are real incidents of people dying unexpectedly after long-term consumption of street hotpot.
Due to the unsanitary and contaminated nature of roadside stall food, bacteria levels can exceed safety standards. Furthermore, improperly made chili oil from unscrupulous vendors can contain harmful substances. Consumption of such chili oil over a prolonged period cannot be healthy or safe. Can chili oil be consumed without concern if it is sourced and prepared safely? What are the potential dangers associated with consuming chili oil? Let's explore this together.
The dangers of spicy hot pot are well-known. Many street-side vendors don't guarantee the quality of their food, and whether it is safe or not is uncertain.
The hazards of consuming street food vendors' spicy hot pot are certainly present. Firstly, the quality of ingredients provided by the vendors is a major concern.
Secondly, since the cooking method of hot pot involves quickly boiling food in the soup base, it is uncertain whether the food is thoroughly cooked.
The broth of spicy hot pot can be greasy, and consuming it in excess can adversely affect health.
Therefore, it is generally recommended not to consume street-side hotpot or frequent consumption of it.
What are the hazards of spicy hot pot? 1. Fish and seafood that have been soaked in formaldehyde, besides being tougher, also smell a little stinky. Small vendors cover up these smells by sprinkling on spices, making them less noticeable to people.
Food ingredients that are not fresh, or have been treated, such as formaldehyde treatment, can improve the texture of seafood, animal blood, tofu, and other foods, but they also endanger health.
2. Hotpot's flavor is primarily spicy, which can effectively stimulate appetite. However, due to its excessively hot and spicy taste and rich oiliness, it significantly irritates the stomach and intestines. Consuming too much can lead to gastrointestinal issues, far from being as easy on the waistline as some women might imagine.
Although spicy hot pot and hot pot are delicious, they also carry hidden dangers.
If the spicy flavor is too strong, it is not suitable for patients with respiratory diseases, gastrointestinal diseases and various chronic diseases.
3. Street-side hot pots often have a full pot, and if it is not boiled or cooked thoroughly, pathogens and parasite eggs will not be completely killed, which can cause digestive diseases after eating.
4. The mucous membranes of the mouth, esophagus, and stomach generally can tolerate temperatures between 50°C and 60°C. Excessively hot food can damage these membranes, leading to acute esophagitis and acute gastritis.
5. The spicy and greasy taste of hot pot is too strong, causing high blood lipids, stomach diseases, and duodenal ulcers.
6. Repeatedly reusing cooking water may accumulate harmful substances.
This question may be possible, such as the content of nitrite and oxalic acid is constantly rising.
Therefore, shusha water should be replaced regularly.
7. When the saltiness is excessive and the amount of monosodium glutamate is too high, it is not suitable for patients with hypertension, heart disease, and kidney disease who need to control their sodium intake.
How much of the seasoning can be controlled.
Producers tend to add a stronger taste in order to attract consumers and mask the lack of freshness from poor quality raw materials.
8. Some merchants might add other ingredients to seasonings such as anti-diarrheal drugs, and the saying "a pill is a poison" applies here. Regular consumption over the long term can have significant adverse effects.
The method of making hot pot is mainly divided into four steps: the first step is to make the soup base for making hot pot; the second step is to prepare the ingredients that you are going to cook; the third step is to cook the ingredients; and the fourth step is to season the cooked ingredients.
The most important aspect is the preparation of the hot pot broth, also known as making the soup base. This process involves simmering a variety of spices and seasonings in water until it becomes rich and flavorful.
The quality of the brine directly affects the flavor of hot pot.
Let's take a look at how Malatang is cooked.
1. Place the pot of sizzling oil on a high flame, heat it until it is about to boil over, then add Sichuan pepper bean paste (minced first), stir-fry until it turns crispy, and immediately add ginger and Sichuan peppercorns to fry until aromatic. Then quickly add the fresh soup.
Then add the crushed edible beans, finely ground rock sugar, lard, rice wine, cooking wine, refined salt, pepper powder, dried chili peppers, and other seasonings.
After it has boiled, skim off the foam to make the brine.
2. Prepare the food to be boiled. Wash and clean the green vegetables, cut the rabbit's kidney into 2 cm square pieces, the eel into 2 cm square pieces, and the duck intestine into 2 cm square pieces.
Tie off the spleen and pig's trachea into pieces about 4cm square.
Cut the lunch meat into thin slices about 4 cm across.
Cut the vegetables into thin slices about 3 centimeters thick.
Use clean bamboo skewers to make a serving of about 30-40 grams per piece.
(The food can be adjusted according to personal preference, but it is important to ensure that hot foods are selected that are easily cooked.) 3. Steaming and boiling foods Place a wok on high heat and maintain a gentle simmer. Use bamboo skewers to grill various dishes according to the appropriate heat level for each dish.
4. The cooked and matured dishes are placed in a dish with chili powder and salt, and one can dip them in the chili and salt as desired.
Whether dipping or not, the amount is up to you.
Tips: 1. The main ingredients used in Malatang should be relatively easy to mature.
Do not use chicken wings, chicken feet, duck feet and other ingredients that are not easy to burn.
Don't swing the raw materials too much or too fast, master the heat well, and there will be no problem of being unfamiliar.
2. The preparation of hot pot isn't complex at all; the most crucial step is to stir-fry the ingredients, as this ensures a richer and more flavorful base. Then, top it with high-quality herbs for added aroma, and the broth becomes even more tempting.
3. The key to enhancing the taste lies in the preparation of the oil dipping sauce, which is a hallmark of spicy hot pot. It requires more than ten types of ingredients to create a flavor profile dominated by saltiness and umami.
How to Eat Hotpot Healthily? Hotpot is often seen as unhealthy food in many people's minds because it is cheap and sold on street stalls, with no guarantee of the quality of ingredients.
At the same time, due to some unscrupulous merchants selling contaminated food for profit, the health of consumers has been put at risk. Consequently, hot pot has increasingly strayed down the path of unhealthy foods.
If we can ensure food safety and make reasonable combinations, then the spicy hot pot is also a nutritious snack, much healthier than fried and grilled foods.
How to eat spicy hot pot healthily? 1. Buy fresh ingredients, and wash the ingredients thoroughly.
If you have the time, you can make it at home yourself and be sure that the safety is visible, and the food is safe.
2. Fearing that eating too spicy could harm the gastrointestinal tract, one could reduce the amount of chili peppers used.
You can also add some sesame paste. It is a very healthy condiment, rich in calcium and vitamin E.
Adding garlic to hot pot can have a sanitizing effect.
3. Spicy hot pot typically includes a variety of leafy green vegetables, various soybean products, seaweeds such as kelp, mushrooms, and more. In comparison, plant-based ingredients are the dominant ones.
As long as it is reasonably combined, it can be easier to achieve the balance of acid and alkali than ordinary fast food dishes and also comply with the principles of diversification of food.
During the boiling process, some of the oxalic acid, nitrite and pesticides in vegetables can be removed. Although a part of vitamins will be lost, but also reduce anti-nutritional factors and toxic substances.
As long as you regularly change the water used for slicing vegetables and avoid adding too much salt during cooking, this is a very good way of preparing food.
5. The spices for spicy hot pot can be made healthy and low-fat.
When sautéing vegetables, do not add oil. When mixing, you can also reduce the amount of oil added. Overall, since the ingredients have little fat and low calories, it is a healthy choice.
Can pregnant women eat Malatang? Malatang is also a popular snack in the country. Malatang can always be found all over the country, and Malatang stalls on the streets of various regions have become lively landscapes.
Malatang is popular among the public because of its spicy and delicious taste and its diverse food types.
Dozens of foods are neatly arranged there, and you can always find what you like.
During pregnancy, many pregnant women become greedy and want to eat many things.
So a night of fragrant malatang can instantly satisfy their desire for a variety of foods.
But can pregnant women eat Malatang? Experts suggest that pregnant women should not eat malatang from small shops and stalls, and it is better to eat less homemade malatang.
Professionals revealed that the seafood sold at street vendors of spicy hot pot is mostly from questionable sources.
Many seafood products are processed with industrial caustic soda, hydrogen peroxide, and formaldehyde to make them look better and feel fresher.
Formaldehyde is a strong carcinogen and causes discomfort and lesions in the throat, mouth, esophagus, gastrointestinal tract, etc. It severely damages the liver, kidneys, and other organs of the human body.
The boiling water on the street stalls is often reused, and it accumulates more harmful substances.
Food from street vendors cannot be thoroughly cooked, and without boiling or scalding, pathogens and parasite eggs will not be completely killed, which can easily lead to digestive diseases if consumed.
Therefore, whether pregnant women or other consumers, it is advisable not to consume small stalls' spicy hot pot.
Some may ask, can one eat the spicy hotpot they've made themselves? The taste of spicy hotpot is mainly pungent. Although it can stimulate appetite effectively, it also causes great harm to the stomach and intestines due to overheating, over-spicing, and excessive oiliness. Excessive consumption may lead to stomach issues.
For everyone's health, it is better to eat less or not at all.
The medical information provided in this text is for reference only.
If you feel unwell, it is recommended to seek medical attention immediately, and the medical diagnosis and treatment will be subject to offline diagnosis.