The hot pot (huoguo) has a long history in China. Hot Pot used to be favored only in winter, but recently Hot Pot also appears on tables in other seasons. Some people especially like eating it in summer, sitting in front of a fire with an air-conditioner working behind and saying it couldn't have been better! At present, there are three styles of hot pot, Mogolian style, Sichuan style and Cantonese style. The main ingredient of the Mongolian-style hot pot is raw mutton taken from tiny sheep raised in inner Mongolia. Chefs cut the iced mutton into paper---thin slices and prepare a source containing ingredients like sesame butter, soy sauce, chili oil, chopped chives, glutinous rice wine, shrimp sauce, vinegar and Chinese parsley. The traditional hot-pot meal is not considered complete without bean curd, sesame pancakes and Chinese cabbages. The Sichuan hot pot tastes very spicy. The broth is flavored with chili peppers and other pungent herbs and spices. The main ingredients include hot pepper, Chinese crystal sugar and wine. The southern Cantonese style is sweeter and features the seafood ingredients that have become popular in most Cantonese eateries. Fresh shrimps, scallops, crab meat, white eels and scuttle fish form the staples of this hot pot style. They are served with a sweetish white sauce.