ApprenticeslearntocookhotpotatahotpotrestaurantinNan'anDistrict,southwestChina'sChongqingMunicipality,March9,2024.(Xinhua)CHONGQING,March12(Xinhua)--WangWenjun,whohascookedhotpotfor26yearsinsouthwestChina'sChongqingMunicipality,postedrecentlyonsocialmediathathisoccupationisnowclassifiedaccordingtoanationalstandard."Relevantauthoritiesareplanninganddesigningqualificationexamsaccordingtothestandard,"saidWang,addingthatapractitionercanbecertifiedasa"hotpotchef"afterpassingtheexamination.Thejobofhotpotchefwasrecognizedinthe2022editionoftheoccupationalclassificationcodeofChina.Thenewstandardfurtherspecifiestheprofession'sdefinition,skillranksandvocationaltrainingrequirements,amongothers,jointlypublishedinFebruarybyChina'sMinistryofHumanResourcesandSocialSecurityandtheMinistryofCommerce.Chongqing,whichisrenownednationwideforitsspicyhotpots,tooktheleadinformulatingthestandard.Inthemunicipality,therewereabout32,000hotpotrestaurantsasoflastSeptember,whilethetotaloutputofthehotpotindustrychainreached300billionyuan(about42.3billionU.S.dollars)in2022,accordingtoapressrelease.However,somepeopleoncefearedthattheformulationofthestandardmightbebiased,asthespicyflavorofChongqingisdifferentfromthatofvariousregionsacrossChina,suchasBeijingmuttonhotpotandGuangdongseafoodhotpot."Itisanationalprofessionalstandardandshouldnotbeconfinedtoasingleplace,"notedLiJianfeng,deputysecretarygeneraloftheChinaHospitalityAssociationwhensupervisingtheformulationofthestandard.Henceexpertsconductedfieldinvestigationsinmorethan20citiesinChina,whereexperiencedhotpotcookssharedtheirideas.Asamemberofthestandard'sformulationgroup,Wangsaid,"Thoughhotpotshavedifferentflavors,therearecommoncookingproceduressuchaspickingingredientsandchoosingappropriatetemperatures."Headdedthathotpotsareclassifiedintosixcategories,whichcanapplytomostvarietiesofhotpotsinChina.Wangaddedthatinadditiontoblendinghotpotseasoningskills,thestandardrequireschefstohaverelevantknowledgeofcooking,includingfoodsafetyandnutrition.AccordingtoWangHuayuan,deputydirectorofthevocationalskillsassessmentandguidancecenterofChongqing,relevanthotpottrainingcourseswillbelaunched,textbooksforhotpotchefswillbedeveloped,andhotpotchefswillbedeterminedat5levelsthroughexams."Previously,itwasnoteasytofindateacherwhowantedtoteachushowtocookhotpot.Butsoon,wewillbeabletoaccessmorehotpotcookingcoursessuchasonlineones,"saidXuGaoyuan,ahotpotapprenticefromChongqing."Ican'twaittoattendthetrainingandsignupforthequalificationexam,"Xusaid.Editor:DisclaimerTheviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthor's,GMW.cnmakesnorepresentationsastoaccuracy,suitability,orvalidityofanyinformationonthissiteandwillnotbeliableforanyerrors,omissions,ordelaysinthisinformation.