Plunging is a very quick form of soup-cooking on the principle that the more surface is heated the less time it takes. Thus, you cut meat, fish, or poultry to flying-thin slices, dip them in a mixture of soy sauce, wine, and corn flour, then plunge them into boiling clear soup or water. One or two minutes, and it is done, both tender and savory. The soup also improves after the pieces have been plunged in. Vegetables with thin parts such as spinach need not be sliced, but as they take longer to cook than meat of similar size, they should be boiled a little before the meat slices are plunged in the last minute or so. In China , plunging is often done at the table when a fire-pot is served in winter.

The placing of a pot up to its rim outdoors in soil, peat or ashes.