Do-It-Yourself" Hot Pot: A Fun, Flavorful Dining Experienc

Hot pot is a fun, interactive, and social dining experience. It involves a pot of broth placed on a heat source at the centre of the table, with an array of raw ingredients—such as meat, seafood, and vegetables—that diners add to the pot to cook. The cooked food is then dipped in sauces for added flavour. Hot pot is a great way to spend an evening with friends and family, cooking and eating together.

Broth

Making Your Own Broth

The basic steps to making your own broth are to first prepare a stock, and then to add your chosen aromatics and seasonings.

Basic Stock

For a meaty stock, you can use chicken and pork bones. Cut the chicken into large chunks and clean the chicken and bones. Break up some ginger and cut some scallions into large sections. Put these ingredients into a pot with at least 4L of water and bring to the boil. Skim off any froth and then simmer for 40 minutes to an hour.

Aromatics and Seasonings

For a spicy broth, dried chillies, Sichuan pepper, and other spices such as star anise, cassia cinnamon, and bay leaves are essential. You will also need aromatics like scallions, onion, coriander, garlic, and ginger. For extra flavour, add Sichuan chilli bean paste and fermented black beans. Shaoxing rice wine and sugar will balance the flavour.

For a vegan alternative, replace beef tallow with a neutral-flavoured cooking oil.

For a milder broth, use the above stock and add shiitake mushrooms, scallions, Chinese dates, and Goji berries. Season with white pepper and salt.

Spicy Broth

For a spicy broth, you can use a store-bought Mala hot pot seasoning, or make your own. To make your own, melt beef tallow in a pot and fry ginger, scallion, and cloves until aromatic. Then add your store-bought or homemade Mala seasoning and fry over a slow fire for 1-2 minutes. Finally, pour in the light stock and simmer for 10 minutes.

Mild Broth

For a non-spicy option, you can make a simple chicken broth with added aromatics and vegetables. Boil a whole chicken in water with sliced ginger. Skim off any froth and then simmer for 1.5-2 hours until the water becomes milky. Pour the broth into your hot pot and add rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, scallions, Chinese dates, and Goji berries. Season with salt and white pepper.

Pre-made Broth

If you don't want to make your own broth, you can buy a hot pot soup base from an Asian grocery store or online. Popular options include Little Sheep Hot Pot Soup Base and Haidilao Broth Flavor Hot Pot Seasoning.

• For a hot pot with two different broths, use a divided Yin Yang Pot.
• If you're making your own broth, you can make a big batch and freeze it in smaller blocks to use later.
• If you're using an electric burner, bring the broth to the boil on your stovetop first so you don't waste electricity.
• If your broth becomes too salty, add more water or plain chicken broth.
• You can use leftover broth as a base for other dishes, like Sichuan Boiled Fish or Spicy Beef Noodle Soup.

Dipping ingredients

Hot pot is a highly customizable meal, so the ingredients you choose to dip into your broth are up to you! However, there are some classic options that are popular choices.

Meats are a common choice for hot pot. Beef, lamb, and pork are all good options, and you can also get more adventurous with goat or chicken. If you're using meat, it's best to slice it thinly so that it cooks quickly and evenly.

Seafood is another popular choice for hot pot. Shrimp, clams, mussels, squid, and fish are all good options. You can also get creative with shrimp or fish balls, or even fresh fish or shrimp paste that you shape into balls during the meal.

For vegetables, leafy greens are a popular choice. Napa cabbage, chrysanthemum greens, and bok choy are all good options. Other vegetables that work well include potatoes, sweet potatoes, daikon radishes, and lotus root. Just be sure to cut them into bite-sized pieces so they cook through.

Tofu is a must-have for many hot pot enthusiasts. Silken, soft, or firm tofu can be sliced and added to the broth, or you can get creative with tofu puffs, tofu sheets, or frozen tofu.

Noodles are also a popular addition to hot pot. Wheat noodles, rice noodles, rice cakes, mung bean vermicelli, and sweet potato glass noodles are all great choices.

Finally, don't forget the dipping sauces! Common choices include light soy sauce, black rice vinegar, oyster sauce, and shacha sauce (Chinese barbecue sauce). You can also add in pastes like sesame paste or peanut butter, oils like sesame oil or chili oil, and spices like chili powder or ground Sichuan pepper.

With so many options to choose from, the possibilities for your hot pot meal are endless!

Sauces

Hot pot sauces are highly customizable and can be tailored to individual tastes. Here are some common ingredients used in hot pot sauces:

Bases

• Chinese sesame paste
• Peanut butter
• Tahini
• Soy sauce
• Sha Cha sauce (Chinese BBQ sauce)
• Oyster sauce
• Hoisin sauce
• Fish sauce
• Miso paste
• Coconut aminos
• Chinese BBQ sauce

Additional Ingredients

• Light soy sauce
• Dark soy sauce
• Chinese black vinegar
• Rice vinegar
• Shanghai rice vinegar
• Japanese rice vinegar
• Chilli oil
• Sichuan peppercorn powder
• White pepper
• Sugar
• MSG
• Scallions
• Cilantro
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Spring onions
• Toasted sesame oil
• Sesame seeds
• Fried shallots
• Fried garlic
• Tofu
• Mushrooms
• Meat
• Seafood

Popular Combinations

• Taiwanese Shacha sauce: garlic, Shacha sauce, coconut aminos, rice vinegar, scallion, toasted sesame oil, Thai chilli peppers (optional)
• Garlic sesame sauce: Chinese sesame paste, cashew butter, coconut aminos, rice vinegar, garlic clove, shiitake mushroom seasoning, water
• Chinese spicy garlic chilli sauce: garlic chilli sauce, balsamic vinegar, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, scallion, sesame seeds, Sichuan peppercorn powder, oyster sauce
• Japanese sesame miso sauce: white miso paste, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, Chinese sesame paste, coconut aminos, toasted white sesame seeds, water
• Spicy peanut sauce: unsalted peanut butter, coconut aminos, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, water, garlic chilli sauce (optional), cilantro (optional)

Equipment

To host a hot pot meal, you will need a few pieces of special equipment.

Firstly, you will need a heat source. A portable tabletop burner will do the job, and there are several options to choose from. Butane and electric burners are the most common types, but you could also use an electric coil or induction burner, or a tabletop gas burner. If you plan to make hot pot a regular meal, it is worth investing in a hot pot set with a built-in electrical heating element.

Next, you will need a pot. A Chinese stainless steel hot pot is ideal because of its round shape and depth—wide and deep enough to hold a good amount of food, while not being so deep that the food gets lost at the bottom. The metal is also relatively thin, which allows the soup to heat up quickly as ingredients are added. Some designs even have a “yin-yang” feature, where you can have two different soup flavours simmering at the same time. However, any wide, relatively shallow pot will work.

Chopsticks are also essential. Bamboo or wooden chopsticks are best, as they are heat resistant and cool off quickly. Plastic chopsticks could melt at high temperatures, and metal conducts heat, so you risk burning yourself.

Finally, you will need some small bowls (such as Chinese rice bowls) for each person to assemble their own dipping sauce, and metal hot pot baskets or wire ladles to retrieve food from the pot.

Cooking procedure

Preparation

Before you start cooking, you'll need to gather the right equipment and prepare your ingredients.

For equipment, you'll need a heat source, such as a portable gas, electric or induction burner, and a wide, shallow pot or wok that can sit stably over the heat source. You'll also want plates for holding the various food items, bowls for dipping sauces, and chopsticks (bamboo or wooden are best).

For ingredients, you'll need a variety of raw meats, seafood, vegetables, tofu, noodles, and/or dumplings, all cut into bite-sized pieces. You'll also need to prepare your broth and any dipping sauces.

Cooking

Once you've gathered your equipment and prepared your ingredients, it's time to start cooking.

• Place the heat source and the pot in the middle of the table and turn on the heat.
• Pour in the broth and bring it to a boil.
• While you're waiting for the broth to boil, have each diner mix their own dipping sauce.
• Once the broth is boiling, start adding your ingredients. It's best to start with flavourful foods like meat, seaweed, and mushrooms, as they will make the broth more tasty.
• Be careful not to add too much food at once, as this will reduce the temperature of the broth and increase cooking time.
• Use chopsticks or a slotted spoon to add your ingredients to the broth, and to fish them out once they're cooked.
• Don't forget to keep the broth simmering throughout the meal, adding extra hot water as needed.
• For optimal tenderness, only cook meat, fish, and seafood briefly.
• Starchy foods like potatoes, noodles, and dumplings should be cooked at the end of the meal, as they tend to thicken the broth.
• Enjoy your hot pot!

Frequently asked questions