Hot Pot Haul: A Tasty Trip To Safeway

Hot pot is a fun and social meal to enjoy with family and friends. It's a choose-your-own-adventure dining experience where you get to select your favourite ingredients and flavours.

When it comes to Safeway, you can find a range of hot pot ingredients to suit your tastes. For the broth, you can use beef bouillon concentrate, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. You can also add garlic, onion, and bay leaf for extra flavour.

For the hot pot itself, you can choose from a variety of uncooked meats, seafood, and vegetables. Safeway offers bite-sized pieces of beef, chicken, or lobster, as well as cooked mini potatoes, broccoli florets, green beans, and mushrooms.

Don't forget to serve your hot pot with assorted dipping sauces, such as aioli and Asian-style chilli sauce, for the full experience.

Meat

When it comes to hot pot, the options are endless. But as a rule of thumb, it's best to have a good mix of meat, seafood, vegetables, and starches. Here are some meat options you can find at Safeway to add to your hot pot:

Beef

Beef is a popular choice for hot pot. Look for cuts like ribeye, brisket, short rib, sirloin, flank steak, or beef shoulder. You can also opt for pre-sliced beef from the refrigerated or freezer section of most Asian supermarkets. If you can't find pre-sliced beef, partially freeze the meat and slice it thinly against the grain.

Pork

Pork is another great option for hot pot. Go for cuts like pork belly, pork shoulder, or pork loin. Like beef, you can also find pre-sliced pork at Asian grocery stores. If you're slicing it yourself, make sure to freeze the meat partially first to make it easier to slice thinly.

Chicken

Boneless chicken breast or thighs are perfect for hot pot. Just make sure to slice the meat thinly so it cooks quickly in the broth.

Lamb

Lamb shoulder or leg are great choices for hot pot. Slice the meat thinly and add it to the boiling broth for a juicy, tender protein option.

Seafood

While seafood isn't the focus of Northern-style hot pots, it's a popular choice for Taiwanese-style hot pots and can be added to any hot pot. Options include shrimp, scallops, squid, fish slices, and various types of fish balls.

Seafood

Fish

Firm white-fleshed fish such as snapper, tilapia, or monkfish are good options for hot pot. Cut the fish into bite-sized pieces. You could also try salmon or halibut.

Shellfish

Shellfish such as clams, mussels, and scallops add a distinct saltiness to the broth. Manila clams are a good option, or you could try little neck clams. Make sure to scrub and purge the clams before cooking. Shrimp is another popular option for hot pot, or you could try crab.

Squid and Octopus

Squid and octopus are also commonly used in hot pot. Clean and cut the squid and octopus into bite-sized pieces.

Fish balls, often fried or filled with roe, are a fun addition to hot pot. Beef balls are another option, made from pounded cuts of beef that would usually be disposed of.

Tofu

Tofu is a versatile ingredient that can be added to hot pot. Silken, medium, or hard tofu can be cut into blocks and frozen, then thawed before serving. Frozen tofu takes on an extra spongy texture that sucks up more broth. Fish tofu, made from fish paste that's been whipped with air and then fried, is another option.

Vegetables

Crunchy Vegetables

Bamboo shoots, lotus root, cauliflower, radish, broccoli, and carrot are great options for adding crunch to your hot pot.

Starchy Vegetables

Starchy vegetables such as squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and taro root will add substance and texture to the dish.

Leafy Greens

Napa cabbage, pea shoots, baby bok choy, Chinese broccoli, yu choy, and Swiss chard are excellent choices for leafy greens. They will add freshness and a healthy boost to your hot pot.

Other Fun Chinese Vegetables

Winter melon, celtuce, and bean sprouts are unique and tasty additions to your hot pot spread.

Preparation and Cooking

Wash and chop your vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Some vegetables, like root vegetables, will take longer to cook, so it's best to add them to the hot pot first. Leafy greens and crunchy vegetables usually take just a few minutes to cook. Be sure to keep an eye on your vegetables to avoid overcooking them. Once they are cooked, transfer them to a plate to prevent overcooking.

Dipping Sauce

A dipping sauce is an integral part of the hot pot experience. You can make your own by mixing Chinese sesame paste, Chinese black vinegar, soy sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce, sugar, chili oil, garlic, green onions, and fresh cilantro. This sauce will add an extra layer of flavour to your hot pot vegetables.

Starches

Noodles

Noodles are a great choice to add to your hot pot as they soak up the delicious flavours of the broth. Here are some noodle suggestions:

• Mung bean vermicelli: Soak these noodles in warm water for about 10 minutes before adding them to your hot pot.
• Rice vermicelli: Par-cook these noodles according to the package instructions, then rinse them in cold water before adding to the pot.
• Thin fresh white noodles: These can go directly into your hot pot broth.
• Fresh spinach noodles: These noodles add a pop of colour to your hot pot and will cook quickly.
• Shirataki noodles: These noodles are a great low-carb option and can be added directly to the boiling broth.

Rice Products

Rice products are another popular choice for adding carbohydrates to your hot pot. Here are some ideas:

• Rice cakes: Opt for the thin oval-shaped rice cakes as the thick Korean-style rice cake logs take longer to cook.
• Cooked mini potatoes: Potatoes are a classic starch option for hot pot. Look for small, bite-sized potatoes that will cook quickly in the broth.

Dumplings and Puffs

Dumplings and puffs are a fun and tasty way to add some starch to your hot pot. Here are some suggestions:

• Frozen dumplings: Choose smaller dumplings as they will cook faster. Add them to your hot pot and cook for around 5-10 minutes, depending on their size.
• Soy puffs: These can be left whole or sliced in half. They are already cooked, so just heat them through in the hot pot.

Remember, when adding starches to your hot pot, it's important to choose thin or small items that will cook quickly and won't add too much starch to your broth. Enjoy experimenting with different starch options and customising your hot pot to your taste!

Dipping sauces

The dipping sauce is an integral part of the hot pot experience, and there are many options to choose from. The sauce can be customised to individual tastes, and there is a huge variety of hot pot sauces, even within China.

Southern Style

Southern-style hot pot is characterised by spicy broths and complex dipping sauces, with a focus on seafood, vegetables, and mushrooms.

Northern Style

Northern-style hot pot is simpler and focuses more on meat, particularly mutton.

Taiwanese Style

Taiwanese-style hot pot is often accompanied by a dipping sauce consisting of shacha sauce and raw egg yolk with stir-fried beef. The sauce is sometimes served with Japanese-style raw egg yolk.

Chongqing Style

Chongqing hot pot is a famous Southern variation that uses mala seasoning flavoured with chilli peppers and Sichuan pepper. The typical dipping sauce contains sesame oil, crushed fresh garlic, and chopped spring onions.

Yunnan Style

Yunnan-style hot pot is made with various wild or farmed mushrooms and omits strong spices and chilli.

Cantonese Style

A Cantonese variation includes mixing a raw egg with the condiments to reduce the amount of "heat" absorbed by the food.

Lao Style

Lao-style hot pot is called sin joom or seen joom/joum and is generally a leisurely meal enjoyed among family members or friends. The condiments for this style of hot pot include crushed chillies, minced raw garlic, lime wedges, coriander leaves, and fish sauce.

Individual Preferences

Some people like to add a raw egg yolk to their sauce for an extra bit of oomph. Others prefer a simple sweet soy sauce with green onion and cilantro mix.

Some common ingredients for hot pot dipping sauces include:

• Chinese sesame paste or sauce
• Peanut butter or peanut sauce
• Soy sauce (light soy sauce, seasoned soy sauce, and seafood-flavoured soy sauce are all good options)
• Sha Cha Sauce (Chinese BBQ Sauce)
• Sichuan Peppercorn Oil
• Chili Garlic Sauce / Sambal Oelek
• Chinese black vinegar/rice vinegar (a less common ingredient, but up to personal preference)
• Toasted sesame seeds
• Fried shallots or garlic

Frequently asked questions