esianmallus-blog - Tumblr blog

esianmallus-blog · 9 years ago

Text

Everything you need to know, to make a Chinese hotpot at home!

Looks delicious, right? For me, cold and windy weather means one thing: It's hot pot season. The concept of hot pot is simple. You set a pot of simmering broth on a portable burner in the middle of the table. Then around it you have plates of meat, seafood, and vegetables, all prepped and ready to be cooked in the broth.

To make a hot pot feast at home requires little more than some planning and prep work. First, let's go over the equipment you need, then look at the ingredients (meat, seafood, vegetables, etc.) and how to prep them for hot pot. Next, we'll cover the different kinds of broth you can choose, as well as the sauces to serve alongside. At the end, we'll go over table setting and the basics of hot pot etiquette.

Hotpot Tools

In order to hot pot, you need a pot and a burner to keep things simmering at the table. There are a variety of pots and portable burners you can choose. Electric and induction hot-pot sets are the easiest to clean up: you simply wipe the top surface clean with a towel. A single pot, about 12 inches in diameter, can serve anywhere from 2 to 6 people; feeding a larger crowd will require a second pot and burner.

My go-to pot is the TATUNG Electric Hotpot Cooker and Pot:

Available for purchase here: http://www.esianmall.com/tict-1502mw-induction-cookerhtml

Other than that, all you need are some basic accessories: chopsticks (different sets for dipping in the communal pot and eating), mini tongs, small strainers, spoons, shallow bowls for eating, and small bowls for dipping sauces.

Hotpot Ingredients

The list of foods that can be cooked in a hot pot is a long one. Variety is key, since you want to have a little bit of everything. Beef and seafood are two of the most popular foods to cook in a hot pot, but you'll need to balance those more filling items with light ones like greens and other vegetables. For example, for a four-person hot pot, I like to have at least two types of greens; three to four non-meat items like tofu, mushrooms and daikon; two to four meat items such as liver, beef, chicken, and tripe; two to four different kinds of seafood such as fish balls, salmon, and shrimp; and some kind of noodle: rice noodles, udon noodles or yam noodles. Here is a small example of common ingredients:

Greens: Bok Choy, Lettuce, Spinach, Snow Peas, Cabbage, Napa.

Vegetables: Mushrooms, Radishes, Potatoes, Lotus Root.

Meats: Beef, Chicken, Pork, Lamb, Meatballs, Offal, Fish.

Tofu/Noodles: Firm Tofu, Frozen Tofu, Tofu skin, Tofu Puffs, Sweet Potato Noodles, Ramen Noodles, Rice Noodles.

Soup Base/Broth

With the dipping ingredients chosen, you next have to decide what kind of broth you want to cook them in. You can keep it simple and cook everything in chicken broth, or grab yourself a package of soup base!

My favorite brand is Little Sheep. If you want a broth that's mouth numbingly spicy, Little Sheep's Mongolian hot pot broth (the red package) is the way to go. For something mild, I like Little Sheep's Seafood hot pot broth (the green package), which is good for non-seafood ingredients as well.

Little Sheep hotpot soup base and more available here: http://www.esianmall.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=China+Little+Sheep+Hot+Pot+Soup+Base

Dipping Sauces

Before you start feasting on your hot pot feast, you can't forget about the dipping sauces. Just like the broth, there are many options. To keep it simple, I like to make a quick one by combing soy sauce with a drizzle of sesame oil and a touch of chili oil or chili flakes. You can also add chopped cilantro and/or scallions, or even fresh bird's eye chili pepper to it. But if you don’t have the time/ingredients to make your own, feel free to scoop up a small tub of pre-made dipping sauces to add that much adored zing to your already delicious hotpot!

And there you have it, everything you need to know to get started with Chinese hot pot at home. Now get to the dining room and enjoy! Check out more delicious Asian snacks online

7 notes · View notes