What is Hot Pot?
Hot pot is a communal meal that comes with a simmering pot of broth, set in the middle of the table, with assorted raw and cooked ingredients on the side that guests cook themselves.
Guests cook their favorite ingredients by dipping them one by one into the cauldron of hot broth. Hot pot ingredients include a variety of bite-size or thinly sliced vegetables and meats so they cook up quickly.
As they continue eating, the broth cooks down and intensifies in flavor. Towards the end of the meal, the savory broth is ladled into a small bowl of noodles (or rice). Guests would enjoy their noodle soup to get full.
This dish is a great way to entertain a group of people. Guests eat exactly what they want, and the host gets all the credit for the beautiful display of gluttony. Not only is it a great dish to entertain guests but it’s the perfect dish to warm up the belly on a cold day.
Hot Pot Ingredients
The ingredient list is extensive. To make it less overwhelming, choose one or two from each category below for a balanced meal.
Typical hot pot vegetables include:
- White button mushroom
- Shiitake mushroom
- Enoki mushroom
- White beech mushroom
- King Trumpet mushroom
- Pumpkin
- Kabocha squash
- Baby corn
- Napa cabbage
- Chrysanthemum Greens (also known as Shingiku, cải cúc, cải tần ô)
- Bok choy
Typical hot pot meats include:
- Pork
- Beef
- Lamb
- Chicken
- Fish
- Shrimp
- Scallops
- Fish cakes
- Squid/cuttlefish/calamari
- Cooked meat/seafood balls (fish, shrimp, beef or pork)
You can often find meat in the frozen aisle of many Asian grocery stores that are specifically designed for hot pot. Thinly sliced are rolled up and packed nicely in a large tray. There’s no need to defrost. Just add the frozen sliced meat to the hot broth, swirl it around for a few seconds to cook.
There are also tofu options:
- Fresh tofu (soft, medium, or firm)
- Fried tofu
- Tofu sheets
And lastly, there are carb options:
- Egg noodles
- Vermicelli rice noodles
- Udon noodles
- Steamed rice
Hot Pot Cooking Order
Start with the bulkier items that will require a bit more time cooking. This usually includes starchy vegetables such as pumpkin and corn.
Meat and other proteins typically come next, then leafy vegetables such as napa cabbage and chrysanthemum greens are last.
Everyone is in charge of their own cooking so the golden rule hot pot is whatever you put in, you have to take out.
Dipping Sauces
Not only guest cook their own food. They also make their own dipping sauce. In hot pot restaurants, all the sauce ingredients are left out and guests would mix their own concoctions.
For home hot pot, I use a simple dipping sauce made with hoisin sauce and a bit of homemade chili oil for kick.
Another one is a soy dipping sauce made with soy sauce, sesame oil, freshly chopped garlic, thinly sliced green onions, and optional chili peppers.
Equipment Needed
To have hot pot at home, you need a portable burner and a shallow but wide pot.
You can typically get a portable butane gas stove and an accompanying pot at many Asian grocery stores. For the pot, you can use a regular shallow pot or one with a divider, like in the video below. The divided pot allows you to have two different broths going. One side is usually for regular broth while the other side is spicy. This works well for those children or anyone who can’t handle spice.
You can also use an electric hot pot that doesn’t require a separate burner. Keep in mind that you will need a place to plug it into and the wire might get in the way.
Simple Thai-Style hot pot using Tom Yum Paste
There are many versions of hot pot. A Thai-style hot pot is my go-to since I love the sweet, sour and spicy flavors. I utilize Tom Yum paste to save some time.
Tom Yum paste is a mixture of fish sauce, sugar, galangal, chili, lime leaves and lemongrass. Simply add a couple of tablespoons into the stock and you’re ready to go. To liven up the soup, you can also add a couple of fresh lemongrass stalks, lime leaves, and sliced galangal.
Related Posts
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Make Hot Pot at Home: Simple Thai-Style Tom Yum Hot Pot
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 5 1x
Description
A a communal meal featuring a simmering broth in the center of the table, with raw and cooked ingredients for guests to cook themselves. It’s a fun way to dine with a group and perfect for warming up on a cold day.
Ingredients
Thai-Style Broth
- 2 quarts chicken stock or bone broth
- 1 quart water
- 4 tablespoons Tom Yum paste (can substitute with red curry paste)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Sliced fresh chili peppers (optional)
Optional Proteins
- Thinly sliced/shaved meat (pork, beef, lamb, or chicken)
- Fish fillets
- Whole shrimp
- Scallops
- Fish cakes
- Squid/cuttlefish/calamari
- Meat/seafood balls (fish, shrimp, beef or pork)
- Tofu (fried, soft or firm)
Optional Vegetables
- White button, shiitake, enoki or king trumpet mushroom
- Thinly sliced pumpkin or kabocha squash
- Baby corn
- Napa cabbage (cut into bite-size pieces)
- Chrysanthemum Greens (also known as Shingiku, Cai Cuc, Cai Tan O)
- Baby bok choy
- Green onions/scallions (cut into 2-inch segments)
Optional Carbs
- 14 oz egg noodles (cook per package instructions)
- 1 bag thin vermicelli rice noodles (cook per package instructions)
- Cooked udon noodles
- Cooked steamed rice
Hoisin Dipping Sauce
- Hoisin sauce
- Chili oil (optional)
Soy Dipping Sauce
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Fresh garlic (finely chop)
- Green onions (thinly slice)
- Sliced fresh chili peppers (optional)
Instructions
- Make the broth: Place a large shallow pot on a portable burner. Add stock/broth, water, and Tom Yum paste. For a spicy kick, add fresh chilies. Bring the mixture to a boil and season to taste with salt.
- Set up the side dishes and eating utensils: Place raw ingredients on separate plates, plenty of cooking utensils such as tongs and ladles around the burner.
- Prepare the diners: Give each guest their own bowl, plate, saucer and chopsticks. Have guests add their favorite ingredients to the pot and cook as they go on medium heat. Thinly sliced meat will cook up in seconds. Bulkier ingredients will require a bit more time. The cooking temperature will occasionally need to be adjusted. Make sure to keep utensils that touch raw meat separate to avoid cross-contamination.
- Dipping sauces: Leave all the sauce ingredients out so guests can make their own dipping sauce. A simple sauce is just hoisin and a bit of chili oil for kick. For the soy dipping sauce, add soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, green onions and chili peppers together and adjust to taste.
- Noodles/rice: Noodles and/or rice are typically eaten at the end to get full and to finish the broth, which is now very flavorful. Dip the cooked noodles directly into the pot to warm them up. Transfer to a small bowl and ladle in hot pot broth and enjoy.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: entree
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: asian, vietnamese, thai
