Chinese Hot Pot

This year, my husband and I agreed to host a foreign exchange student from mainland China.  He and his family have introduced us to all sorts of new foods and flavors.  Though I have some experience with Chinese cooking, before our student came to my family, I had yet to experience the joy that is hot pot.

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The closest thing I’d had to hot pot is sukiyaki, which is essentially the Japanese variation of the dish.  My grandfather grew up in Taiwan under the Japanese occupation during WWII.  He apparently had a scar on his leg from a bike riding incident, when a Japanese fighter pilot saw him biking on the ground below and decided to use him for target practice.  Even so, my grandfather came out of the occupation without resentment toward the Japanese, and he even enjoyed their language, culture, and cuisine (though, after reading up on how the Japanese treated Chinese civilians, whether on the mainland or Taiwan… I’m not sure I would have been so forgiving). 

Any-whizzle, though I enjoyed the sukiyaki my grandmother would make every Christmas, I never learned to make it for myself—and I never learned to experience it for myself.  And really, that’s what hot pot is: not a dish, but an experience, meant to be shared with those you love.  You make the food together, and you eat it as you go.

Though this isn’t a quick dinner recipe, even a busy suburbanite could benefit from slowing down and savoring this meal with family. 

* Allergen note: hot pot usually contains seafood, much of which is shellfish.  I have a cousin with a severe shellfish allergy, and my husband and I choose to abstain from shellfish for our own reasons.  For this recipe, I’m going to give you the imitation options I've found, but even some imitations products still use shellfish for flavoring.  If you happen to have this particular allergy, please proceed with caution; better safe than sorry!

The first thing you’ll need to do is gather the equipment and ingredients.  The equipment you’ll need is an electric skillet (which will be placed at the center of the dining table) and two pairs of chopsticks per person.  Each person will use one pair to stir the hot pot and to transfer ingredients from the skillet to the bowl; the other pair will be used to eat.  This prevents contamination of the pot.

Start by finely chopping the garlic and green onions and cutting the ginger into thin strips.  Cut the leaves off a stalk of leek and cut the stalk into 2-inch pieces, half lengthwise.  Use a small amount of oil to fry these in the electric skillet until golden brown.  Add a small chunk of soup base (start with a small amount; you can always add more later) and allow the oils to melt into the veggies, stirring as it does.  Add whole peppercorns and star anise to taste.  Once everything is well-combined, add water (amount varies—until the soup is about 2 inches deep in the electric skillet).  Bring to a simmer.

* Note: hot pot soup bases usually come in large blocks. Be sure to break off only a small chunk at a time, the size of which may vary depending on the size of the skillet you use. The one my family used lasted us several months, and it stretched even further when we downsized from an electric skillet to a divided hot pot (this isn't the brand we purchased, but it looks something like this).

While the soup is simmering, prepare the other ingredients.  Trim the Napa cabbage leaves and cut the triangular stalk out of the center.  Cut the stalk into strips and tear the leaves in half.  Slice the potatoes into thin rounds.  If you can find them (they’re usually only available in Asian markets), also consider adding some enoki mushrooms, which can be separated into small chunks of mushroom strips and have a lovely taste and texture. Our student insists that we wash the meat and seafood as well, though many American nutritionists claim that such washing is unnecessary, since the cooking process kills any bacteria that may be on the meat’s surface. The meat should be thinly sliced so that it cooks quickly in the soup, but it should also have some fat on it to impart flavor.

Set all ingredients near the electric skillet—the chopped and sliced veggies, the thinly sliced meats, the seafood, the Shanghai rice cakes, the fried gluten balls/puffs, and the noodles.  Once the soup is simmering, add a few of each ingredient at a time (not too much!) and allow them to cook until tender.  Then, each person will serve him- or herself using a pair of “serving” chopsticks. 

During this time, you should also prepare the dipping sauce.  It’s a simple mixture of finely chopped garlic and peanut sauce and/or tahini.  Once the soup has simmered awhile (preferably after the veggies, meats, and seafood have imparted their flavors), scoop out some of the liquid into the dipping sauce to thin it.

Once everyone has eaten the cooked ingredients from the hot pot, add more and allow them to cook for the second round.  Don’t add too many at a time; many of these ingredients, including the meats, tend to fall apart if cooked too long.  This makes them difficult to consume.  Cooking a few pieces at a time ensures optimum flavor and texture for each round.

Typically, this recipe makes more than a family of four can eat in one night.  Once the family decides it’s done eating for the evening, refrigerate the leftover ingredients and leave the soup on low heat (make sure all the solid ingredients are out of the soup so they don't fall apart overnight!).  The following night, you can begin again and continue enjoying the experience of hot pot together. 

Recipe

Equipment:

• Electric skillet (you can find some good ones on Amazon)

• 2 pairs of chopsticks per person

Ingredients:

Soup:

• Soup base (this is the kind our student used)

• Water

• 1 tsp cooking oil

• Ginger, about 1” piece, fresh and cut into slivers

• Garlic, 1-2 cloves, fresh and finely chopped

• Green onions, 1-2 stalks, fresh and finely chopped

• Whole peppercorns (to taste)

• Whole star anise (to taste)

• Leeks, 1 stalk

Main ingredients:

• Bok choi

• Napa cabbage

• Potatoes, sliced into rounds

• Enoki mushrooms

• Beef, thinly sliced (and should include some fat)

• Lamb, thinly sliced (and should include some fat)

• Fish tofu*

• Fish balls*

• Imitation crab* (DynaSea is the only brand I know that doesn’t use any shellfish for flavoring)

• Imitation scallops*

• Noodles (of choice—can be glass noodles or udon or other variety)

• Chinese fried gluten balls

• Shanghai rice cakes (may contain gluten, depending on the brand)

* See above note on seafood/allergens

Serving sauce:

• Peanut sauce

• Tahini (sesame) sauce

• Garlic, 1-2 cloves, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Finely chopping ginger, garlic, and green onions.  Cut the leaves off a stalk of leek and cut the stalk into 2-inch pieces, half lengthwise.  Use a small amount of oil to fry these in the electric skillet until golden brown. 

2. Add a chunk of soup base and allow the oils to melt into the veggies, stirring.  Once everything is well-combined, add water (amount varies—until the soup is about 2 inches deep).  Add whole peppercorns to taste.  Bring to a simmer.

3. Trim the Napa cabbage leaves and cut the triangular stalk out of the center.  Cut the stalk into strips and tear the leaves in half.  Slice the potatoes into thin rounds. 

4. Set all ingredients near the electric skillet—the chopped and sliced veggies, the thinly sliced meats, the seafood, the Shanghai rice cakes, and the noodles.  Once the soup is simmering, add a few of each ingredient at a time (not too much!) and allow them to cook until tender. 

5. Mix the peanut sauce and finely chopped garlic; add tahini to taste.  Add some of the soup liquid into the dipping sauce to thin it.

6. Each person serves themselves using a pair of “serving” chopsticks and eats using a pair of “eating” chopsticks.  Add more ingredients to the hot pot as previous ingredients are depleted (see notes above)

7. When finished for the evening, refrigerate the leftover ingredients and leave the soup on low heat (be sure to strain out all the solid ingredients so they don't fall apart!).  Resume the following evening.

Have you ever tried hot pot? Are there any other ingredients you'd include? Let me know in the comments!