One pot, two pot’s, Chinese Hot Pot

 

I have not do a hot pot in a long time.

I love doing these as it is a very communal meal, a time to share and get together. So I thought I would ask a few friends for dinner. Little do they know, that they would be cooking there own meal. ROFL. Everyone comes because they think I am cooking, and yes in a way I am. With spending an afternoon slicing vegetables, making stock, cutting up meats  and making dipping sauces (I love making my own dipping sauces). Then putting it all onto nice platters.

So an afternoon in the kitchen. For a night of fun, watching every one else cooking.  4 out of the 10 have never had a hot pot before, so that should be fun.

It is so easy to prepare, it involves more logistics than cooking (gathering ingredients) rather than any expertise in cooking. Hence anyone can host a fail-proof, yummy meal.
You can easily prepare a meal for as few people (2)or as many people (say 20) as you like, simply by adjusting the quantity of ingredients.
It’s a healthy meal, as you are enjoying the food which has been briefly cooked in hot broth. The food is not fried or greasy at all. And it is all fresh.
If you are on a budget  ask your friends and family to bring along some of the ingredients.  Just make sure you coordinate who is bringing which ingredients so that there is no duplication.
You can choose almost any ingredients for your hotpot based on your preference and budget. It can be really lavish (with lobster, prawns etc.) or really simple. Either way is totally delicious.

A traditional Chinese steamboat, where your friend and family get to choose from an array of raw and marinated ingredients to dip into simmering stock, is a brilliant example of the art of interaction, of sharing and socialising, smiling and laughing. Imagine your friends sitting around a steaming hot pot, their eyes will be treated to a vista of the freshest, most colourful food, their noses will be tantalised by the aromas of the most fragrant herbs, and their tastebuds will be in rapture with the variety of tastes and textures. Well at lest you would hope so, after all the time you spent cutting and making the dipping sauces. LOL

Hot Pot (also called a firepot) or known as the Mongolian Hot Pot, usually refers to Chinese varieties of steamboat stew. It is known as 'huo guo',where 'huo' means fire,'guo' means pot. And that is as far as my Chinese goes.
It consists of a simmering pot of stock at the centre the dining table. While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked on the table.

Typical steamboat ingredients include thinly sliced meat, seafood, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, noodles.  The cooked food is either eaten with a dipping sauce, or sometimes as a soup.

There are often disagreement between different types of hot pot enthusiasts, some like to place the ingredients into the hot pot at a relaxed, leisurely pace, (that is me, and have a glass of wine and talk a little, ok a lot) while others prefer to throw everything at once and wait for the hot pot to return to a boil. (a watched pot never boils)

Baz getting the hot pots going.

Here are some of my tips to help make it work on the night.

A big glass of wine, no just kidding.

You will need hot coals for a good heat, we used heat beads that you can use on the BBQ. You have to then keep on toping them up throughout the night. So the heat keep’s going to cook your meal.  You must have the stock hot to put into the hot pots, other wise it will take forever to heat up. And keep more stock on hand on your stove top, to top up as the night goes on, because it will get soak up by the food.

Don’t feel you need to purchase an authentic Asian Hot Pot to enjoy this popular dish. You can use an electric frying pan to cook this meal, it will taste the same. You will just need to top up your stock more often. Remember odd spoons.

Plan on having no more than four diners at an average sized hot pot, and six for larger hot pots. I have a average size hot pot, and I browed my girlfriends large one as well. There was 10 of us for this, which work well.

Place the hot pot with the stock in the middle of the table, so all of your friends are be able to reach the pot, in order to cook their own food. Because I am not cooking it for them tonight.

I like to have the hot pot on the table before everyone arrives, (you know hot coals and then hot stock) Plus the house smells good when every one arrives. And we are ready to go. Arrange platters of the various, uncooked foods around the pot, and place the different sauces at strategic points on the table.

After a minute or two, the food is cooked and is lifted out and eaten with a variety of dipping sauces. Nearing the end of the hotpot, when the soup base has absorbed the essence of all of the additional ingredients that was boiled in it... (Don't let this soup go to waste !) This is when all the meat and vegetables are finished, cellophane noodles are added to the broth, resulting in a wonderful fragrant and flavoursome soup. I think this is the best part of the meal.

One of the platters of the vegetables	Some of the fish
Marinate beef	Pork and lamb
Fish, Pork balls, chicken balls, fish balls and tofu	Chicken

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

You can poach an egg in the soup or spoon out some soup into a bowl and have it just like that. (If you are adding eggs to your hotpot, add them at the very end because it will cause the soup to be murky). We cook individual  eggs (1 egg per person) in a slotted ladle. Try not to break the yolk – if you love runny egg yolk like I do, you will love this nice way to finish to a yummy hotpot meal.

yum yum in my tum tum lol

When preparing a hot pot, a general rule of thumb is to have bland broth and spicy dipping sauces. This allows everyone to season the food according to their own tastes. The beauty of this combination is that it allows your friends to season the food according to their own taste. On the other hand, there are no hard and fast rules. Feel free to adapt the basic broth recipe as to your taste. 

For quicker cooking, cut meat into paper thin slices, no more than 1/4-inch thick. . If you prefer to prepare it yourself, place the meat in the freezer for half and hour, then slice it paper thin. Cut against the grain - perpendicular to the fibres. For easier cutting, or ask the butcher to cut it for you. Or you can buy pre-cut for a stir fry, all work well. If using tofu, buy firm tofu which is recommended for steamboat/soup, cut it into cubes. Meatballs are a wonderful addition to hotpot. You can use fish balls, beef balls, vegetable balls, chicken balls. Dumplings and wontons also work well.

Feel free to marinate the meat or seafood in your favourite marinade before serving it at the table. I only marinade the chicken and beef for the night, as I made a lot of dipping sauces. When serving a combination of meat and vegetables or tofu, cook the meat first to flavour the broth more quickly.

Super absorbent fresh mushrooms, transparent noodles and tofu (bean curd) are all good choices to serve along with meat, as they soak up the broth quickly. Not sure about how hot your friends tolerance for fiery foods? Play it safe by offering a variety of blander dipping sauces, such as soy sauce, along with the hot mustard and other spicy dips. I like it spicy, so I have a small dish of chopped chillies to add. Fresh from my own bush.

                                                                                

Plan on serving approximately at least four dips, with 1/2 cup of each type of dipping sauce.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  If making your own special homemade dip, prepare it a few hours ahead of time or the day before and refrigerate, covered, until needed. This gives the flavour's a chance to blend.

Use a hot pot dipping basket for noodles (rice noodles are gluten free, and my pick for the night) or egg noodles, or thin leafy vegetables such as bok choy that are difficult to cook with skewers or dipping forks. Simply lower the basket into the broth and cook the food all at once.

Don’t feel you need to stick to one type of main food. Offering a variety of food – from chicken and prawns to tofu – will accommodate all tastes. Just be sure to have enough broth and a wide selection of dipping sauces on hand.

To prevent running out of broth, prepare a large batch on the stove, and then add it to the hot pot or frying pan as needed.

Keep the broth at a low simmer throughout the meal.

For easy dipping, keep the hot pot approximately 2/3 full. (The total amount of broth needed will depend on the size of your hot pot).

If using an electric hot pot or frying pan, be sure to place it where guests won’t be tripping over the cord.

Set the hot pot in the middle of the table where all guests can reach it easily.

Arrange all the food in platters and serve at the table.

Provide each guest with their own soup bowl for placing the cooked food.

Keep a soup ladle on hand for ladling out soup, noodles, and other food that isn’t cooked with hot pot dipping basket

For an extra touch, provide guests with chopsticks to eat their food.

Now take a deep breath Jan, and do the recipes…

Instant Soup Stocks

No-fuss plain broth is what I like the best. You do not need to make a special soup base if you don’t have time, since the soup will become really sweet by the end of the meal, due to all the ingredients that are cooked in it. Simply start the steamboat with plain boiling water and/or chicken stock, carrots (peeled and cut to large chunks) and sweet corn (cut to large chunks). At the end of the meal your meal the stock will be really sweet, and you can also eat the sweet corn which will become juicy. I some times add at the start of the stock as well.

3-4 Spring onions, trimmed and cut in half crossways                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      10 clove Garlic, crushed                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          20 slices of Ginger                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     3 stalks Lemon grass, bruised.

Source
Author: Jan Plater
Source: My cooking note book
Copyright: Jan Plater

Prep time: 2 hours, plus 2 hours marinating
Cook time: 1 hour, plus simmering throughout the meal
Serves: 10-12

Dipping sauce

Can be made the day before, and pop into the fridge until needed. This gives the flavour’s a chance to blend, and you some time as well. Some of the sauces will thicken as well. Put all dips into nice little bowls, to serve.

NOTE: To make the sauces gluten free I use  Soy sauce Fountain, tall bottle, make sure you have the one with gluten free on the label, from the supermarket. Oyster sauce Chang's (wheat extract mentioned on the label is gluten free). From the supermarket

I found this site a very big help Gluten Free and Easy with ingredients, it is always up to date. When I first started to look at cooking for my friend (at first it was O my God gluten it in everything!) But now I have a better handle on it and have fun. The best thing about this is,  Anna-May tells me what I cook for her has taste. And that is something that can be lacking in GF cooking.

Dipping Sauce Recipes
Sesame Sauce
2 tablespoons White Sesame Seeds
1/3 cup Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons Green Onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon Cider Vinegar
2 teaspoons Ginger (finely chopped)
1 teaspoon Water
Brown Sesame Seeds in frying pan or skillet
Chop Browned Seeds and a few drops of soy in food processor on high
Add rest of the ingredients and mix.

Prep time: 10 minutes, plus time to chill 
Makes: about 1/2 cup

Source
Author: Jan Plater
Source: My cooking note book
Copyright: Jan Plater

Spicy Asian Sauce
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce (Gluten Free)
1 1/2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 Green Chilli Peppers (chopped)
1 clove Garlic
2 teaspoon Sesame Oil                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             2 teaspoon fresh ginger grated
Add all ingredients and mix

Prep time: 10 minutes, plus time to chill 
Makes: about 1/4 cup

Source
Author: Jan Plater
Source: My cooking note book
Copyright: Jan Plater

Sweet and Sour Sauce

I think I got this from my Aunty, I have made changes to fit to our taste. It is very quick to make and can be used as  dipping sauce or marinade

1/3 cup rice vinegar
4 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon soy sauce GF
2 teaspoon of corn flour GF mixed with 4 teaspoons water

1. Mix the vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, and soy sauce together and bring to a boil in a small pot. Mix together the corn starch and water/pineapple juice, add to the other ingredients and stir to thicken.

2. (You can add 1 green pepper, cut into chunks, and pineapple chunks or crushed pineapple as desired after adding the corn starch).

Yield: about 1/2 cup

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 minutes
Inactive Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes

Recipe Type: Dips, Gluten Free, Hot pot

Source
Author: Jan Plater
Source: My cooking note book
Copyright: Jan Plater

How do you peel ginger? I found this very helpful site Brooklyn Farmhouse a big help. Thank you

Ginger Sauce Recipe

1/2 cup light soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoon mince ginger
2 spring onions (green onions, scallions) chopped

1. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, red wine vinegar and minced ginger. Set aside.

2. In a small heavy saucepan, melt the brown sugar on high heat, stirring rapidly, until it is just melted but not burnt. Add the soy sauce and red wine mixture. Bring to boil until brown sugar is melted again (it will harden temporarily after the soy sauce mixture is added).

3. Remove from the heat, pour into a serving dish and garnish with the chopped spring onions.

Yield: about 1 cup

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 minutes
Inactive Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours and 10 minutes

Recipe Type: Dips, Gluten Free, Hot pot, Make ahead

Source
Author: Jan Plater
Source: My cooking note book
Copyright: Jan Plater

Garlic and ginger paste

Ginger garlic paste is one of my favourite, too use to add flavour to a variety of Indian, Chinese and Thai dishes. And it isn't difficult to mix up a batch of the spicy delicacy in your own kitchen. Add a small amount of the pungent paste to sauces, soups, or salad dressings. I sometimes add this to marinades. But I do like it as a dipping sauce

20 Large cloves of garlic about 2 heads of garlic
1 Large piece of ginger
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
I add these extra to give punch to the paste, but you do not have too.
2 green chillies
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
1 pinch of turmeric
1 pinch of salt

1. Peel 20 large garlic cloves. Place the cloves on a cutting board and chop the garlic into small pieces. Put the chopped garlic in a food processor or blender.

2. Use the tip of a spoon to remove the skin from a large ginger root. Cut the ginger root into five 1-inch pieces and add the pieces to the blender or food processor.

3. Turn on the food processor and grind the garlic and ginger root into a paste. Slowly add 1 tablespoon, oil as the garlic and ginger are processing. Blend in a pinch of turmeric and salt to taste. Add in the chillies, cinnamon stick and cloves. If the paste is too thick, add a few drops of additional  oil. If desired, add 1 tsp. vinegar.

4. Place the ginger garlic paste in an airtight container and store the paste in the refrigerator for up to one month. Or you can freeze teaspoon full of ginger and garlic paste on a baking sheet. Place the frozen paste into a zip lock bag and store in the freezer. This is what I do for OAMC (for those who do not know Once A Mouth Cooking)

Yield: about a 1/4 cup

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Inactive Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes

Recipe Type: Dips, Gluten Free, Hot pot, Low Carb, Low Fat, Make ahead, OAMC

Source
Author: Jan Plater
Source: My cooking note book
Copyright: Jan Plater

Ginger soy dipping sauce

1/2 cup light soy sauce GF
2 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
a few drops of sesame oil

1. In a small bowl, combine all ingredient's and set aside.

Yield: about 1/2 a cup

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Inactive Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour and 5 minutes

Recipe Type: Dips, Gluten Free, Hot pot, Low Fat, Make ahead

Source
Author: Jan Plater
Source: My cooking note book
Copyright: Jan Plater

Chinese mustard dipping sauce

1/2 cup light soy sauce GF
2 teaspoon of English mustard (I used hot)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 drops vinegar GF

1. In a small bowl, combine all ingredient's and set aside.

Yield: about 1/2 cup

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes

Recipe Type: Dips, Gluten Free, Hot pot, Low Carb, Low Fat, Make ahead

Source
Author: Jan Plater
Source: My cooking note book
Copyright: Jan Plater

Homemade Teriyaki sauce GF. Find recipe on Odd Spoons.

Condiments:

light soy sauce

fish sauce

Chinese mixed pickles

finely sliced large red chillies

lemon wedges

Szechuan Finishing salt with chillies

Szechuan Salt and Pepper Mix Not actually a sauce but a dry mix, the combination of roasted Szechwan peppercorns chillies and salt makes a wonderful dry dip/rub. When preparing, feel free to experiment by mixing in other types of peppercorns.

1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns
3 tablespoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon dried chillies

1. Heat the ingredients in a heavy frying pan over medium-low heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until wisps' of smoke appear and the Szechuan peppercorns become fragrant (about 10 minutes).

2. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the mix to cool. When cooled, process in a blender or food processor, grind the mixture with a mortar and pestle, or you can crush it with a rolling pin. Use immediately, or stored in a covered jar at room temperature.

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Recipe Type: Gluten Free, Hot pot, OAMC, Spice

Source
Author: Jan Plater
Source: My cooking note book
Copyright: Jan Plater

For the chicken marinade

4 teaspoon oyster sauce GF
4 teaspoon rice wine
1 teaspoon light soy sauce GF
1 Tablespoon sesame seed oil

1. Mix in a small bow and pour over the chicken set aside for 2 hours

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours and 10 minutes

Recipe Type: Barbecue, Gluten Free, Hot pot, Low Carb, Low Fat, Make ahead, Marinade:, Poultry

Source
Author: Jan Plater
Source: My cooking note book
Copyright: Jan Plater

Honey,  soy & mustard marinade for beef

1/2 cup soy sauce GF
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 orange zest
1 orange juice of

1. Whisk all ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Place the meat in a glass or ceramic dish and pour over the marinade. Cover and place in the fridge for 4 hours to marinate

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Inactive Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours and 15 minutes

Recipe Type: Barbecue, Gluten Free, Kid Friendly, Low Carb, Low Fat, Make ahead, Meat

Source
Author: Jan Plater
Source: My cooking note book
Copyright: Jan Plater