ramyaramesh3007The ultimate guide to making Chinese-style Hot Pot at home with fresh spices and ingredients for a meal to enjoy with your friends and family.
I may come from an Indian household, but making hotpot every year has pretty much become our religion growing up in Singapore. The cosmopolitan and diverse nature of the cuisines here means we have access to and can try literally almost any cuisine we want. Thai? Plenty of thai restaurants. Vietnamese? I know that good banh mi spot downtown. Indian? I can literally walk to the hawker centre downstairs to get a roti prata. We, Singaporeans are pretty spoilt in that sense.
Given the multicultural stance, I also got exposed to many different types of festivals and celebrations since young. One of that is Lunar New Year, which is basically the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendars (if you’re an astrology girlie, you might find this similar to many other astrological calendars). This is also when families and friends come together to have a shared meal, like a steamboat or customisable hotpot.
My family and I love the flavours of hot and spicy soup so one of our soups bases always include a flavoured one. To balance out the spices, we always like to create a mushroom flavoured broth with a milder and herbal taste. Another alternative is a tangy and flavourful tomato broth!
How to Make Hot Pot
Prep your vegetables, shrooms and protein
Pick and choose any 2-3 ingredients from each section to build your own hotpot.
Leafy greens: spinach (any kind), kailan, bok choy, lettuce, napa cabbage,
Root vegetables: lotus root, potatoes, carrots
Shrooms: enoki mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, lion’s mane, shitake, shimeji mushrooms (brown and white)
Protein: silken tofu, frozen extra firm tofu, tempeh, plant-based protein
Other ingredients: frozen dumplings, vegan plant-based meats
Choose your broth
Mala spicy hotpot: use fresh spices like cinnamon, star anise, cloves, sichuan peppercorns
Herbal mushroom broth: dried shitake mushrooms, dried chinese herbs like ginseng, chinese yam, angelica, wolfberries, goji berries. You can get these in packs at asian stores.
Make a dipping sauce
You can make an easy Hai Di Lao-style sesame dipping sauce with sesame paste or tahini, chili oil, soy sauce, spring onions and toasted sesame seeds. You can find the full recipe here.
Since steamboats are all about customising, you can opt out alliums if you don’t consume onion & garlic. For gluten free substitutions (mala base), substitute soy sauce with tamari, and hot bean paste with sambal paste or red chili paste.
So, gather your ingredients, fire up the stove, and get ready to experience the joy of this shared hotpot in the comfort of your own home!
How to Make Hot Pot at Home
Equipment
- Hotpot with a divider section for two broths
Ingredients
Hot Pot Ingredients
- 1 small napa cabbage
- 1 pack spinach 120-150g
- 1 pack kailan or bok choy 250g
- 1/2 pack enoki mushrooms 150g
- 1 box shimeji mushrooms 150g
- 3 king oyster mushrooms
- 1 lotus root 400g
- 300 silken tofu
- 12 frozen dumplings
- 1 can vegan spam or any other plant-based meat
- 4 packs dried ramen
- 1 box fried beancurd skin or ring rolls
Spicy Mala Base
- 6 cups water
- 10-12 dried red chillies
- 1.5 tbsp sichuan peppercorns
- 2 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp minced ginger 8 slices
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 4 tbsp hot bean paste
- 1/4 cup light soy sauce
- 3-4 tbsp shaoxing wine
- salt if needed
Herbal Mushroom Base (Gluten Free)
- 6 dried shitake mushrooms
- 1 pack dried chinese herbs
- 2 tbsp mushroom seasoning
- 1 vegetable stock cube gluten free
- 1/4 cup light soy sauce
- salt if needed
Instructions
- Wash vegetables and chop them into sizeable pieces.
- Add water to both sections of the pot. Add dry ingredients for the mala broth, followed by the condiments. Mix well.
- Repeat the process for herbal mushroom broth.
- Arrange the raw ingredients on plates or platters around the table, making it easy for everyone to access.
- Place the hot pot on the stove and bring it to a simmer.
- Prepare sesame dipping sauce with ingredients listed above.
- Guests can also have the option of customising dipping sauce – in this case, set out small dishes or sauce bowls with a variety of dipping sauce ingredients for guests to mix according to their preferences.
- Place additional condiments and garnishes like chili oil, soy sauce, and chopped herbs on the table for guests to enhance their hot pot experience.
- Once the broth is simmering, add ingredients that take longer to cook, such as root vegetables and protein.
- Cook ingredients in small batches to avoid overcrowding the pot, ensuring even cooking and maintaining the broth's temperature.