As the weather is cooling down, it’s nice to have a hot pot. Hot pot is comfort food to many people in Asia. Though each country has its own version, the variation is mainly in the soup/broth itself. I personally think hot pot is such an easy meal to prepare. Hot pots are generally well-balance meal and pretty economical. You have your protein, veggies, fat and usually always accompany by the carbs of course, rice or noodles. What ingredients go to the hot pot is really up to you.
I also like the idea of everyone shares the hot pot. I always looked forward to a hot pot meal at home. My mom usually prepared it when our family gathered. The thought of it alone is comforting 🙂
There are several ways to cook hot pots. My mom usually used the small portable burner to boil the broth and everyone can put in their favorite stuff in a pot of broth and let it cook. This is also known as table-side cooking. The version I did here was a stove-top cooking. The hot pot was then brought to the table and shared.
Of course your next question might be, what about the pot itself ? Now, don’t think that you need to own a special pot to be able to enjoy hot pot. It will be nice if you have a clay pot. I finally had one lol! I’ve always wanted to try clay-pot cooking. What great about clay pot is that it evenly conducts and spread heat across the pot and retain temperature better than any other cookware. This simple and inexpensive cookware can be found in well-stock Asian store.
If you already have a enameled cast-iron or cast-iron cookware, hey…bring it out and bring it on! hot pot is on. Those will work too. I love cooking with cast-iron as well because this also spread heat across the cookware evenly. I love my cast-iron wok!!
If you don’t have clay pot and cast-iron cookware, don’t sweat it really! I’d assume you have a stainless steel pot ? If you do, you can use this too.
When I had this the other day, I’m all the way back at home. I miss everyone and this meal just made me felt close to home.
EVERYTHING GOES HOT POT
Ingredients
- 4 cups of chicken/duck broth Duck broth is better, but I doubt most people have one in stock
- 1 large onion cut into thin slices
- 2 medium potatoes peeled and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
- ½ package of firm tofu cut into 4 slices
- 8 pieces of whole shitake mushrooms stemmed
- 3 oz of white mushrooms
- 1 lb salmon fillet sliced into 1/2-inch thick pieces
- 2 stalks green onion finely chopped
- ¼ small head cabbage cut into slices
- 2 Tbsp butter
- ½ cup of whole milk
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Place onion slices on the bottom of the pot, followed by cabbage and then potatoes. Pour in the broth. cover the pot and bring it to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and let it simmer for about 3 minutes
- Uncover the pot, pour in the milk and add the butter and arrange the tofu, shitake mushrooms, white mushrooms on top of the ingredients and cover the pot again and simmer for 5 minutes
- Uncover the pot and arrange the salmon slices on top of the other ingredients. Simmer until the salmon is cooked, about 5 minutes
- Transfer the hot pot to the dining table. Garnish with spring onion. Serve with steamed rice
