Hotpot (All You Need To Know About It!)

Hot pot has many regional variations throughout China. The broth and the specific meats are used to distinguish one from another.

Cantonese hot pot, on the other hand, is loaded with fresh seafood, such as live shrimp, oysters, and squid. Mongolian-style hot pot is famous for its flavorful broth, which includes goji berries, jujubes, and a variety of herbs.

There are various styles of hot pots throughout Asia, and even within the same country, each household will prepare it slightly differently. Hot pot, like fondue, is one of the most social dining options.

You’re not only sharing a meal at a table, but you’re also cooking it together in a shared pot.

What is usually in the hotpot?

The foods that can be cooked in a hot pot are numerous. Variety is essential because you want a little bit of everything. Beef and seafood are two of the most popular foods to cook in a hot pot, but they must be balanced with lighter ingredients such as greens and other vegetables.

Greens and Vegetables

A hot-pot meal is incomplete without vegetables, even if meat and seafood are the centerpieces. They help to balance out the heavier offerings and flavor the broth. Almost any vegetable can be added to a hot pot, but I prefer ones that retain some texture even after cooking in the broth. You can go for it.

Chinese spinach was also known as water morning glory; snow pea leaves; iceberg, red, or green lettuce; and chrysanthemum greens (tong ho). These greens are best served whole or in large chunks.

Napa cabbage, baby bok choy, and rapeseed vegetable. Because of their thicker stems, these greens take a few minutes longer to cook than leafy greens.

Daikon, carrots, lotus root, and potatoes are some examples. Root vegetables can be prepared in two ways:

They can be cut into two-inch chunks or thinly sliced (about one-eighth inch thick). One advantage of cutting root vegetables into large chunks is that they can be left to simmer and flavor the broth.

Large mushrooms, such as portobellos and shiitakes, should be stemmed and cut in half before cooking for three to four minutes. Mushrooms with thin, edible stems should be cooked in small bundles for one to three minutes.

Because the tofu is already cooked, you’re just warming it up in the hot pot.

Meat

The best way to prepare beef, pork, and lamb is in paper-thin slices. Dip them a few times in the hot-pot broth, and they’re done in a matter of seconds.

Unless you have a meat slicer, buying it presliced is the best option; packages of thin presliced meat can be found in the freezer section of most Asian supermarkets. Just make sure to thaw the meat before sitting down to eat it.

Cut both white and dark meat into stir-fry-sized pieces, about an eighth to a quarter-inch thick. You can put it in the hot pot raw, but I like to marinate it with a splash of rice wine, salt, white pepper, and julienned ginger.

Pork loin and belly, like beef and lamb, are best-sliced paper-thin; opt for precutting. In the hot pot, tripe, pork intestine, tongue, kidney, and liver are all delicious. Tripe and intestines take at least five minutes to cook and are easiest to work with when purchased pre-cleaned.

Sea Food

Shrimp is one of the most popular seafood ingredients in a hot pot, and it is usually cooked whole with both the shell and head-on, but headless and shelled shrimp can also be used. Lobsters and crabs are excellent additions; the only challenge is chopping them into large pieces while they are still alive, which can be upsetting to some people.

Halibut, salmon, monkfish, bass, and most other types of fresh fish are excellent in a hot pot. Cut the fish into quarter-inch slices.

Fresh and dried squid and cuttlefish are also excellent additions to a hot pot. Make sure to thoroughly clean the body and tentacle parts of fresh squid and cuttlefish.

Noodles

White rice can be used, but noodles are the more popular option. There are many varieties to choose from, including ho fun (wide white noodles), needle noodles (transparent and shaped like thick needles), and rice stick noodles( pho or fresh pho noodles).

Fresh noodles usually cook in under a minute. Dried rice noodles, such as vermicelli, should be boiled first, then rinsed with cold water, drained, and served in a bowl with the other hot-pot ingredients.

Broths

After you’ve decided on the dipping ingredients, you must decide what kind of broth you want to cook them in. Cook everything in chicken broth (homemade or store-bought), flavored with daikon, carrot, or corn chunks, and a few slices of ginger. There are also ready-to-use hot pot broth packages available.

Sacha sauce is used to flavor hot pot broth. Sacha sauce, also known as Chinese barbecue sauce or satay sauce, is nothing like American-style barbecue sauce or the Southeast Asian peanut-based sauce most people associate with satay.

Soybean oil, garlic, chiles, dried shrimp, and brill fish are used to make it. Bullhead is the most popular brand, which is slightly sour and comes in spicy and non-spicy varieties.

Dippings Sauces

Before you dig into your hot pot, don’t forget about the dipping sauces. There are numerous options, just like with the broth.

To keep things simple, I like to make a quick one with soy sauce, sesame oil, and a dash of chili oil or chile flakes. You can also top it with chopped cilantro, scallions, or even fresh bird’s eye chile pepper.

How to make a hotpot at home?

Instructions

A hot pot is usually a soup-based dish. This means you will have to cook other ingredients in the soup when provided to you. Now let’s look at how you can develop this amazing mouth-watering soup:

First, you need ingredients for soup that include garlic, chives, onion, spring onion, chili oil, peanut butter, and tomato.

adding veggies for hot pot — *Veggies for hotpot*

To make the soup base, I mixed the peanut butter, fish sauce, sesame oil, chicken powder, and garlic granules and mixed it all in a bowl to mix with the main soup base that you buy from the store.

The other ingredients will be added later when there is already soup simmering away. You can add anything you want, so feel free to be creative.

Now add the onions, oil, and butter to a pot and cook until the onions turn brown for about 2 minutes.

After this, you will have to add smashed tomato to the mix, now pour the chili oil and peanut butter sauce into the pot.

You can always choose what broth you want to add or if you want to work with water only.

Then mix any ingredient that you want and allow it to simmer on low heat for two minutes and voila you have a perfect hot pot ready at your home.

making broth in hot pot — *Broth in hotpot*

What does hotpot taste like?

It is really difficult to tell in general what a hotpot tastes like. It can taste tangy, sweet, mild, or spicy, depending on what kind of broth you have ordered and what dipping you have chosen to eat it with.

Why are hotpots so popular in China?

Hotpots are popular in China, where they are known as “firepots”. Regional styles abound, particularly in Beijing and the provinces of Szechuan, Yunan, and Canton. Chinese Mongolian and Manchurian hotpots are popular in Chinese cuisine, and Taiwan has its own regional style.

Chinese hotpot broths range from mild to spicy. A variety of meats, seafood, and vegetables are used as ingredients. The broth is served as a soup and noodles, dumplings, and tofu are frequently added toward the end of the meal.

Soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and chili paste are examples of condiments. Hotpots, particularly in Asia, are ideal for communal dining in both family and social settings.

Check out this video of the Chinese hotpot if you want to learn more about it:

Chinese Hotpot

Is hotpot high in sodium?

A typical hot pot meal contains far more sodium than the recommended daily salt intake. Popular hot pot ingredients like fish balls, cuttlefish balls, crab sticks, and meatballs are all high in sodium.

A dozen of these perennial hot pot favorites fish balls, meatballs, and cuttlefish balls can easily be consumed in one sitting.

Five fish balls and five cuttlefish balls will consume more than half of your daily sodium (2,000 mg) and cholesterol allowance (300 mg). This does not even take into account the sodium in the broth!

Is hotpot supposed to be spicy?

No, hotpot is not supposed to be spicy.

It’s all a game of your preferences. You can order a sweet vegetable broth or you can opt for a spicy tangy broth with siracha. There are plenty of options that you can go for when it comes to the taste of hot pot.

You can opt for a chicken broth but if that’s too spicy for your sweet taste buds, a water broth option is always available at many restaurants.

Is mala hotpot unhealthy?

As stated above, everything depends on your preferences and your tolerance to spiciness. Mala isn’t considered unhealthy, but the main risk of consuming too much mala is most likely stomach upset.

Mala’s chili spices are essentially irritants. Spices can irritate various parts of your digestive system, including your stomach and intestines if consumed in excess.

Here is how much excessive nutrition you can get from Mala Hotpot if you’re on a diet:

Mala Hotpot Fish Skin	Values
Calories	352 kCal
Carbs	8.3 g
Proteins	14.2 g
Fat	26.1 g
Sodium	289 mg
Cholesterol	283.6 mg

Nutrition value in Mala Hotpot Fish Skin

How much does the hotpot cost?

A hotpot can be really cost-effective. Since it’s a group activity, you can easily divide the bill into more than 4 halves.

This means you will have to pay less than 20 dollars per person. However, in 5-star restaurants that are pretty famous for hotpots, you will have to pay 40 to 50 dollars per person.

Is hotpot good for your health?

The base soup, which already contains salt, is enhanced in flavor by the addition of marinated slices of pork, chicken, beef, and organ meats such as liver, pork kidney, and beef tripe.

All of these contain a lot of saturated fat. Even the chili paste used in soups is occasionally fried in corn, soybean, olive, or canola oil.

How do you eat a healthy hotpot?

Here are some tips that can be followed if you are looking forward to a healthy hotpot:

You can select a light clear base for your soup, that may contain less saturated fats such as mushroom or cabbage, or tofu soup.
You can avoid drinking the broth but if you decide to drink the broth g for a vegetable or low-sodium chicken broth.
Fish, seafood, lean pork, and chicken should be preferred over internal organs such as the liver, intestines, beef tripe, and pork kidney.
A hot pot meal should not include rice or noodles. With these refined carbohydrates, you run the risk of gaining weight.
You can add fibers to your hot pot by adding vegetables such as carrots, cabbage, spinach, mushrooms, peppers, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, and green peas.
Light dipping sauces like fresh-cut chilies with soy sauce, minced garlic, vinegar sauce instead of sambal, chili oil, deep-fried garlic, and oil-based sauces are ideal.
Set a time limit for boiling the hot pot broth for more than 90 minutes to avoid increasing nitrite levels.
Lastly, go easy on processed foods. These are high in sodium, saturated fats, and chemical preservatives like sodium nitrite, which is used to keep the flavor and color of the meat.

Summary

Making a hotpot is quite easy. All you have to do is follow the instructions for the base and add up the ingredients when the broth is boiling so it can cook.

Hotpots are famous in China, and there are plenty of variations of them.

However, hot pots are not that healthy due to so much sodium and fat in their ingredients. What you can do is follow the above-stated tips to avoid carbs in your hotpot.

Otherwise do try this dish at home and let me know how it made your day!