How to Make Asian Hot Pot at Home 2

Part one of How to Make Asian Hot Pot at Home described what equipment, place settings, and ingredients have worked for me in creating my own hot pot at home. In Part II of How to Make Asian Hot Pot at Home I will give recommendations based on what I put in my family’s hot pot, but, again, you can make modifications based on your own dietary preferences and/or restrictions, including allergies and health conditions, and kitchen set up.

1. If you will be using dried shiitake mushrooms, take a few (I usually allot two per person), rinse them, and then soak in water. After hours of soaking, they should be very plump. I start soaking them in water, in a sealable container, the evening before or the morning of the hot pot dinner, but even a few hours may do the trick.

2. Enoki Mushrooms: The enoki mushrooms I usually purchase come in a cluster that is still attached to a layer of soil. Cut off enough of a portion of the mushroom base so that you get rid of all the dirt. Then rinse the mushroom really well and separate.

Photo credit: Julesita, January 2009 – Washed Enoki Mushrooms (left side of plate) and Yellow Onions

3. Yellow onion: Peel and wash onion as usual. Then slice to size shown in the right side of the above photo.

4. Meat: I  rinse the thinly sliced meat and then roll each piece into a cylinder shape so it can be easily picked up with chopsticks.

Photo credit: Julesita, January 2009

5. Shrimp: I get peeled, uncooked shrimp from the deli. Wash as usual. And set aside for meal.

4. Garlic and Green Onion: Wash your garlic and green onions as usual. Then finely chop a couple of cloves of garlic. Set aside. Slice the several green onion stocks into little round pieces. The finely chopped garlic can be put into the base of the soup and the garlic and green onions are great additions to the dipping sauce. 

Photo credit: Julesita, January 2009 – Chopped Garlic

Photo credit: Julesita, January 2009 – Chopped Green Onions

5) Napa Cabbage and Spinach: Wash as usual. Then cut them into managable pieces. I like these veggies to be in pretty big pieces since they shrink quite a bit in the hot broth they will be cooked in.

Photo credit: Julesita, January 2009 – Cut Napa Cabbage and Spinach Leaves

6. Dipping sauce: At my favourite shabu shabu restaurant, two sauces are offered. One is a citrusy ponzu sauce and the other is more soy sauce based.  However, I only make a sauce soy version. My homemade creation is a mixture of soy sauce and sesame oil at a proportion of approximately 3-6 tablespoons of soy sauce to 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. But you can play around with the proportions to taste and based on taste. Increase or decrease the total amount based on how much you actually use.

7. Tofu: I purchase firm tofu in a little box. After removing it from the box, I rinse it and then slice in into little rectangles (approximately 1 inch lengthwise) that are manageable with chopsticks. Place on a plate and set aside.

8. Chicken broth: A 1:1 mixture of chicken broth and water forms my soup base. I add approximately 28 ounces (or about 960 mL) of chicken broth (usually about 2 cans of chicken broth if you purchase them in a can) to the unplugged hot pot. And then an equal amount of water (so again, about 960 mL). Please recycle your cans if you use canned chicken broth.

To add some shiitake-mushroom flavour to the mix, you can add some of the water that was used to soak the mushrooms into here. Of course, make sure the mushrooms were first rinsed and then soaked into a new batch of water, otherwise some dirty residue may be present in that water.

9. Udon noodles: I currently use a precooked, prepackaged udon noodle to make my hot pot preparation easier (7 oz. or 200 g). We use one package per two people. However, I would like to start cooking my udon from scratch since it would involved less packaging and should be gentler on the Earth. 

10. Eggs: I set out two eggs (with shells in tact) per person. Please adjust amount based on personal preferences and/or dietary restrictions.

Photo credit: Julesita, January 2009 – Eggs  

For information on how to start putting all these ingredients together to create your hot pot and start enjoying your meal, see How to Make Asian Hot Pot at Home 3