How to Make Asian Hot Pot at Home Three

You’ll want to start here:

• How to Make Asian Hot Pot at Home 1
• How to Make Asian Hot Pot at Home 2

Now that you have all the supplies and ingredients purchased and prepared for hot pot it is time to start enjoying your hard work!

1. Place the unplugged hot pot on your dinner table then place some of the chopped garlic and sliced onions into the chicken broth soup base. Next add the noodles and the shiitake mushrooms.

2. Turn on the hot pot. I usually put it on the highest setting to bring the broth base to a boil. Keep the lid on top of the hot pot.

Be very, very, very careful throughout the cooking process. The outside of the hot pot with be just that: HOT. And the contents inside the hot pot will also be HOT. So without caution, it could be easy to burn yourself. Being conscious of one’s movements will help reduce the risk of getting hurt.

Photo credit: Julesita, January 2009 – Temperature Knob on Hot Pot

3. Once the hot pot comes to a boil, I turn down the temperature a few notches. Then the cooking is ready to begin! Take off the lid when you are ready. Please remember: when adding ingredients to the hot pot, again, be very careful so as not to burn yourself or your dinner mates.

4. Add any vegetables or meats that you wish to the hot pot. You can use the chopsticks or spoon to add these to the broth. The meats generally will cook really quickly so watch them closely. Sometime it will just be seconds for the thinly sliced meat to completely brown depending on the heat setting. For health precautions, just make sure they are well cooked before taking them out.  Veggies generally take longer to cook if you want them to be soft, but the these can be cooked to your preference (softer or more crisp).

Photo credit: Julesita, December 2008 – Cooking Medley in the Hot Pot

5. When you take out the veggies and the meat they will be HOT. I like to immediately transfer them from the pot to my dipping sauce. This gives them time to cool down and soak up the yummy flavours of the sauce. 

6. To cook the eggs, just empty the egg yolk and egg white directly into the pot, being careful not to burn yourself in the process. It will take a while for the egg to cook fully. You can take your spoon and pour broth from the pot over the egg to help speed up the process. For health reasons, make sure to completely cook the eggs, especially if you are pregnant or immunocompromised.

7. Another cook way to eat the contents of the hot pot it to create an individual soup in your soup bowl. You can add whatever cooked ingredients you like, with the chicken broth as the base. Here’s an example of one of my creations:

Photo credit: Julesita, September 2008 – Soup Creation

8. And that’s about it. There is a lot of room for creativity and personal preferences with hot pot. Just take caution and most importantly, enjoy! Bon appetit!