Chinese Hot Pot is such an easy and healthy comfort meal for those cold winter nights. It’s also a total party meal, and it’s really fun because you’re cooking the food right at the table (it’s a fondue party!) We like to boil broth in an electric fondue pot like this one, and cook the food a little bit at a time.
This can be a completely meatless, vegan meal if you like. You can choose any type of protein, veggies or noodles you want, so it’s a super-versatile meal.
There’s not much prepping ahead of time. You’ll be cooking the food at the table, so it’s easy for busy weeknights too.
If you have young children, be aware that this involves hot boiling liquid, so the grownups should be doing the cooking.
Also, be mindful of sanitation. Don’t handle raw meat with the same utensils you’re going to eat with. Cook in stages — don’t put raw meat into the pot and then immediately pull something else out for eating. Let meat boil for an adequate amount of time to ensure the food in the pot is sanitary.
At the end of the meal, when everything’s been cooked, you’ll be left with a highly-flavored broth to drink!
Chinese Hot Pot
Equipment
- 1 electric fondue pot
- Lots of clean chopsticks (to avoid cross-contamination with raw meat)
Ingredients
- 4 cups low sodium chicken, beef or veggie broth
Protein
- 8 ounces peeled shrimp
- 8 ounces tofu
- 8 ounces thinly-sliced beef
- 4 ounces store-bought fish meatballs
- 4 ounces store-bought beef meatballs
Vegetables
- 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
- 4 ounces leafy greens like kale, spinach, bok choy, choy sum, or gai lan (aka chinese broccoli)
- a bunch of scallions, sliced into 2-inch pieces
Starch
- 8 ounces Chinese egg noodles
Dipping Sauce
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon water
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Sriracha optional
Instructions
- Pour the broth into the fondue pot and turn the temperature to 400 °F until the broth begins to boil.
- You'll want to keep the broth boiling the whole time, but you can turn down the temperature accordingly to avoid making the pot boil over.
- Start with tofu and veggies, as these take the longest time to cook.
- To keep it sanitary, have utensils ONLY for handling the raw food and don't cross-contaminate with your eating utensils. When you do add the meat, put the lid on and let it boil for an adequate amount of time. It's best to cook in stages, to avoid cross-contaminating raw meat with cooked meat.
- If you have kids, it's best if the adults do the cooking.
