Sing Kee Foods’ Guide to Hot Pot

Hot pot is definitely high on the list of what people across East Asia, especially in China, love to eat. It can be as vegan, vegetarian or meaty as you want it to be, and as mild or spicy as your mouth can tolerate, and everything in between. You can probably tell that, here at Sing Kee Foods, we are big hot pot fans. So, here’s how guide to what it is and how you can make it at home.

What is hot pot and how is it eaten?

Hot pot, also known as steamboat, is a cooking method, which is especially popular among Chinese diners, although variations can be found in Japan and other parts of East Asia. It is prepared with a simmering pot of soup stock, typically shared with friends, into which different ingredients are placed and cooked at the dining table. Typical dishes include thinly sliced meat, leaf vegetables, mushrooms, tofu and seafood. The cooked food is usually eaten with a personally created dipping sauce. This type of cuisine dates back to China’s Zhou Dynasty, which ran from 1046 to 256 BCE.

According to traditional methods, the broth is boiled in a ring donut-shaped bowl, heated by burning coals in a central chimney. Increasingly, however, there is a preference for ‘yin and yang’ heating pots, each containing a broth of a different strength. In one part, you will typically find a mild, probably mushroom-based, stock, while the other will be much spicier. In some cases, Sichuan peppercorns will be added for extra numbing heat – be careful not to bite into one if you have a sensitive mouth!

What goes into a hot pot?

The answer to this question is only limited by your imagination. But it is important, when using meat to use thin slices, preferably of beef, lamb or mutton, to ensure it cooks properly and quickly in the boiling stock. Leaf vegetables, such as spinach, and all varieties of mushroom are also ideal, as are thin slices of white or sweet potato. Cooking fresh or frozen seafood is no problem, either, while the method of cooking is suited to all types of noodles. We also highly recommend adding tofu as well as to soak up all the delicious flavours in the stock.

What goes into the dipping is also a matter of personal taste and creativity. If you ever visit one of the growing numbers of hot pot restaurants in the UK, you will almost certainly be presented with an impressive selection of different ingredients and condiments with which to make your own. The keyword however is sesame paste, which can be often combined with spicy oil, crushed chilli, minced garlic, spring onion and coriander.

Making hot pot at home

While specialist hot pot cookers exist for use both in restaurants and in the home, you can easily improvise with what you’ve got, for example, a stock pot on top of a portable hob would definitely work. Now, all you need to do is work on what you’re going to put in it. Sing Kee Foods has all you need, starting with a mouth-watering variety of delicious soup bases. We also sell all the fresh and frozen ingredients to cook in your hot pot, such as the FRESHASIA range of thinly sliced meat as well as fried tofu slices and every condiment you could imagine for your dipping sauce. Visit our website today for more inspiration!