In Japan, it’s called shabu shabu. In Malaysia, it’s known as “steamboat” and in Switzerland, fondue chinoise. But to legions of Chinese and Chinese-Americans, it’s simply hot pot — and it’s the epitome of communal eating and window-steaming goodness.
A steaming pot of broth takes center stage at the family dinner table, surrounded by mounds of ready-to-cook raw vegetables, gleaming piles of fresh prawns and meat and tangled heaps of noodles. As the dinner progresses, ingredients are added to the pot, where they merrily simmer away. Cooked tidbits are fished out with chopsticks and dipped in flavorful sauces, and at the end, noodles are added to turn the now-flavorful broth into a hearty soup.
Whether you opt for a lamb-centric Mongolian style, the bracingly spicy northern version or the mild southern style, there are endless provincial offshoots.
According to legend, it was Genghis Khan who invented the dish, when he was seized by a powerful hankering for mutton midway through a military campaign.
“It’s not easy to cook when traveling or fighting a war, ” says Daniel Huang, manager of Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot in Union City, Calif., relating the apocryphal tale. “So they made a nice broth, cooked (lamb) in the pot and made a good meal out of that.”
After eating 10 bowls of the stuff, the famous Mongolian leader handily won his next battle, ensuring the popularity of hot pot for centuries to come.
A feast for 200,000
Today, China’s most famous hot-pot recipe hails from the city of Chongqing, near Sichuan, where the dish appears in restaurants, homes and at events such as a 2009 hot-pot feast, which drew 200,000 diners. The Chongqing hot pot, which uses a traditional local soup known as ma la tang, has spawned numerous variations in cities to the north, including Beijing and Taiwan. The addictive ma la broth features a shockingly red slick of chili oil, which floats on top, chile pods and bits of burning Sichuan peppercorn, hence its name, which translates to “numbing and hot.”
While Mongolian and Northern hot pots tend to be oilier, spicier and more meat-focused, Southern-style hot pot is lighter fare, with an emphasis on seafood, including prawns and whole oysters. The Southern version features fresh vegetables, as well, including napa cabbage, mushrooms and bok choy. But with hot pot, the possibilities are limited only by one’s imagination, and aficionados regularly experiment with such ingredients as tofu, won tons, meatballs, fish cakes and even cubes of Spam. The diverse assortment of ingredients, combined with an infinite variety of dipping sauces, makes hot pot a completely individual experience.
The dish is easy to make at home with a few specialized accouterments. The key is the pot itself, which comes in electric or open-flame versions. Electric hot pots, which run about $70, resemble slow cookers, and some offer dual containers to hold spicy and mild broths.
“To do next to the fire”
Alternatively, diners can gather around a single-burner tabletop range (less than $20 at Asian supermarkets) that runs on inexpensive butane cartridges. Place a low-sided cooking vessel on top, fill it with boiling water or broth, and you’re ready to da bin lo, as they say in Cantonese, or “to do next to the fire.”
And what a to-do it is. The wide array of fresh ingredients crowding the table provides a tableau of abundance, while the steaming pot exudes warmth and homeyness. The few-bites-at-a-time pace makes hot pot a leisurely and social affair, with plenty of time for conversation. And although everything is do-it-yourself, the experience is anything but individualistic. Like insistent Chinese aunties, experienced diners take turns fishing out ingredients, and plopping them in each others’ bowls.
It’s no wonder then, that Huang, who has been eating hot pot for more than half a century, says families are so fond of the dish’s communal aspect, particularly when the weather turns nippy. It’s toasty, it’s fun and it’s celebratory. Even at Thanksgiving, he says, “The Chinese community does not really go for turkey. They go for hot pot.”
Hot-pot essentials
To make a Chinese hot-pot dinner at home, you’ll need the following:
An electric hot-pot cooker or tabletop gas burner with low- sided pot.
Long wooden chopsticks for handling raw ingredients (use a different pair for eating).
Small sieves or individual strainer baskets (about $1 at Asian grocery stores).
Small bowls, one for each diner and a few extra to hold discards, such as shrimp shells.
Chopsticks and porcelain spoons for each diner.
Hot Pot
Serves 2-10, depending on how many ingredients you put out.
Ingredients
Broth:
Boiling water
Chicken broth
Dash vegetable oil, optional
Packet of Sichuan or Mongolian hot-pot base, optional
Sauces
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sa cha sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar
Sliced scallions
Dash sesame oil
Other sauce ingredients, such as hoisin sauce, sriracha sauce, tahini or peanut butter, XO sauce, chile-garlic sauce, chopped roasted peanuts, cilantro, etc.
Hot-pot additions:
Leafy vegetables, such as napa cabbage, bok choy or spinach
Other vegetables, such as mushrooms, daikon radish, peeled and sliced lotus root, or bean sprouts
Starches, such as peeled and cubed taro root or parboiled egg noodles
Seafood, such as shrimp, shucked oysters, sliced and cleaned squid
Meats, such as chicken, beef or lamb, sliced paper thin
Vegetarian options, such as tofu, vegetarian dumplings or eggs for poaching
Directions
For a Southern-style broth, add boiling water or chicken broth to the hot pot, or blend an equal mixture of the two. (If using only water, add a dash of oil to the pot.) For a Mongolian or Northern style hot pot, combine the chicken broth with a packet of Sichuan or Mongolian hot-pot base (available at Asian grocery stores).
Arrange the table with the simmering hot pot in the middle, raw ingredients on the side, and individual place settings with bowls, chopsticks and strainers.
Make a dipping sauce by blending 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sa cha sauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar, a pinch of scallions and a dash of sesame oil. Or create a “sauce bar” on a side table with various ingredients so guests can mix their own.
Using cooking chopsticks, place batches of raw ingredients into the simmering water, being careful not to overcrowd the pot. Use the strainers to scoop out cooked tidbits, bearing in mind that fresh seafood and paper-thin meat slices cook very quickly. Serve with dipping sauces. Repeat until everyone has had their fill.
If the broth isn’t too spicy, drop in noodles and offer bowls of the flavorful soup at the end of the meal.
