Kevin and I have been addicted to hot pot lately. Just recently, a new hot pot restaurant opened up near our home. Since the restaurant opened, Kevin and I have already gone to the restaurant twice. Each table had a portable butane stove, unlimited access to dipping sauces, and a large selection of meats, vegetables, and seafood. While the meal can be pricey for just two people, we really do appreciate having access to authentic Chinese hot pot. Over the weekend, we decided to recreate the hot pot experience at home. Since we will be traveling to my parents’ home in Brooklyn for Christmas this year, we decided to celebrate Christmas with just the two of us a week earlier. For Thanksgiving, we celebrated with a traditional western feast. For Christmas, we decided to celebrate with a traditional eastern feast. Hot pot was our holiday dinner of choice for the eastern feast. Traditional hot pot uses a portable butane stove. For a brief moment, I debated purchasing a portable butane stove just for hot pot, but then I decided to just use the slow cooker we had at home. I know these two appliances aren’t the same, but if I cooked the hot pot broth ahead of time until it was boiling hot, then I could pour the liquid into a slow cooker to continue cooking. The key to using a slow cooker instead of a portable butane stove is to use already cooked or very thinly sliced meat that can be cooked quickly over lower heat. Over the weekend, I went to our local Asian grocery store and picked up some thinly sliced beef, fish tofu (my must have hot pot item), plain noodles, you choy, and baby bok choy. I also sliced up some mushrooms, an onion, leftover Napa cabbage from last week, and reserved some fresh cilantro to add to my broth and dipping sauce. Hot pot is a very easy dinner to pull together and is meant to be a communal meal. Most of the time spent on this dish will be during the preparation of the broth and vegetables. The beef and fish tofu were already prepared so all I needed to do was add them into the hot boiling broth. Kevin and I both loved our holiday hot pot for two and may even invest in a portable butane stove in the near future. We were both grateful to be able to celebrate the holidays with just the two of us a week earlier before all of the family festivities begin the following week. Holiday hot pot for two made for the perfect pre-Christmas celebration for Kevin and I.
Hot Pot for Two:
For the hot pot broth:
· 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
· 3 Thai chilies or bird’s eye chilies
· 1 onion, quartered
· ½ inch piece of ginger
· 2 cloves garlic, crushed
· 2 stalks scallion, cut into 1-inch pieces
· 1 star anise
· 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
· 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
· 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
· 10 sprigs fresh cilantro
· 6-8 cups water
For the rest of the hot pot:
· Thinly sliced beef
· Fish tofu
· Cooked shrimp
· 8-10 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
· 6 stalks you choy, trimmed
· 6 pieces Napa cabbage, cut into large strips
· 8-10 baby bok choy, halved
· ½ large onion, thinly sliced into half moons
· 6-8 sprigs fresh cilantro
· Package of plain noodles
For the dipping sauce:
· ½ tablespoon light soy sauce
· ½ tablespoon oyster sauce
· ½ tablespoon hoisin sauce
· 1 teaspoon sesame oil
· ¼ teaspoon white pepper powder
· ¼ teaspoon fine sugar
· Fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Directions:
1) Preheat a slow cooker on high heat. Keep the slow cooker plugged in.
2) Heat a large pot on medium heat. Once hot, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the chilies, onion, ginger, garlic, and scallions to the oil. Stir the ingredients until they start to release their aromas. Add the star anise, salt, wine, soy sauce, and cilantro sprigs. Add in the water. Let the broth cook for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn up the heat on the stove to bring the broth to a boil. Once the broth starts to boil, pour the broth into the preheated slow cooker.
3) Set up your table with the meat, seafood, vegetables, and noodle. Prepare the dipping sauce. Divide the dipping sauce into two bowls. Serve.
Takeaways: When it comes to hot pot, anything goes. You can use any meats, seafood, vegetables, and noodle or rice of your choice. If you like very spicy hot pot, you can add more chilies or mix in some dried chilies. If you prefer a milder broth, you could reduce or remove the chilies. If Kevin and I were at a hot pot restaurant, we typically get a split pot where one side is spicy and the other side isn’t.