Chinese Hot Pot (The Best Hot Pot Recipe!) - Rasa Malaysia (2024)

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Chinese Hot Pot - delicious ingredients that vary from protein to vegetables are cooked in a hearty and simmering pot of soup stock, similar to fondue.

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Table of Contents

How to Make Chinese Hot Pot

Chinese Hot Pot is a much celebrated delicacy; it’s served on Chinese New Year’s eve as family members gather around the dining table for a scrumptious, hearty and homey meal.

In this Chinese Hot Pot recipe tutorial, you will learn how to serve this traditional delicacy using an Instant Pot, plus all the ingredients you’ll need.

Hot Pot is especially popular during winter months, especially on cold nights. Nothing beats a pot of hot, simmering soup loaded with assortment of fresh ingredients.

There are numerous versions of soup stock but the most basic Chinese hot pot calls for two simple ingredients: chicken broth and ground white pepper. For my recipe, I chose chicken broth.

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Other Recipes You Might Like

  • Nabe (Yosenabe/Japanese Hot Pot)
  • Creamy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (Instant Pot)
  • Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients for Hot Pot Recipe

For the fresh ingredients, you can get really flexible or creative. As a general rule of thumb, the basics are protein (meat and/or seafood), Chinese vegetables such as Napa cabbage and bok choy, fish balls, tofu, and mushrooms. These are the standard ingredients and they are illustrated in the picture above.

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Cooking Tips

  • To assemble the fresh ingredients, just cut and slice them and then place them on a plate.
  • All family members should gather around the dining table with the hot pot in the middle. The fresh ingredients will be placed alongside the hot pot, and every one will be given a bowl and a pair of chopsticks to savor the meal.
  • First, you have to bring the soup to a boil, then slowly you add the ingredients. Start with the napa cabbage as the stems take longer to cook, then follow by the meat, seafood, fish balls, tofu and mushrooms.
  • Do not cook the fresh ingredients all at once, it will take an average of 2-3 rounds before all fresh ingredients are used up. Slowly, you scoop up the cooked food and soup with a ladle, eat, chat, and then as you finish all the ingredients in the pot, you add more into the soup.
  • As the soup continues to simmer in the pot, the flavor develops and it becomes tastier as the meal proceeds. I love adding garlic oil to the hot pot, which adds an earthy nuance to the dish.
  • For the dipping sauce, you can just use soy sauce. If you like a bit of heat, you can add cut chilies or chili oil to the soy sauce.
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Frequently Asked Questions

What Should I Buy for Hot Pot?

Feel free to buy any thinly sliced meat. Usually, one will also add fish balls, mushrooms, assorted vegetables, eggs, noodles, and tofu.

What Is Hot Pot Broth Made Of?

Mine is made with chicken stock.

How Many Calories?

This recipe has 401 calories per serving.

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What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?

This dish is best served as the main dish. For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.

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Chinese Hot Pot

Chinese Hot Pot - delicious ingredients that vary from protein to vegetables are cooked in a hearty and simmering pot of soup stock, similar to fondue.

4.74 from 26 votes

Print

By Bee Yinn Low

Yield 4 people

Prep 20 minutes mins

Cook 30 minutes mins

Total 50 minutes mins

Ingredients

  • 4 oz (125g) napa cabbage, sliced
  • 12 oz (350g) fish balls
  • 6 oz (175g) chicken meat, sliced
  • 4 oz (125g) tofu
  • 4 oz (125g) shiitake mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 oz (125g) white mushrooms, sliced
  • 6 oz (175g) shrimp, shelled and deveined
  • 4 oz (125g) salmon fillet, cut into pieces
  • 4 oz (125g) scallops
  • 4 oz (125g) baby bok choy, sliced

Garlic Oil:

  • 1 head garlic (peeled and minced)
  • 5 tablespoons cooking oil

Broth:

  • 1 box (32 oz. / 1000 g Kitchen Basics® Original Chicken Stock)
  • 3 cups water
  • 5 dashes ground white pepper

Condiment:

  • soy sauce
  • Cut chilies (optional)

Instructions

  • Arrange the fresh ingredients on plates. Arrange the similar kinds of ingredients on the same plate. See picture above.

  • Add the cooking oil in a skillet. When it's heated, make the Garlic Oil by frying the minced garlic until they turn light brown (do not fry until medium brown). Turn off the heat and transfer the garlic oil to a small bowl. Let cool.

  • Turn on the Instant Pot and set it to Saute mode, for 30 minutes. Add the Kitchen Basics® Original Chicken Stock, water and McCormick Ground White Pepper. Bring the broth to boil.

  • Add the napa cabbage first and cook for 1 minute.

  • Add each ingredient into the Instant Pot in the following order, in batches: fish balls, chicken, tofu, mushrooms, shrimp, salmon, scallops and baby bok choy. Do not use up all the ingredients. The ingredients should be cooked in the hot pot in 2 to 3 bathes.

  • When the soup comes to a boil, add some garlic oil on top. Stir to mix well. Ladle the ingredients and some soup into serving bowls and serve immediately with the Condiment. After you finish the first round, continue to cook the remaining ingredients in the soup until all ingredients are used up.

Notes

You can get different kinds of fish balls in Asian supermarkets. They come in different shapes or form. They are all very tasty. Usually I would get plain white fish balls, fried fish balls (round or rectangle in shapes), and other fish sticks.

Course: Chinese Recipes

Cuisine: Seafood

Keywords: Chinese Hot Pot

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Chinese Hot Pot

Amount Per Serving (4 people)

Calories 401Calories from Fat 252

% Daily Value*

Fat 28g43%

Saturated Fat 4g25%

Cholesterol 161mg54%

Sodium 520mg23%

Carbohydrates 7g2%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 2g2%

Protein 30g60%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.

Chinese Hot Pot (The Best Hot Pot Recipe!) - Rasa Malaysia (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between Chinese hot pot and shabu shabu? ›

Traditional Chinese hot pot generally comes already loaded with meat, seafood, and vegetables, but with shabu shabu you'll be given plates of meat, vegetables and other items (dumplings and udon, for example) to cook in the broth.

Is Chinese hot pot healthy? ›

​​​​Hot pot can be healthy when you choose your ingredients, soup base and dipping sauces carefully. The Department of Endocrinology at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) explains. “Let's have steamboat!” This is often a clarion call for some festive, heart-warming get-together with family, friends or colleagues.

What is the Chinese version of hot pot? ›

There are many types of hot pot across China, but at its most basic, Chinese Hot Pot is an interactive meal in which diners sit around a simmering pot of soup at the center of the table with various raw ingredients—meat, seafood, vegetables, tofu, and starches—in thin slices or small pieces for quick cooking.

What vegetables are best in a hotpot? ›

Hot Pot Ingredient List. Hearty and leafy, look for greens that retain texture after cooking like bok choy, watercress, snow pea leaves, Napa cabbage, Chinese spinach, gai lan and green onions. Look for daikon, carrots, small potatoes and either cut into cubes or thinly sliced.

Why is shabu shabu so good? ›

The best thing about shabu-shabu is that the ingredients can be customized to one's own taste and preferences, from a decadent meal of A5-ranked wagyu beef to a healthy vegetarian spread full of fresh produce.

Is shabu Japanese or Chinese? ›

Shabu-shabu (Japanese: しゃぶしゃぶ, romanized: shabushabu) is a Japanese nabemono hotpot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water and served with dipping sauces. The term is onomatopoeic, derived from the sound – "swish swish" – emitted when the ingredients are stirred in the cooking pot.

Do you eat the broth in Chinese hot pot? ›

Consider cooking times before crowding the pot: Leafy greens and meat slices cook quickly, while denser noodles and veggies will need a couple of minutes. 5. Some like to drink the hot pot broth and some don't—but if you do, wait until the end of the meal.

Do you drink the broth in shabu shabu? ›

Rice is to be enjoyed alone and adding sauces makes it more difficult to eat as it loses it's stickiness. Don't drink the broth/stock after the cooking as you would a bowl of soup.

Is hotpot bad for cholesterol? ›

Tip: limit or avoid organ meats, which are notorious for their cholesterol. Other hotpot favourites include tofu puffs, bean curd and fish skin, which are deep fried and should be enjoyed sparingly.

What is the difference between Chinese hotpot and Taiwan hotpot? ›

What makes this hotpot different from the Chinese hotpot mainly is its use of more Japanese ingredients and different sauces. Second, Shabu Shabu is also 'Taiwanese hotpot', since hot pot is also commonly referred to as Shabu Shabu in Taiwan because of the Japanese influence.

What is a Korean hot pot? ›

Hot Pot is a communal dining experience common in East and Southeast Asia wherein a heat source with a pot of broth is left on the table, and diners add a variety of raw ingredients, cooking them in the broth and then dipping them in different sauces.

Why do Chinese love hot pots? ›

Emperors and empresses even held hot pot banquets to welcome winter. Chinese hot pot meals are extremely popular because they enhance friendship and unite family, colleagues and friends. The meal itself is inherently social since several people sit around a pot, talking and eating.

What to cook first in hotpot? ›

Put meat or fish balls into the hotpot first.

These will take around 5 minutes total to cook, so give them a head start before adding other ingredients. The balls should puff up and float once they're finished cooking. Always use caution when adding food to the hotpot because the broth could splash and cause burns.

What mushroom is best for hotpot? ›

Some of the common types are shiitake, oyster, button or white, king, and enoki. Sometimes, I see beautifully yellow oyster mushrooms at Korean markets. I used them here. This hearty, steaming one-pot meal is a great way to enjoy healthy mushrooms with strong earthy flavors.

What stuff to add to hotpot? ›

Generally, you'll want a variety of leafy green vegetables, mushrooms, meat & seafood (Cantonese hot pot is known for its seafood), some root vegetables, and some rice or noodles to go with it. Serious Eats has a great guide on hot pot that covers a lot individual options in each food category.

What makes a hotpot a hotpot? ›

Hotpot AI Features

It has an inbuilt text-to-art generator that converts users ideas into artwork. It allows users to upscale art and photos. Users can recolorize photos, enhance faces, and restore old images. It offers background removal.

Why do Chinese people like hotpot? ›

Hot pot dishes are very healthy; Hot pot is a great way to socialize; Hot pot is a warming activity for cold, winter climates. Hotpot is very easy to prepare.

Why is hotpot called shabu shabu? ›

The unique name comes from the swishing sound of meat during cooking. That's right – you're supposed to swish your protein in the broth for 10-15 seconds until it changes color. This method highlights the natural flavor of the ingredients.

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