A Chinese hot pot guide on how to make Chinese hot pot at home with what tools you will need and ideas on hot pot ingredients, hot pot sauces, and a homemade broth you can use.
Table of Contents
What is Hot Pot?
In short, hot pot is just a pot of boiling broth in the center of the table with a large variety of ingredients (usually raw) laid out buffet-style that you use to cook in the broth on the fly. Once the food has finished cooking, you scoop it out onto your bowl which will have a personalized dipping sauce that you created, and you eat it! 🙂
Hot pot is a warm and comforting communal meal that is shared amongst family and close friends but because of the social aspect of it, it is also great to entertain big social gatherings with as well, especially during Chinese New Year.
Since the food is cooked in real-time and enjoyed hot straight out of the broth in small batches, it means that it's usually a longer meal so you can chit-chat with friends and family while you are enjoying the food.
Although it may look fancy and somewhat overwhelming, hot pot can be easily customized to be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be! You can do it with 2 people or you can do it with 15 people. The more people you have, the more variety of ingredients you can put out there are to eat. I personally do hot pot for 2 a lot in the winter as my lazy dinners. I just prepare a small number of ingredients to eat, use a bouillon as my broth, and Voila! Dinner in 10 minutes.
Types of Cooktops for Hot Pot
- I highly recommend using an electric portable induction cooktop to do hot pot with. It's easy to use, super quick to clean up, and safe to use. When using an induction stovetop, you're going to want to make sure that your pot is magnetic. I found that any type of steel or stainless steel pot will work. If you are not 100% sure if a pot will work with it, just stick a magnet to it. If the magnet sticks to it, you're good to go.
- Alternatively, you can also use a portable gas butane stove as well. You will need to buy gas canisters in order for it to work but you won't have any long cables or plugs laying around to trip over as well.
- Last but not least, there are also portable electric hot plate burners as well, these are the least expensive option but they also take longer to heat up and are not as good at maintaining a consistent heat.
Once you picked a cooktop, you will need to use a large metal pot to cook things in. Traditionally for hot pot, we use a specific type of pot with a divider in the middle so that you can have a spicy, and non-spicy broth to cook the food in. You can also put 2 completely different soup bases in them if you don't like spicy foods. If you can't find this type of pot, or don't want to store a pot just for hot pot you can use any type of metal pot that you use for cooking - just make sure it has tall enough walls to hold the broth so that it doesn't spill over while it's boiling.
Hot Pot Tools and Utensils
A very useful tool for hot pot is a hot pot strainer scoop - each person would get their own scoop at the table. This scoop is very helpful with fishing out slippery and hard-to-grab foods out of the pot and into your sauce bowl. If you can't find these mini hot pot scoops or you don't want to purchase them, you can use a ladle with holes or a spaghetti/noodle ladle as well. Other than the hot pot basket scoop, you can pretty much use any type of utensil you feel comfortable eating with such as wooden chopsticks or forks - if you plan on using metal utensils make sure you don't use it to cook the food from the pot since metal conducts heat and it can get really hot. You can scoop the food from the broth to your own bowl and use the metal utensil from there.
What Goes In Chinese Hot Pot?
For hot pot ingredients, there are no hard and fast rules for what to use. Honestly, the sky is the limit. Traditionally, you would use raw meats but to be honest, I have used ingredients like cooked sausages, hotdogs, and even spam! 😛
Here are a few ideas to start you off and I highly encourage you to expand this list to find what you enjoy most 🙂
Meat & Seafood Ingredient Ideas
Other Meat & Seafood ideas Not Shown in Photos: Any Type of Fresh or Frozen Fish (sliced) / Thin Slices of Chicken, Turkey, Pork / Squid / Fresh Oysters / Bacon or Pork Belly / Tripe / Frozen Mussels / Clams
Vegetables and Mushroom Ingredient Ideas
Mushrooms: Enoki Mushrooms, Shimeji Mushrooms, King Oyster Mushrooms - Vegetables: Baby Bok Choy, Gai Lan, Korean Radish
Other Vegetable Ideas Not Shown in Photos: Red, Yellow or Green Peppers cut into chunks / Chinese Leafy Greens (Napa Cabbage, Tong Oh, Pea Sprouts, Watercress Greens etc) / Brussels Sprouts cut in half / Cabbage / Carrots / Brocolli / Cauliflower / Baby Corn (from a can) / Bean Sprouts / Zucchini / Garlic Chives / Taro / Any Type of Mushrooms / Snow Peas / Lotus Root / Kale / Corn (cut into half) / Daikon Radish
Noodles, Tofu and Pre-made Balls Ideas
Other Ingredients Not Shown in Photos: Variety of Noodles (udon, thick rice noodles, instant noodles (without the flavor packs) etc) / Vermicelli Noodles / Shirataki Yam Noodle Bundles / Mung Bean Glass Noodles / Bean Curd Skin Rolls / Shrimp Wontons
Non-Traditional Ingredient Ideas
Hotdogs / Chicken Wings / Chayote /Thick Slices of Ham / Asparagus / Baby Corn (from can) / Spam
Hot Pot Sauces
Although a good broth is important, I personally find the hot pot dipping sauces even more important since this is what is going to flavor most of your foods. There's no hard and fast rule on how your dipping sauce should taste, and you are not limited to only one type of dipping sauce - so mix and match it to make your own personal mix in your bowl and have fun with it! 🙂 Whether you like your sauces, sweet, spicy, tangy, or just savory here are a few popular options that you can use to set up your sauce stations!
1.) Raw Egg 2.) Sriracha/Sambal Olek 3.) Oyster Sauce 4.) Sesame Oil 5.) Chinese BBQ Sauce (aka Shacha Sauce/Satay Sauce) 6.) Soy Sauce 7.) Green Onions 8.) Sesame Seeds 9.) Chinese Sesame Paste 10.) Chinese Black Vinegar 11.) Chili Flakes 12.) Rice Wine Vinegar 13.) Chinese Chili Oil 14.) Hoisin Sauce
I highly recommend using Chinese BBQ Sauce (Shacha Sauce) if you can get a hold of it. You can find this online or at a Chinese grocery store.
Hot Pot Soup Bases
Although the hot pot broth is important in a hot pot recipe, I personally find I get most of my flavors from the personalized dipping sauces in our bowls. Personally, I think a hot pot recipe shouldn't be something you are slaving over for hours so I like to keep things simple, quick, and easy. That being said, I do provide an option below to give your hot pot broth a bit more depth but it will have a longer cooking time as well for those of us who are okay with taking a bit more time with it - the bonus to making a broth from scratch is that you can drink the soup afterward.
Simple Broth (The Foundation Broth)
For this simple broth, just throw everything in a large pot and boil away! Once it's been simmering for 30-45 minutes, strain everything out!
Silkier Broth (Optional, Will Require More Cooking Time)
When I have time, I like to give my foundation broth a bit more substance by adding pork hocks. When the connective tissues break down in the broth it gives the broth a slightly thicker and silkier consistency. Connective tissues take a while to break down so to speed up the process of this broth, you can start it off in a pressure cooker as well. If you have a butcher, ask them to cut the pork hocks into smaller 2-3 inch chunks so that it cooks faster - if you don't have a butcher you can cook the pork hock whole, it will just take a bit longer.
Spicy Broth (Optional, If You Like It Mildly Spicy)
Whether you are using the hot pot recipe for the simple foundation broth or the silkier broth, to get it spicy you just need to pan-fry dried chili flakes with a bit of oil. The oil will turn red and become mildly spicy, and you can pour the spicy oil into the hot pot broth when you're ready to start. If you are feeling fancy, you can even add additional spices (star anise, cinnamon, etc) into the oil while you are pan-frying it. If you want it even spicier, add a few fresh birdseye chili peppers to it.
Instant Hot Pot Broths
Alternatively, you can skip making your own hot pot broth and use these quick and pre-made sauce bases below to make an instant broth! Use 1-2 tablespoons to start, and do a taste test - adjust it to your liking after.
- Instant Tom Yum Paste - this wonderful paste will give you a sour and salty broth. You can add a bit of sugar to it to give it a sweet, sour, and salty balance as well.
- Miso - When you dissolve the miso paste into the pot of water, you have a simple, salty, and umami soup base
- Red/Yellow Thai Curry Paste - A little will go a long way, but this will give you a bit of a spicy kick. Add a bit of coconut milk to give it some more flavor.
- Hondashi Dashi Powder - this will give you a simple smoky broth.
- Gochujang - if you're looking for a sweet and spicy broth, use gochujang.
- Chicken Boullion/Chicken Powder - A simple chicken flavor broth. You can add a few slices of ginger and sesame oil to this to give it a bit more flavor but remember to discard it before you start hot pot.
- Store-bought soup base - This is the easiest and quickest way to make a soup base and there are many different types available from herbal, to spicy Mongolian to spicy Sichuan. If you're looking for a no fuss and flavorful soup broth, this is definitely the way to go.
How to Setup It Up
- Provide each place setting with a small plate with a hot pot scoop, chopsticks, a bowl (this will be their personal sauce bowl) and napkins
- Place the cooktop in the middle of the place setting, make sure everyone can reach it easily.
- Prepare all the ingredients.
- Wash the vegetables and mushrooms, cut them into smaller pieces if needed.
- Cut the starchy and root vegetables into small pieces. The thinner or smaller you cut them, the faster they will cook. Hand rip or cut the mushrooms into bite-sized pieces.
- Soak the vermicelli or glass noodles for 1 minute in cold water.
- If you are using frozen shrimp or scallops, make sure you defrost them ahead of time, else they won't cook evenly because of it's frozen centers.
- If you are buying pre-sliced hot pot meat, remove it from the packaging and place them plates - if you are using fresh meat, slice them thinly and place it on plates.
- If you are using fresh chicken or fish, slice them thinly and marinate it in a ¼ tsp of corn starch and some soy, this will prevent it from over cooking and it will make it a silkier texture.
- When you are plating the ingredients, make sure you group similiar things together. (ie, Place meats with meat only preferably in seperate plates by type, seafoods on their own plates, vegetables can be put together, and balls/noodles/tofu/dumplings can be placed together.
- Place all the raw ingredients around the cooktop. It's okay if everyone can't reach everything, you can either place the ingredients in the hot pot for them if you are closer to it. Make sure you have seperate utensils for the meat and seafood so that you don't cross contiminate your personal chopsticks/eating utensil.
- Place a pitcher or glass of water close by. Depending on how long you do hot pot for, your soup base will eventually evaporate and you will lose a lot of liquid in the pot. When the broth starts to hit the half way point in the pot, add the water in and wait for it to re-boil again before you start cooking.
- Prepare your soup bases and pour it into your pot. Bring the pot over to the cooktop and turn on the heat. Wait for the soup base to boil and you're good to go! The soup base must always be boiling before you can start cooking the food.
- At our home, we do our sauce station in the kitchen and bring over our sauce bowl to the hot pot area once we have mixed our sauces together. It's a lot easier that way, everyone can just put in what they want and then we can throw all the sauces back in the fridge afterwards, it also doesn't clutter your eating area.
FAQs
Only cook what you plan to eat and in small amounts. We usually like to do things in batches, so for example, if we are going to cook shrimp, we ask everyone who wants shrimp and we put in only the amount that is being eaten. That way we know that all the shrimp will cook at the same time and you won't have any leftover overcooked shrimp sitting in the pot during the whole meal. The only exception is the frozen paper-thin meats, since they only take 30 seconds to cook, these are usually cooked on the fly by whoever is going to eat them right away.
This will depend on what you are cooking. Here is a rough guideline on the cooking times we use at home.
- Dumplings/Balls - We cook these for about 2-4 minutes. We know it's done when it has floated to the top of the broth.
- Meats - If you are using the store-bought pre-sliced frozen meat, they only take 20-30 seconds since they are paper-thin. I usually put it in, wiggle it in the broth to loosen it up, and pull it right out. It may look a little pink sometimes but the residual heat continues to cook it and it's safe to eat as medium rare as well. If you are using meats you sliced yourself, the meat will be thicker and will take more time to cook, I usually cook it for about 1-2 minutes assuming that the meats have been sliced ¼ inch thick.
- Noodles - If you are using glass noodles or thin vermicelli, I cook them for about 30 seconds to keep them chewy (if you pre-soaked it in cold water) - cook it longer if you are cooking it from dry form. Shirataki noodles can stay in the broth for as long as you want and they will never break down - the longer you cook it in the broth the more flavorful it will be. If you are cooking frozen udon bricks, I usually cook it until the noodles have separated from brick form and cook it for an additional 30 seconds to keep it chewy. If you are using dried noodles, cook them according to the instructions.
- Tofu - You can cook this for as long as you like unless you're cooking soft tofu. We cook soft tofu for 1-2 minutes.
- Seafood - Any type of seafood should be done around 2 minutes except for lobster, crab, and oysters. Oysters, depending on the size can be cooked for up to 7 - 10 minutes if they are on the larger size. Lobster and crab can take about 5 minutes. For shrimp, we know it's down when it has curled into a C shape, if it's an O shape, it's overdone but still tasty. Scallops take about 5-7 minutes depending on the size as well.
- Vegetables - Most leafy vegetables will take less than 1 minute. Starchy and root vegetables can 10-15+ minutes depending on how thick you cut them. Mushrooms take 1-2 minutes.
More Asian Comfort Foods
- Bo Kho (Vietnamese Beef Stew)
- Spicy Soondubu Tofu Stew (Soondubu Jjigae)
- Easy Congee Recipe
- Khao Soi (Thai Coconut Curry Noodle Soup)
- Bun Bo Hue (Spicy Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)
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Recipe Card
Chinese Hot Pot Recipe Guide
Equipment
Recipe Notes
- You can also use a pressure cooker to make the broth (with the pork hock) more quickly!
- The chili oil for this recipe makes the broth 'mildly spicy' unless you add cayenne. If you still feel like the oil is not providing enough heat, I find it easier to add hot sauce directly into your personal dipping bowls.
- If you do hot pot with a large group of people, it's a lot easier make a huge batch of broth and split it amongst 2-3 pots and burners, so that everyone can reach the pot from where they are sitting.
- The portable induction stovetop I use is the Evergreen Portable Induction Cooktop
- IMPORTANT! Always keep a glass of water close by! While you are eating, the broth will evaporate a lot since it is over a constant heat. Refill it by adding water when the liquid levels are low.
- Alternative Instant Soup Bases (Pick One) : Instant Tom Yum Paste, Miso Paste, Hondashi Dashi Powder, Chicken Boullion, Gochujang, Store-bought soup bases, Red/Yellow Thai Curry Paste. See blog post for more details.
Ingredients
Hot Pot Broth (Foundation)
- 1800 ml beef/chicken/vegetable broth (approximately 7 ½ cups)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 3 slices ginger
- 1 onions
- ¼ cup Chinese Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 whole star anise
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
(Optional) Silkier Hot Pot Broth
- 1 pork hock (cut into 2-3 inch chunks)
(Optional) Spicy Hot Pot Broth
- ¾ cup oil
- 3 tablespoons dried chili peppers flakes
- handful of whole dried chili peppers
- 1-2 teaspoons cayenne powder (optional)
Hot Pot Ingredients Ideas (Mix & Match)
- Meats & Seafood: Thinly Sliced Fish, Chicken, Turkey, Pork / Squid / Fresh Oysters / Bacon or Pork Belly / Tripe / Frozen Mussels) / Clams
- Vegetables: Sweet Peppers (Red, Yellow, Orange) / Variety of Chinese Greens (Napa Cabbage, Tong Oh, Pea Sprouts, Watercress Greens etc) / Brussels Sprouts cut in half / Cabbage / Carrots / Broccoli / Cauliflower / Baby Corn (from a can) / Bean Sprouts / Zucchini / Garlic Chives / Taro / Button Mushrooms / Lotus Root / Kale / Corn (cut into half) / Daikon Radish
- Noodles, Tofu, Pre-Made Balls and Dumplings: Udon, thick rice noodles, instant noodles (without the flavor packs etc) / Vermicelli Noodles / Shirataki Yam Noodle Bundles / Bean Curd Skin Rolls / Shrimp Wontons
- Non-Traditional Ingredients: Hotdogs / Chicken Wings / Chayote /Thick Slices of Ham / Asparagus / Baby Corn (from can) / Spam
Dipping Sauces Ideas (Mix & Match)
- Salty : Soy Sauce / Fish Sauce / Oyster Sauce
- Sour : Rice Vinegar / Chinese Black Vinegar / Red Wine Vinegar / Lime Juice
- Sweet : Hoisin Sauce / Maple Syrup / Honey
- Spicy : Dried Chili Flakes / Sriracha / Chinese Chili Oil / Sambal Olek / Cayenne Powder
- Extra Flavor : Chinese BBQ Sauce (Shacha/Satay Sauce) / Sesame oil
- Texture : Sesame Paste / Raw Egg / Green Onions / Sesame Seeds
Instructions
Hot Pot Broth (Foundation)
- In a large pot add all the ingredients under the 'Hot Pot Broth' (Foundation)
- Boil for 1 hour with lid on medium heat.
- Once the broth is done, remove the spices, onions, garlic and ginger - the broth is ready to be used. Place the broth in a pot (or use the pot it's already in) and place it over a portable induction stove and you're good to go!
- Note: If the broth was reduced too much (you should have enough broth to dunk food in and to cook it), add 1 cup of water into the broth before starting hot pot.
Silky Hot Pot Broth (Optional, will require more cooking time)
- Rinse the pork hock to remove any bone shards
- In a large pot add all the ingredients under the 'Hot Pot Broth' (Foundation)
- Add the pork hock into the pot with the rest of the ingredients
- Boil for 2 hours and 30 minutes
- Skim off any floaty scum bits that floats on top of the broth.
- Once the broth is done, remove the spices, onions, garlic, ginger and pork hocks - the broth is ready to be used. Place the broth in a pot (or use the pot it's already in) and place it over a portable induction stove and you're good to go!
- Set the pork hocks at the table and snack on them with the dipping sauces.
- Note: If the broth was reduced too much (you should have enough broth to dunk food in and to cook it), add 1 cup of water into the broth before starting hot pot.
Making Your Hot Pot Broth Spicy (Optional)
- In a frying pan, set the stove on low heat
- Add the oil and dried chili flakes and toast it for 1-2 minutes. You will know it's ready when you can smell it.
- Turn off the heat
- [Optional] Mix in cayenne powder if you like it spicier, since this is a mild spicy chili oil
- [Optional] Soak whole dried chili peppers in the finished chili oil for additional spiciness
- Set the oil aside until the hot pot broth is finished.
- Once the broth is finished, and you are ready to eat - pour the chili oil into the hot pot broth and set the pot over a portable induction stove and you're good to go!
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*
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Josie says
I showed this Hot Pot home cooking photo to my husband from FB. He said 'WoW! What a beautiful great varities of food laid out. Said that he couldn't wait any longer but start to do this home cozy hot pot cooking today to beat the cold winter days. So, we bought most of the food what you had from your show there. Plus added his the most favourite seafood giant fresh olysters, follow your way, then we start our family hot pot cooking .....👍👍
Joyce Lee says
Hi Josie,
I am so happy your family enjoyed it! It's a wonderful way to have dinner with family especially during the holidays!
Sudip Paul says
Dear Joyce,
I lived in Shanghai for couple of years, coming out of China missed hotpot and hence used the package thing to make the soup base and that used to be greasy. Tried your recipe to the letter today and voila!.
This turned out great in taste and light on palate. Waiting to try out other receipe as well. 🙏
Thanks
Sudip
Joyce Lee says
Hi Sudip!
I am so happy you liked it! I love hot pot so I know what you mean, it's nice to have it at home and it's super cozy too!
Mia says
Hello, Joyce. I was just wondering if I had to add the chinese wine/dry sherry to the broth or is it optional?
Also when making the spicy broth what kind of oil do you use in the frying pan with the dried chili flakes?
Thanks, Mia
Joyce Lee says
Hi Mia!
You can omit the Chinese wine/dry sherry, but you might lose a bit of flavor, but most of the flavor that comes from hot pot is from your dipping sauce so it should be fine. 🙂
As for the oil, I usually use peanut oil or avocado oil to fry the dried chili flakes but you have to be careful of peanut allergies with peanut oil. If you don't have either of that, you can also use canola oil as well or any type of oil that is flavorless. I don't recommend using any type of olive oil when making chili oils because of the strong olive oil flavors.
Hope that helps! and hope you like it!
Joyce
Mrs.C says
Hello Joyce. This is a wonderful “tutorial”. I would like to make this for a group of friends tomorrow evening. How do you make the silky broth in an Instant Pot?
Joyce says
Hi Mrs. C!
I have never used an Instant Pot before, so I am not really sure how to use it to make this. If I were to guess though, I would say use the setting you normally use to make soups in. 🙂
Sorry I couldn't be more help!
Joyce
Elena says
I have made this recipe 4 times and it is always a hit with my culturally mixed family and friends.
Joyce says
Hi Elena!
I'm super happy you and your family and friends liked this! 🙂 Sounds like a fantastic time! 😀
John Turner says
Took my family to China this past summer. We all fell in love with Hot Pot while we were there. Found a local Asian market that had all the ingredients. Followed the recommendations from this post and everything was great! Easy to make and show off to friends.
Joyce says
Hi John!
I'm so happy it was easy to make! It is definitely a great conversation starter and I find it makes for a much more relaxing dinner too! Especially with friends! How is hot pot in China? Did you have any unique ingredients? 🙂
Josie says
This Hot Pot is good to begin in this cool and cold season. I love all your ingredients, easy to get in the supermarkets. I personally can take medium level of chili hot sauce, so it's fine .
Joyce says
There are so many different ingredients you can cook in hot pot, that I'm super happy to be able to have made this post to be able to remind myself of all the different foods I can serve with it! 🙂