#Hot pot buffet full#

Just don’t leave them in for too long, or else they disintegrate into the soup and you won’t be able to find it. If you have vegetarians in the group (who will need their own half of the pot), you’ll want to offer a healthy selection of these.Ĭut into big chunks, turnips or daikon radishes cook quickly and absorbs all the flavours. Shiitake, enoki, button, you name it they are all great at picking up the flavours from the soup. It creates a smooth consistency and tones down the saltiness of the mixture. So, you know how Rocky drinks raw eggs? Yeah, don’t do that, but try cracking an egg (unless you are pregnant or have a condition that prevents you from doing so) in the dipping sauce. If you use this, it’s best not to adulterate it with too many other sauces, herbs or flavourings. It doesn’t have gold flakes or truffles, but it does have big-time ingredients like cured ham and dried seafood. Use a little less than sauces like Hoisin or soy, but it pairs especially well with Hoisin sauce and chili sauce.Ī Hong Kong invention, the sauce borrow its name from extra old Cognac, denoting its prestige and luxury. How much of each to use is completely up to you.įrom chili oil to sweet chili paste, there are many various kinds of chili sauces with different nuances and heat level. It's a thick sauce that is delicious on its own or mixed with other sauces.Ĭhopped garlic, ginger, scallions, cilantro and chilis all go well in a dipping sauce. A soy-sauce less hot pot party is not an option.Ī Southeast Asian condiment made with ground roasted peanuts and spices. If you’re out of it, go get some from the store, or ask your neighbour for it. So, if anyone says hot pot sucks, you can bet that they screwed it up.Ī prerequisite for hot pot, it’s the base of the sauce you will build. This sauce, in addition to the broths, is what flavours the meats, veggies and noodles. Each person mixes his or her own dipping sauce from the array of sauces, herbs and aromatics that’s offered. The condiments is a mini-buffet on its own. If you can handle heat and you are not using a divided pot, go for this soup. It’s loaded with tongue-numbing Szechuan peppercorns, chilis, ginger, scallions, cinnamon, anise and fennel that flavour meats beautifully.

#Hot pot buffet full#

It’s hot and sour, and perfect for flavouring meats.Įarthy, hot and full of spices and aromatics, this is one of the most popular soups for hot pot. It’s also used to top up other soups in the pot as they evaporate.Ī Thai influenced soup made of lemongrass, chili peppers, fish sauce, galangal, lime juice and lime leaves. It’s the most basic soup of light chicken broth and some veggies.

You’ll want soups on the bland side, as the continuous simmering and boiling, as well as the addition of meats and other ingredients throughout dinner, will concentrate the soup and make it potentially too salty and strong. Most restaurants use packaged soup bases for convenience, but if you’re hosting the hot pot party at home, you can make the soups from scratch with less salt and more natural ingredients. It’s a good idea to keep one mild and the other spicy. Most restaurants offer many options, and between four people, you’ll likely be sharing two soups in a divided pot.