Home-Made Hotpot
Tuesday, October 06, 2015
I went to my sister's Christmas Party last year because she mentioned they were raffling a Stand Mixer. I don't know if my presence were to make a difference with her winning the Stand Mixer (something I've been really wanting for a long time), but I went anyway. Not that I don't have money to buy a mixer, I do but it's not on top of my priorities right now. Wow, as if I'm known for being financially responsible, lol.
Anyhoo, she ended up with an Induction Stove instead of the Stand Mixer. I was a bit disappointed not taking the bacon home but also a little happy with all the possibilities this Induction Stove may have in store for us. First up, I thought of doing a Hotpot party at home! I know it's not a good idea because we practically live in a shoe box and that much steam will not do us any good but we still went with it, lol!
According to Wikipedia, a Hotpot (also known as Steamboat to some Asian countries) refers to several East Asian varieties of Stew, consisting of a simmering metal pot of stock at the center of the dining table. While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are place into the pot and are cooked at the table. Typical hotpot dishes would include thinly sliced meat, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, egg dumplings and seafood. For our Hot pot, here are the ingredients that I used :
- Miso Paste (as my base stock)
- Kangkong
- Fish Balls
- Enoki Mushrooms
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Onions
- Green Onions
- Squid Rings
- Crab Sticks
- Tofu
- Vermicelli Noodles
- Prepare everything in a separate containers/plates. An organized ingredient pool not only looks good in photos, it also makes the cooking way easier since you can see everything in order.
- While preparing your ingredients, you can start simmering your stock in low heat. I used Miso Paste because it's the only one I have. But when I visited Robinson's Supermarket, I saw ready-to-use hot pot mixes. But I have yet to try those.
- Bring your stock to a boil and increase the heat to high. You can start adding the tough ingredients first. If you have meat in your list of ingredients, you might want to add that first and so on.
- From there, you can add any ingredient that you want just make sure to check adjust the heat every now and then. If the heat is too high, there's a tendency for the stock to dry up really fast and the ingredients don't absorb as much flavor. Adjust it when necessary.
And there you have it, home-made hot pot at home! For the dipping sauce, I went with soy sauce, chili and calamansi because I prefer dipping my tofu in spicy toyomansi. You can also choose to have one mildly sweet dipping sauce for variation. I didn't have enough saucers at home when I did this so I had to do with just once dipping sauce, lol. You can experiment with whatever dipping sauce goes well with the ingredients you'll have. The good things about having a home-made hot pot is that you can be as random or as creative as you want to be. No one will judge you, lol.
Preparing the ingredients and bonding over cooking everything in a hot pot was fun. The clean up, not so much! I had a ton of plates, saucers and bowls to clean up. Not to mention the hot pot and all the spoons and chop sticks! But if you're looking for a good family bonding activity, you might want to try this at home and bond while washing the dishes too, since you're already at it, lol! Have you guys tried the hot pot experience at home? How was it? Do you have any tips for me on my next try? I'll appreciate all your answers!
Ochi is a twenty-something Corporate Trainer who loves to cook, take photos and videos of her food, eat and travel. On weekends, she's either drunk or snuggling in bed watching her favorite crime drama. 
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