An incredibly easy feast!
I’ve been making Chinese hot pots since I was a kid. They are a real party piece and most of the work is done at the table.
All you need to do is prepare your raw meat, seafood and vegetables of choice and let you guests do the cooking.
This is a recipe for my own hot pot broth that is used to cook the raw ingredients. It’s worth noting that there are some excellent packaged hot pot products that are available at Chinese grocers.
The green stock you see in the photographs is one of those.
The darker stock is one I made with roasted pork, lamb and chicken bones. My version is quite spicy so feel free to leave some of the hotter spices out if you wish.
Once the stock/s are heated up, place them on the table on a hot pot cooker or similar and let your guests cook what they want in it.
Chop sticks are used to dip meat, seafood and vegetables in the stock and then dipped into a selection of dressings and sauces. If you don’t like using chopsticks, you could always use a fork.
I also serve a plate of pre-cooked rice or egg noodles that can also be heated up in the stock.
Cut all meat thinly so that it cooks quickly in the stock.
There are some very good instant hot pot broths on the market if you can’t be bothered to make your own.
Indo-Chinese Hot Pot
Ingredients
- 2 lbs beef bones - cut small
- 2 lbs pork bones - cut small
- 1 lb. chicken bones
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 5 spring onions - finely chopped
- 3 inche piece of ginger - sliced and smashed
- 1 onion - roughly chopped
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1 large bunch coriander - roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoons Szechuan peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon hot chilli powder
- 5 tablespoons coconut amino
Instructions
- Heat your oven to high and roast the bones until fragrant and nicely browned. About 40 minutes should do the trick.
- Place the bones in a large saucepan with the sesame oil over medium high heat.
- After about a minutes, stir in the spring onions, ginger, garlic and onion.
- Let this all sizzle for about five minutes and then add the cumin, black and Szechuan peppercorns. Fry for another minute and then stir in just enough water or chicken stock to cover.
- Add the coriander and simmer for at least two hours. Longer will be even better.
- When ready to serve, strain the stock and add the chilli powder and coconut amino. Keep the stock hot to cook the raw ingredients at the table.
Great for serving a crowd.