There is still snow on the ground and it is in the teens outside.
I’m inside thinking how am I going to warm up? Then I remembered when my mom and I were in North China in the winter. We learned how people in China warm up with hot pot. What is hot pot? It is a mix between soup and fondue. Hot Pot restaurants are very popular in North China where it is cold. At Hot Pot restaurants, there is a “fondue” pot in the middle of each table. You can choose your base stock flavor including mushroom, chicken, beef, or szechuan. Szechuan is spicy with peppers and szechuan peppercorns. The peppercorns create a numbing sensation on your tongue. I thought I could handle heat (spicy) well but after tasting something with the szechuan peppercorns and chili peppers in it, no way. The peppercorns numb your tongue and the peppers create a burning sensation in the back of your mouth. I’m pretty sure I could have breathed fire. You may think this sounds exaggerative but it’s real. I did get accustomed to the heat some what. I began to understand how your body warms up quick with the heat. It may have to do with the fact that you are completely numb haha.
Ok back to the hot pot. The fun of fondue is that it is interactive. With hot pot, you choose an assortment of thinly sliced meats and vegetables. You can also choose among a selection of noodles. The meats and vegetables are added a few at a time to the stock to cook and then enjoyed. To flavor the meats even more, you can dip the cooked meats in sauces. At the restaurant there is a sauce bar of Chinese sauces ranging from sweet, savory to spicy.
When I returned home, I decided to recreate my hot pot experience. With Asian ingredients being hard to find, I created a Southern version on hot pot by featuring Southern meats and vegetables such as venison, pork tenderloin, sweet potato, Brussel sprouts, turnip greens, and more.
Hot pot can be a great week day meal to serve your family or fun weekend dinner for friends. If you are serving this during the week, prepare the stock ahead of time.
Southern Hot Pot
Print RecipeIngredients
- Homemade Chicken Stock
- 8 pounds bone-in dark meat chicken pieces
- 4 small yellow onions, peeled and quartered
- 8 celery ribs, cut crosswise into quarters
- 8 small carrots, peeled and cut crosswise into quarters
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 16 thyme sprigs
- 16 bay leaves
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger, optional
- Southern Soy Sauce
- 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 6 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- Horseradish Cream Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
- Hot Pot
- 1 (1/2-pound) pork tenderloin
- 1 (1/2-pound) bottom round beef
- 1 (1/2-pound) venison filet
- 1 (6-ounce) andouille sausage or spicy sausage link, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch slices
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 2 cups small Brussels sprouts, cut into halves
- 1 large eggplant, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 2 packages enoki mushrooms, trimmed and pulled apart
- 1 (8-ounce) container baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and cut into quarters
- 1 pound baby bok choy
- 1 bunch turnip green leaves, stems removed
- 8 ounces vermicelli rice noodles
- Sweet chili sauce
Instructions
To make the chicken stock, divide the chicken, vegetables, and herbs between two large pots. Add enough cold water to barely cover the ingredients. Bring to a low boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer uncovered for 4 hours. Season with salt to taste. During the cooking skim any scum or fat that rises to the surface. Strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer into a large container.
To make the soy sauce, in a small bowl mix together the Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, water, lemon juice, garlic, and ginger. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. The sauce will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for 1 week.
To make the horseradish sauce, in a small bowl mix the sour cream with horseradish to desired taste and pungency. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
To make the hot pot, cut the pork, beef, and venison into paper-thin slices. To make slicing easier, freeze the meats for 1 to 2 hours before slicing or have your butcher slice the meats for you. Arrange the pork, beef, venison, and sausage slices on large plates. On one or more plates, arrange the vegetables and noodles.
Place an electric fondue pot, skillet, or wok in the center of a table. I recommend 1 pot per 3 to 4 people. Pour the Homemade Chicken Stock into the pot(s), and bring to a low boil on a medium to medium-high setting.
Have guests use chopsticks or small tongs to cook their meats and vegetables in the stock. The pork, beef, and venison slices will take 2 to 3 minutes to cook. The sausage will take 4 to 5 minutes. The sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts will take 5 to 6 minutes. The eggplant, mushrooms, bok choy and turnip greens will take 3 to 4 minutes to cook. Add the noodles last and cook until soft. A small strainer with a bamboo handle (known as a “spider”) is ideal for retrieving any stray meats, vegetables, and noodles from the stock. Any additional stock in the pot can be ladled into guests’ bowls along with the noodles
to enjoy as a soup. Serve with sweet chili sauce, Southern Soy Sauce, and Horseradish Cream Sauce for dipping.
Makes 10 cups Homemade Chicken Stock, 1 1/2 cups Southern Soy Sauce, and 1 cup Horseradish Cream Sauce.
Notes
Notes: You can find enoki mushrooms at your local Asian grocery store. For the chili sauce, I like to use Mae Ploy’s Sweet Chili Sauce. If you don’t want to make the Homemade Chicken Stock, use a good-quality packaged broth instead.
2 Comments
Jade
June 11, 2018 at 10:18 amHi Whitney,
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I am from Hong Kong , hot pot is very popular here too, and it’s really fun to see that you added the southern touch on this traditional dish! Would love to try your version when winter comes!
Best wishes,
Jade x
Whitney
June 15, 2018 at 11:41 amI first tried hot pot in Shenzhen. I loved it!