Christmastime Hot Pot

[jo-mel]

I just brought my hot pots down from the shelf...and they are different from yours, Gary.  Yours is one big "bowl"...Both of mine have a "chimney" up the middle so the broth would be in a "moat" around the chimney. Would this make a difference with the heat distribution? 

Do you mean the brass hot pot with an aluminum basin, the hollow chimney, and a grate for charcoal?

The heat distribution would be intense as the chimney should be filled with live coals -------plenty of heat!! It gets so hot that the noodles catch on to it ---and brown!!

I don't use my metal ones very much, any more, but I do use an electric one, made in Taiwan. The moat surrounds a low 'chimney' that heats up enough to keep the broth at a good boil. I preheat the broth on the stove, first

When too much is added the the pot, the boil goes down, of course, so I always make sure the food is at room temp, and I don't put too much in the pot, at once.

I had a language teacher that used to have hot pot in his tiny apartment. There would be 4 of us at a little card table, and he used an electric hot plate and a stainless bowl. That broth bubbled away!!!

[Dejah]

Do you mean the brass hot pot with an aluminum basin, the hollow chimney, and a grate for charcoal?

Yup, that kind, except mine is stainless steel. My sister bought it for me years ago and it's just been sitting on the shelf collecting dust.

But now that I have a life...I want to use it.

I have two, the better one, I can take the "stove" apart and I think I can fit a sterno in right under the chimney so that the flame would be in the chimeny.

The other one is one piece, so I would have to drop charcoal in. I may have to run to the store this afternoon.

Now, how to get the coals lit, dropped...hmmm maybe I can get them going on my gas BBQ then put them into the hot pot...

So much hassel! But my mouth is already watering...

Any more ideas on the charcoal?

[Gary Soup]

I'd love to try the Mongolian type hot pot, but I don't want to be messing around with hot coals inside the 90-year old all-wood flat we live in.

We used to use an electric hot plate, but it was kind of frustrating because it would take forever for the water to return to a boil, even with a lightweight aluminum pot.

Thank heavens we have a gas range. If my wife had to cook on electric burners, she's probably divorce me!

[jo-mel]

If you can fit 2 or 3 of the small sternos in, it might work. You want to heat the spot under the broth, not just lose the heat up the chimney.

IF --- you do use charcoal, you can light them under the broiler in your stove. Then CAREFULLY transfer them to the hot pot. I've lit them in the fireplace, also, but either place is fine.

HOWEVER -- the charcoal is HOT, and the base of the hot pot gets VERY hot!! You can burn a good table if you don't prepare carefully. One time I used a very thick wooden cutting board, and the heat not only charred the board, but penetrated through. Another time I used one of those asbestos stove thingies that displace heat. It still charred the board underneath!!

If you have time, ask at a hardware store what would be best.

The other thing to be concerned about is using charcoal in a small enclosed area. You don't want to burn the Oxygen out of the room. Not good for you!!!!! The room I've used the hot pot in, is big and drafty, so I wasn't concerned, but in a small place, a door should be left open.

At any rate, you are going to have to give us a full report!!!

[dumpling]

Going to do the hot pot tomorrow night. Will try it in an electric wok.

Going to try:

Lobster Tails

Dungeness Crab

Shrimp

bean thread noodles

fried tofu

eggplant

spinach

chicken or beef(if I find good beef in the store tomorrow)

Sauces

1. Hoisin with bun bread, scallions and cucumber

2. ginger, garlic and sesame oil

3. ginger and scallion

4. chili

5. jalapeno and garlic

[tissue]

My parents used to make an all seafood hot pot, shrimp, fillet of fresh fish, and lots of blue crab.

The crab makes the broth very tasty!!!

My most memorable broth from a hotpot was one with oysters. It was not an all-fish hotpot. but rather a mix of everything, including raw oysters. I thought the lamb might dominate the other flavors, but it didn't. The oysters didn't dominate, either, but it was there --- and that broth was wonderful!

I've never used blue crab. Were they whole?

YEah you have to buy the live blue crab and then cut 'em up. If they have roe it's even better.

You can add rice and made congee with the broth at the end and crack and egg into it.

I also like the hot pot where you eat lamb/mutton and the broth is sour because of the pickled cabbages so it balances out the taste of the mutton.

[Dejah]

House has finally settled down...time for me to jot down some results from our family hot pot night

I tried the sterno under the bigger hot pot in the afternoon, with some boiling water in the pot. Not effective. The smaller pot didn't have a big enough opening to insert the sterno, so it was charcoals for both.

I really appreciated the info' you posted about lighting the charcoal under the broiler, jo-mel! Luckily, my oven is close to the kitchen window, and our dining area is also open to the kitchen, so ventilation was not a problem. The only problem was that I didn't put enough briquets in the bigger pot with the taller chimney. The "squat one" was great...broth stayed very hot even when there were several food items immersed. I ended up nuking the broth from the big pot acouple times to bring it back to boil quickly.

We had: sliced beef and pork tenderloin, chicken breasts, shrimp, baby squid, pickerel fillet, baby bak choy, baby spinach, whole green onion stalks, shrimp flavoured noodles. I started with chicken stock which I made earlier with ginger, celery and chicken carcasses I had in the freezer.

I gave each person a platter of the ingredients, chopsticks, soup spoon and a small long handled strainer. Everyone had a small bowl of rice, a dish of light soya flavoured with slivered ginger, green onions, sesame oil and fresh ground pepper, a dish of hot chili oil, one of sweet chili sauce and one of oyster sauce. There was a big platter of sushi with crab, avocado, cucumber and julienne carrot with pickled ginger and wasabi.

We ate and visited for about 3 hours...often fighting over the food and stealing from eachother. It was the first experience for our kids. They enjoyed the food but not sure if they liked having to cook their own food! :D. We had to replenish the coals under the broiler once. I was very glad I didn't have to go out to the BBQ!

We had left over meat and seafood so it was stir fry for supper next night.

I had fresh oysters but I didn't think the kids would enjoy them...so we breaded them with cracker crumbs, toasted sesame seeds and pan-fried with our supper with the stir-fries. They were delicious!

We had lots of broth left...very flavourful. I froze it and today I used it and made war wonton soup for lunch!

[jo-mel]

Sounds like you all had a wonderful time and and a very successful Hot Pot!!

HeeHee! <<<<<often fighting over the food and stealing from eachother>>>>> Sounds like a typical hot pot meal! It is a wonderful icebreaker for new friends and for family -- it is family as usual! LOL!

I've been at hot pot where a little too much to drink ends with people saying "Lets just throw everything in all at once and just fish it out!!"

I'm happy that the sterno question is settled. Now you know what your pots need and how to do it.

How did the pickerel work out? I've never used regular fish, except monk fish, because of how fish flakes.

My first strainers were beautiful brass ones, but they soon were replaced by plain wire ones. That brass lost their gloss so soon, and they were a pain to shine and ugly to use, so the wire ones are now my choice.

Hot pots are such fun. I'm sooo glad it turned out so well! Thanks for the report!

[chengb02]

being from BJ, a winter hotpot among friends is a must, however it was only when I was at university and ate with other Chinese, from all over China and Taiwan that I realized how different hotpots can be. Egg, in hotpot or sauce, had me cringing, but its a personal preference. For me there are some hard and fast rules to hotpot:

1. it must include mutton

2. the sauce needs to be a mixture of minimally soy sauce, zhi ma jiang, and la jiao

3. the only drink to accompany it should be beer (preferably Qingdao if not in China) or, for those who can handle it, bai jiu

4. gather together any friends/family who are available

the hotpot meal pictured looked excellent!