Easy Entertaining With Soup: Asian Hot Pots

Cold-weather entertaining doesn't get much easier — or cozier — than throwing a hot pot dinner party. Not only is a hot pot dinner an economical, low-stress way to feed a group, eating bowl after bowl of soup warms you to the core, making this the ideal meal for chilly evenings. The only work involved is making the broth, gathering the equipment, and prepping the ingredients beforehand.

THE BROTH
The broth is the foundation of a hot pot, so make it a good one! Here's our comprehensive guide to stocks and broths:
• Your Guide to Making Homemade Stock & Broth

THE EQUIPMENT
A butane-powered burner requires replacement fuel canisters, but also doubles as an outdoor stove and is a useful addition to a kitchen emergency kit. Electric burners, on the other hand, are quieter and don't require the additional expense of fuel, but they do have drawbacks. They can't double as emergency stoves during a power outage, and their power cords can potentially get in the way during dinner.
• Max Burton Table Top Burner, $30.57 at Amazon
• Waring Pro SB30 1300-Watt Portable Single Burner, $59 at Amazon

While any large, heavy pot can be used to make the soup, if you frequently cook hot pot meals, a specialized Japanese pot called a donabe is useful. Made of clay, these pots retain heat well, and are wide and low, so they accommodate a lot of ingredients which can be plucked out of the broth with ease. If you are really serious, consider a donabe from Iga, Japan, where they have been making pottery since the 7th century.
• Sumikannyu Ceramic Donabe Hotpot, $37.99 at Amazon
• Classic Iga-Yaki Donabe, $65-$120 at Toiro

THE METHOD & INGREDIENTS
• Steamboat, Hot Pot, Shabu Shabu: Like Fondue, But Better: Faith's Chinese-style hot pot party included spicy dipping sauces and a divided soup pot, which held two types of broth.
• Cooking Japanese: Nabemono: This post on Japanese-style hot pot includes a comprehensive list of suggested ingredients.

What's your favorite way to cook a hot pot meal?

(Image: norinori303/Shutterstock)

Comments (8)

I've thought about doing this with my electric fondue pot - capacity is smaller but it seems like it would work (maybe with broth refills from the stove).

I've been doing Hot Pot Parties for years with my Chinese friends, at least one every winter. We use a deep fryer for the broth. I just have a cheap Presto one and it works great. The basket keeps things from getting lost in the bottom. It's some of the best food I've eaten and we just sit for hours and hours, eat slowly and talk a lot. It's great!

gah, I've been eyeing the pots on Toiro for a couple of years now. I want all of them so badly! (alas, I have an electric stove so nevermind)

@jenn_y: me too! we always finish with vermicelli, eggs, and more veggies <3

Use a portable camp stove. I got mine at a yard sale for $20. I've seen them at Asian grocery stores for $15. They use butane canisters that run about $5 for a pack of 4.

For the broth, I just use canned chicken broth and sliced ginger and scallions. Some great things to add: sliced taro, young bamboo shoots, kolrabi, daikon.

For the dipping sauce, take a really good oyster sauce, mix with minced raw garlic (as much as you like). That's it. You can add little chili sauce, if you want some heat. It's my favorite hotpot dipping sauce.

We have a family tradition where we do hotpot every year for New Years Eve. My parents, my husband and our kids, and my sister and her husband. We all eat dinner together starting around 7 p.m. and going until we are absolutely stuffed, then people disperse to their various parties, but we start off together and always have a great time.

Hotpot is one of my favorite meals. It's super simple to prep, once you get all the gears. And it's perfect for a large group because of the communal nature. We can sit for hours doing this, rest a little, and go back for 2nd!
For the broth, my Chinese family gets a little elaborate, adding a lot of Chinese herbs and spices. But I've done it with simple chicken/veggie broth too.
One ingredient for hotpot that we can't live without is tofu (firm and fried ones). They soak up the broth and can withstand boiling for a long time. If you're advanturous, try adding a peeled banana to it. It adds wonderful aroma.
You'll also need a second pot of hot broth in case the original broth on the table runs out (ingredients do soak up a lot of the liquid as time goes by), although hot boiling water will be just fine.
For the dipping sauce (this is my favorite part), I usually just put out bottles of soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame sauce, sesame oil, chili paste, fish sauce, and saute sauce. Also put out bowls of minced garlic, scallions and ginger. Let your party mix their own sauce. It's really fun. My secret ingredient is a raw egg yolk. It instantly turns the sauce into a thick consistency.
There are so many variation to hotpot. I highly recommend everyone to try it.

Ok, thats it, I'm totally having a hotpot party. It's my favorite low maintenance party meal and I haven't had one in ages!