How to prepare Hot Pot and eat stylishly
When we talk about culture, food is always an interesting topic. Specifically, in hot pot culture, there is an influence of life and endless energy about different types of hot pots. There are a variety of ways to eat hot pot, a collection of ingredients and sauce. The fun part of a hot pot is that you can cook it by yourself. The reason people like to eat hot pot is they like to share and gather with friends and family. It’s the same feeling during the Chinese New Year, we sit together around a big round table chatting and sharing our joy of food.
Hot Pot Cookware
A hot pot, as the name suggests, is a cookware that combines a pot and an oven. A cooking method in which various dishes are added to the boiling soup and can be eaten while cooking. This also refers to dishes cooked in a hot pot. Therefore, before cooking hot pot, we must prepare the right cookware. We recommend getting a hot pot set with a built-in electric heating element on the bottom with a removable pot. For the pot, Chinese stainless steel hot pots are ideal. Their round shape is wide and deep enough to hold a good amount of food and is easy to clean. The material of the pot is ideal for simmering soup to heat up quickly when we add ingredients. You can also find one that has a separate metal part in the middle of the pot, in which you can cook two different soups at the same time. This is also a great idea for people who like spicy, non-spicy or different options.
Ingredients
If we want to make hot pot delicious and healthy, we will need to be picky about ingredients and stock to increase the enjoyment of the taste buds. First, the choice of soup base is particularly important, the texture of the soup base will affect the taste of the ingredients we add. For the soup base, choose a soup base made from kelp, miso, vegetables, lemongrass, and tomato. It makes the soup base taste fresh and non-greasy. You can also find various packaged hot pot soup bases in the Asian market to make this step easier. If you like strong-flavor soup bases, one of the health choices is mixed with white miso and Superior Natural’s unsweetened soymilk. All ingredients will be so rich in taste and it is low in fat and offers all the goodness of soy.
The biggest advantage of cooking hot pot is that you can choose ingredients according to your own preferences. Fresh vegetables such as chrysanthemum, spinach, radish, white cabbage, and various mushrooms are low in calories and rich in nutrients and fiber, which can add flavor and enhance the taste of the soup base. It is best to include 4-5 hot pot items such as tofu as it is one of the most popular items in hot pot meals.
Superior Natural has a variety of tofu products including:
Pressed tofu extremely dense with a chewy, meat-like texture like chicken, can be pre-frozen which becomes a sponge-like texture to absorb more soup flavor while cooking.
Fried tofu is firm on the inside and crispy fried on the outside, the fried outer skin is great for soaking up flavors from sauces and soup.
Bean Curd Roll is great for hot pots and soups! It only takes 5 seconds to cook in boiling soup. It adds rich fried flavors without being too oily.
Soft Tofu and Silken Tofu have a delectable silky texture and creamy taste. It is great for blending into soups or sauces! We also have Egg Flavored Silken Tofu, which has a very creamy and delicate texture with a subtle egg flavor.
Tofu Puffs have a light and spongy texture with a hollow center. Crispy on the outside and hollow on the inside. A quick bake in the oven makes these a perfect snack to dip in your favorite sauce and easy to cook with a hot pot meal.
They are all easy to cook in a hot pot and provide nutrients in your hot pot meal. Looking for another cook-quickly ingredient? Rice noodles, udon, and rice cake are clever ideas for cooking in a hot pot as well. For the meat part, Asian grocery stores sell multiple types of thin-cut sliced meat such as beef, pork, chicken, and lamb. Also, they sell different items of seafood, like shrimp, squid, scallops, sliced fish fillets, and fish or shrimp balls. (After adding any raw meat or seafood, make sure to cook ingredients through and allow the pot to boil for at least 1-3 minutes.)
Dipping Sauce
Hot pots can be eaten in a very personal style when we make the dipping sauce. Soy sauce match Sha Cha sauce (Chinese BBQ sauce) is one of the classic flavors, just like adding white vinegar and fermented vegetables when Taiwanese eat beef noodles as a meal, the proportion of the sauce is important. Making your own healthier dipping sauce using light sodium soy sauce or Japanese-style soy sauce with scallions, mashed garlic, coriander, mashed radish, vinegar, sesame oil, and lemon juice is a good idea too.
With the right cookware and ingredients, everyone can easily make a hot pot at home, enjoy this comfortable and diverse and delicious meal with family and friends. Have a moment with this wonderful memory that will surely be unforgettable.
