Bao Buns
Vivian Chan-Tam
78 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
78
2 hours 25 minutes
Hot Pot
Updated Feb. 6, 2024
- Total Time
- 50 minutes
- Prep Time
- 30 minutes
- Cook Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- Thinly sliced chuck, rib-eye or Wagyu beef; pork belly; or lamb, thawed if frozen (see Tip 1)
- Frozen pork or beef balls
- Frozen shrimp, lobster or fish balls
- Frozen fish cakes or fish tofu
- Fresh, white fish, such as bass or halibut, thinly sliced
- Squid, cut into bite-sized pieces
- Shellfish, such as prawns, shrimp, scallops or clams
- Firm tofu, cut into 1-inch pieces
- Fried tofu skin rolls
- Dried bean curd
- Dried bean curd threads, soaked in warm water per package instructions, cut into 1-inch pieces
- Bean curd sheets, soaked per package instructions if dried
- Napa cabbage, cored and sliced into 1-inch pieces (thicker stems separated from thinner leaves)
- Dark and leafy greens, such as baby bok choy, cut in half lengthwise; chrysanthemum greens, sliced into 1-inch pieces; choy sum, watercress or spinach
- Mushrooms, such as shiitake, enoki, bunashimeji (beech), wood ear or oyster; stems and roots removed and separated, if necessary, and reconstituted if dried
- Lotus root, sliced into ½-inch-thick rounds
- Canned baby corn ears, drained
- Russet, Yukon gold or sweet potato, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds
- Taro root, sliced into ½-inch-thick rounds, soaked in water for 5 minutes
- Daikon radish, chopped into 1-inch pieces
- Vermicelli rice or mung bean noodles or glass noodles, rehydrated according to package instructions
- Frozen dumplings (any type)
- Thin, oval rice cakes
- 2(8-ounce) packages hot pot soup bases (if using a double-sided pot, use 1 [8-ounce] package on each side)
- Sesame sauce or oil
- Sha cha (Chinese barbecue sauce)
- Black vinegar
- Soy sauce
- Chile oil or crisp
- Toasted white sesame seeds
- Chopped cilantro or scallions
- Fried or fresh chopped garlic
- White pepper
For the Meat (choose 1 to 2, About 1 Pound Total)
For the Seafood (choose 1 or 2, About 1 Pound Total)
For the Tofu or Bean Curd (choose 1 to 2, About 1 Pound Total)
For the Vegetables (choose 3 to 4, About 2 Pounds Total)
For the Starch (choose 1 to 2, About 1 Pound Total)
For the Broth
For the Dipping Sauces and for Topping
Preparation
- Step 1
Set the table: Lay out the meats, seafood, tofu and bean curds, and vegetables on platters in like groups. Transfer rehydrated noodles, if using, to a serving bowl, and place all other starches on separate serving dishes. Set out at least two small bowls per person for the dipping sauces, and make sure there are chopsticks on hand as well as multiple small mesh strainers for the meats, seafood and tofu.
- Step 2
Place a large, wide pot over a portable stove in the center of the table, and prepare the soup base according to package instructions. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Working in batches if necessary, add the ingredients that need a longer time to cook, such as beef or pork balls, thick-stemmed greens, mushrooms, potatoes, lotus roots and rice cakes. (The sliced meat is not added at this stage.) Cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender but not falling apart, about 10 minutes. Add the tofu, fish balls and quicker-cooking vegetables halfway through cooking. Meanwhile, have diners make their own dipping sauce. (See Tip 2.)
- Step 3
Remove the cover and have everyone cook their own pieces of meat by using the mesh strainers or a clean set of chopsticks to dip the meat and seafood in the broth, until cooked through, 30 seconds to 1 minute. (Make sure the broth is at a consistent boil throughout the cooking.) Dip the cooked ingredients into the desired sauce and eat. Add any remaining vegetables to the broth to cook, then add the noodles and cook until just warmed through, about 1 minute.
Tips
- Tip 1: You can purchase presliced meat for hot pot at Asian markets, or you can ask the butcher to thinly slice it. If doing it yourself, place the meat in a resealable plastic bag and freeze it for up to 2 hours. Remove from the freezer, then using a sharp knife, slice the meat against the grain into very thin slices (about ⅛-inch thick). If the meat shreds, put it back in the freezer until it’s ready to cleanly slice.
- Tip 2: Dipping sauce combinations are a personal preference, but here are three classic combinations to get you started: 1. Combine sesame sauce, soy sauce, black vinegar or sha cha. Drizzle in chile oil or sesame oil to taste, and top with sesame seeds, chopped cilantro or chopped garlic. 2. Combine sesame sauce or black vinegar with a splash of soy sauce. 3. Combine equal parts sesame and sha cha sauce, then add sesame seeds, chopped cilantro or chopped garlic.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Julia LP
If you're from the US and have no idea how to find items cheaply or easily, see if Weee! (an Asian grocery delivery service) is in your area! Life-changing. I've hosted home hot pot meals for a while and while ingredients always vary, I feel like I've mastered the base: stir-fry minced garlic, diced white onion, salt, and MSG in butter; add miso paste to caramelize; deglaze with sherry; and then add in boiling water, roughly chopped green onions, and the classic Little Sheep soup base.
jbtmd
The soup base is very salty, think of it more like fondue. Altogether more fun and healthier than fondue though. We repurpose our Instant Pot for the hot pot so don’t need to buy another electric device.
David
Hot Pot is like that story I used to read to my daughter; "Stone Soup". A guy comes to a town and starts making stone soup (water and a rock). People come to see what this guy is up to. He explains "Oh I'm making stone soup. You know if we had an onion it would make it really good..."
Emily
I've used an electric fondue pot for hotpot and had no trouble keeping the broth at the proper temperature, and Little Sheep soup base (half a packet because it was plenty salty and spicy for us even when diluted). I froze the leftover soup base and it kept until our next hotpot adventure.
Mike in Maine
We (well, *I*) insist on using a traditional copper, charcoal fired hot pot. Some people worry about CO/CO2, but I am not among them-- I've been in (unventilated) hot pot restaurants with about 60 of these going at once, and everyone was fine-- a cracked window should be enough to allay anyone's unease). 12 inch copper, charcoal fired hotpots are available many places, including eBay, for $60 or less. I have never seen more than one bowl per person for dipping sauce. (TBC)
Molly
A hot pot is a fun dinner. I read and followed much of this recipe, especially in terms of the variety of items to cook. Must not use soup base straight out of packet though! The broth is very important and worth spending time on even w all the other slicing and prep. A garlicky, gingery, lemony, basil and chili pepper concoction is preferred to just the packets of soup base. Doctor them! Add to them make a broth w more depth. Worth the effort at the table.
JonCanadian
Some hotpot etiquette suggestions: there should be two different colours of chopsticks. One colour is used to move food into the broth and from the broth to individual bowls.The other colour is to move from your individual bowl into your mouth. Also everyone gets there own dipping sauce bowl, which they mix to their preferences. White sugar is also a traditional thing that can be added to the dipping sauce.
Molly
A hot pot is a fun dinner. I read and followed much of this recipe, especially in terms of the variety of items to cook. Must not use soup base straight out of packet though! The broth is very important and worth spending time on even w all the other slicing and prep. A garlicky, gingery, lemony, basil and chili pepper concoction is preferred to just the packets of soup base. Doctor them! Add to them make a broth w more depth. Worth the effort at the table.
JH
Taro root should be cut into small pieces and fried. This will prevent it from dissolving in the pot from over cooking.
Katy Balagopal
Thank you Julia LP - just got my Weee! delivery- had not heard of this resource ! It’s amazing
pamela
I haven’t attempted this recipe, but I would, if I have a crowd to visit. Years ago we were friends with a huge amount of Aussies that were in the states for highly secretive reasons in the defense industry. On a few occasions we had hot pot…what a wonderful community meal! It is like a fondue, only because you cook the fish, veggies and meats in hot broth. The broth must be wonderful because that’s part of what you eat
RileyJ
It's worth noting that using charcoal or wood to heat food indoors is dangerous and can be deadly at worst; unhealthy at best. Carbon monoxide is poisonous and a pollutant. Ventilated or not it can, and does, kill. Wood and charcoal cooking fires all produce it. Google it if you're skeptical.
David
Hot Pot is like that story I used to read to my daughter; "Stone Soup". A guy comes to a town and starts making stone soup (water and a rock). People come to see what this guy is up to. He explains "Oh I'm making stone soup. You know if we had an onion it would make it really good..."
Nic
I read Stone Soup to my kids as well. We actually made Stone Soup many times - it was a great way to use up small amounts of vegetables etc we had around
Emily
I've used an electric fondue pot for hotpot and had no trouble keeping the broth at the proper temperature, and Little Sheep soup base (half a packet because it was plenty salty and spicy for us even when diluted). I froze the leftover soup base and it kept until our next hotpot adventure.
Mike in Maine
We (well, *I*) insist on using a traditional copper, charcoal fired hot pot. Some people worry about CO/CO2, but I am not among them-- I've been in (unventilated) hot pot restaurants with about 60 of these going at once, and everyone was fine-- a cracked window should be enough to allay anyone's unease). 12 inch copper, charcoal fired hotpots are available many places, including eBay, for $60 or less. I have never seen more than one bowl per person for dipping sauce. (TBC)
jbtmd
The soup base is very salty, think of it more like fondue. Altogether more fun and healthier than fondue though. We repurpose our Instant Pot for the hot pot so don’t need to buy another electric device.
Julia LP
If you're from the US and have no idea how to find items cheaply or easily, see if Weee! (an Asian grocery delivery service) is in your area! Life-changing. I've hosted home hot pot meals for a while and while ingredients always vary, I feel like I've mastered the base: stir-fry minced garlic, diced white onion, salt, and MSG in butter; add miso paste to caramelize; deglaze with sherry; and then add in boiling water, roughly chopped green onions, and the classic Little Sheep soup base.
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