Hot Pot

★★★★4.8· 389 ratings

·Serves 4

About this Dish

A bubbling split pot of spicy Sichuan and mild broths for cooking paper-thin meats, vegetables and dumplings at the table.

History & Origin

Hot pot (huo guo, literally fire pot) is one of China's oldest cooking traditions, with evidence of communal pot cooking dating back over 1,000 years. The Mongolian version — a simple mutton broth with thinly sliced lamb — was the original. In Sichuan it evolved into the fiery, numbing broth now most famous worldwide. Haidilao, the Sichuan hot pot chain founded in 1994, became famous for extraordinary service: free manicures, shoe shines and noodle-pulling performances for waiting customers. It is now one of China's most valuable restaurant chains. Hot pot is deeply social — it cannot be eaten alone.

IngredientsServes 4

🥩Wagyu beef, paper thin sliced, 400g

🐑Lamb, paper thin sliced, 300g

🦐Tiger prawns, shell on, 300g

🫘Silken tofu, cubed, 300g

🍄Enoki and shiitake mushrooms, 300g

🥬Napa cabbage and spinach, 400g

🍜Glass noodles or udon, 300g

🌿Sichuan spicy broth base, 1 packet

🫙Sesame dipping sauce, to serve

🧄Fresh garlic and chilli oil, to serve

Method

Prepare the Sichuan spicy broth by simmering the broth base with tallow, dried chillies, Sichuan peppercorns and aromatics for 30 minutes.

Set up a split pot (yuan yang) with the spicy broth on one side and a clear chicken or mushroom broth on the other.

Arrange all raw ingredients on platters around the table — meat thinly sliced, vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces, tofu cubed.

Set the pot to a vigorous boil. Prepare dipping sauce bowls with sesame paste, garlic, spring onion, coriander and chilli oil.

Cook ingredients according to their time: beef 10-20 seconds, prawns 1 minute, vegetables 2-3 minutes, tofu 3-4 minutes.

The broth becomes more flavourful as the meal progresses. Towards the end, add noodles to the enriched broth for the final course.

What Makes it Authentic

The Sichuan broth base should contain tallow for authenticity. Cook wagyu beef for seconds only — 10 to 20 seconds maximum. The sesame dipping sauce is essential.

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