It’s been incredibly cold lately back here in Washington, and when it’s cold, there is nothing that can beat cooking around a spicy hotpot with your favorite, well everything!

Hotpot not only is delicious and a crowd-pleaser since everyone can eat what they like, its also definitely the kitchen fridge + pantry cleaner! Left over veggies, fish, poultry, kim chi, Korean BBQ dipping sauce…anything is fair game! My workplace is conveniently located right by a Korean grocery store too so anything I can’t pull out of my fridge or pantry, I can quickly grab things at the store.

Things to buy/gather:

1. Pre-sliced meat
2. Fish Tofu
3. Dried bead curd
4. Dried Vermicelli (bean thread)
5. Chinese BBQ sauce + Fermented Tofu
6. Fresh veggies (tan o or on choy are my favorite go to)
7. Puffy tofu
8. Taro
9. Fish ball/beef meat ball

Go crazy here, whatever you and your loved ones like to eat and can be cooked in a broth, go for it! These are just some of my favorite essentials

Things to do ASAP:

1. Soak your vermicelli in some warm water
2. Soak your dried bean curd if you have some (tofu skin)
3. Wash your veggies

My impromptu broth:

1. Ripe Kim-Chi that’s been sitting in the fridge + liquid
2. Chicken broth
3. 2 generous scoops of my samjang Korean BBQ dipping sauce (fermented soybean, sesame oil, gochuchang, ginger, garlic, scallions, rice vinegar, red chili pepper flakes)
4. More chili pepper flakes
5. Sesame Oil
6. Tomatoes, green  onions, yellow onion
7. Whatever broth flavoring things you have at home (mushroom base, chicken base, thai tom yum etc)
8. Fish Sauce to taste

Pretty much what you wanna do is create an umami sweet savory base that’s got a kick. Some families just do chicken broth, but I like strong flavor profiles.

Dipping Sauce (meat/vegs):

1. Chinese BBQ Sauce — AMAZING BASE
2. Add some Chile Sate. My parents make ours in batches but I’m sure you can also just buy it (chili pepper, fish sauce, garlic, oil). If you don’t have chili sate handy, any spicy element works
3. Fermented bean curd

You can also do a tangy soysauce (soysauce, lime, black bean sauce). This really compliments the noods and is my favorite to eat with just plain noodles too 🙂

Hot Pot Take 2!

This hot pot base was created by sauteing some shallots, onions, garlic, and lemongrass with some paprika and cayenne pepper. Once it was aromatic and the garlic started to brown, I added some fish sauce, mushroom seasoning, and dried tamarind powder. After a minute, I threw in some diced and quartered tomatoes and added chicken stock and water.