HOT Freaking POT

One of my all time favorite meals, especially in winter, it is the Chinese's answer to Cheese Fondue.


The reasons I like hotpot, apart from "it's HOT":

• The boiling pot gets you warm


• Do your foodstuff they way you like 'em (I like my instant noodles almost raw - some of my friends like it mushy..opps..soft & no blaming the chef when you screw up your own food)


• I can secretly never do any cooking, by nipping someone else's food (put any Japanese porn on, for distraction)


• Multitasking training (watching TV while trying to offer insightful and witty comments, while making sure that the beef was pulled out of the soup base at the right time, while eyeing my friend's mini cheese dogs she just threw into the pot, while tickling my male friend's legs with my toes, while trying to throw more things into the pot, while trying to...)


• Organizational training (the preparation: you> wash the veggies, you> boil some water, you> set the table, you> defrost the meat, you> slice tomatoes, me> evaluating how well you are doing while sipping my glass of coke zero - yes life is so fair...for me)

Below are some of my favorite hot pot items:



The Equipments:



This small & cute hotpot set (electric stove & pot - just the perfect size for 2-4) costs below HK$300 (you can get it-or other brands/types from any electric shops such as Fortress, Broadway, etc, and you can use it again & again & again throughout winter)

The Soup Base:

Today's pick is Fish & Cilantro Hot Pot Soup Base from Lee Kum Kee (HK$3.90 per sachet, 1 sachet is enough for 1 x hotpot for two)

Spice up your soup base:

- Cilantro

- Ginger

- Tomatoes

The dip:

- Chopped red chilli

- Chopped cilantro

- Fish Sauce

- Light Soy Sauce

My cuts of meat:

American Fat Cow

That's how my friend calls it - sounds very rude, but it's yummy

The lean & mean sliced pork

Don't say you're on diet, just say you really prefer this over the fat cow

You got balls?

- Mini cheese hotdogs (Maid's brand HK$11.90 per pack)

- Taiwanese pork & mushroom balls

- Fish siu mai

- Fried fish cake

- Lobster balls

- Squid balls

(HK$20 per pound)

The greeneries:

My #1 favorite:

Broad leafed edible chrysanthemum (this will be the name of my first born aka. tong ho, good luck to him/her practising spelling the name)

(psst...at this time of year (near Chinese New Year) the price shot up to HK$12 per Chinese pound (gan), normally just HK$8/gan. Half gan is generally enough for 2, unless you are trying so hard to appear health conscious)

Chinese lettuce

A cheaper option, crunchy and absorbent.

(Normally HK$6/gan, these days HK$8/gan)

Others:
Super Silky Tofu
(HK$2.50 per piece)

Deep fried fish skin
($15 per bag)