Hot Pot

Several days of hard travel, several days of fast “food”, (when I could stop for said), and I am ready to go to full-on Hedon mode, and for that I go Korean, but alas K-Town is still semi-closed, and I am NOT sitting at a cold table next to an active street. So let’s do this ourselves. (SO PROMISING MYSELF and evening in K-Town, just as soon as weather and Covid clear up)

From Wikipedia:

Hot pot or hotpot (simplified Chinese: 火锅; traditional Chinese: 火鍋; pinyin: huǒguō; lit. ‘fire pot’), also known as soup-food or steamboat, is a cooking method that originates from China, prepared with a simmering pot of soup stock at the dining table, containing a variety of East Asian foodstuffs and ingredients.

While a hot pot full of flavored broth is kept simmering, raw ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked in a manner similar to fondue (hot pots usually use a water-based soup, while fondues use cooking oil). Hot pots may be prepared and eaten either at home or in a restaurant. Since it is considered as a main dish, it can be enjoyed without other separate courses like rice or noodles. The cooked food is often eaten with a dipping sauce for additional flavoring.

Typical hot pot ingredients include thinly sliced meat, leaf vegetables, mushrooms, vermicelli, sliced potatoes, bean products, egg dumplings, tofu, and seafood. Raw ingredients are pre-sliced into thin sections that will cook quickly and consistently in the simmering broth, which is maintained at a gentle boiling temperature. Most raw foods can be cooked in a hot pot, although they may have different cooking times, and must be immersed in the soup and then removed accordingly.

Hot Pot Tofu

Not your mothers tofu, Unless she was Korean

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Soup

Cuisine Asian, Chinese, Korean

Servings 4

Calories 372 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 Block Tofu Extra Firm, Pressed, cubed to 1"
• 2 tbsp Minced Garlic
• 2 tbsp Grated Ginger
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 3 tbsp Soy Sauce Low Sodium
• 1 tbsp Sambal oelek More to your taste
• 1 ea Bok Choy Greens Sliced Thin, ~(4 cups)
• 4 cups Broth Beef, Chicken, Pho, Veggie, (Low Sodium)
• 2 cup Mixed Mushrooms or Button Washed, sliced
• 1 pkg Asian Noodles Low Mein, Ramen, etc.
• 1/2 cup Cilantro Washed, Chopped
• 2 tbsp Chili Oil More to your taste
• 2 tbsp Corn Starch
• 2 tbsp Sesame Oil Toasted, for drizziling
• 1 tbsp Brown Sugar

Instructions

 

• Toss Tofu in corn starch, set aside
• Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.
• Saute tofu on all sides until crispy, (~6 minutes), Remove and set aside
• Top up with an additinal tsp of oil
• Add mushrooms and cook until they start to take color
• Add ginger and garlic; cook, stirring, until fragrant, ~ 60 sec
• Stir in sugar, broth, soy sauce, chili oiland chile-garlic sauce; cover and bring to a boil
• Add shreaded bok choy, and tofu, cover and simmer until greens wilt ~1-2 minutes
• Bring back to a boil, add teh noodles and cook until tender, ~ 3 minutes
• Remove from heat and stir in the herbs.

Notes

A fairly fast little, nose-clearing noodle soup.

One can serve this at the dining table with an induction heater, allowing the cooking of small thin pieces of protein (Shaved ribeye, shaved pork belly, shrimp, etc.)

I always have some toasted sesame oil, dark soy, chili oil, and chili paste on the table for those who wish to kick their bowl up a notch.

One can use the broth or stock of choice; Chicken is always safe, beef is good, some stores have a Pho broth (it’s not that good, but if it is what one has), veggie stock will make this vegetarian.

Nutrition

Calories: 372kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 17gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 1gSodium: 1852mgPotassium: 961mgFiber: 6gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 10027IUVitamin C: 98mgCalcium: 368mgIron: 4mg

Keyword Broth, Soup, Spicy, Tofu

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