Blissful hotpot meal for the family and friends during Chinese New Year. Sharing some Hotpot Recipes and Cooking Tips
MyWokLife
Hey there! Still within the 15 days of Lunar New Year. Wishing everyone a very Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Sure we’re enjoying some lavish meals this season! We all tend to indulge during festivities. The classic “I’ll stay fit and start a diet after the 15th of Lunar New Year” plan. Wahaha!
Hotpot or Steamboat : A Traditional During Chinese New Year
Absolutely, homemade hotpot is a must during the Chinese festive season. It not only warms you physically but also brings a heartfelt warmth to the family, especially in winter.
In year-long-summer Singapore, hotpot during festivities symbolizes family togetherness. The Chinese belief in hotpot’s symbolism is intriguing – the simmering soup represents the rise of wealth (風山水起), and the constant motion mirrors the rolling ball of prosperity (財源滾滾). I love the tradition of sitting together, enjoying a healthy hotpot, surrounded by an array of ingredients to pick and place into the bubbling pot.
Hotpot (火鍋, Pronounced in Mandarin as Huo Guo, or 打邊爐, Pronounced in Cantonese as Da Bin Low).
Hotpot Recipes and Cooking Tips : Recommended Hot Pot Food Items
Recommended hotpot food items (but not limited to):
Handful of assorted leavy vegetables:
- Chinese cabbage
- Chinese lettuce
- Garland chrysanthemum aka “Tong O”, trimmed away sandy roots
- Asparagus, halved crosswise
- Raw sweet corn cob
- Tora aka Yam, thickly sliced
Mushroom types
- 12 – 15 large Button mushroom
- 6 large pieces of Abalone mushroom
- 1 stalk of Enokitake aka Golden needle mushroom, trimmed away sandy root ends
- 1 block/ roll of tofu aka beancurd (Plain/ Egg tofu), cut into cubes
Balls : 10 of Each
- Fish balls (Fried/ Raw)
- Pork balls
- Squid balls
- Fish paste wanton
- Hotdog/ Chipolata
- Quail eggs, hard boiled
- 12 – 16 pieces of homemade wanton
See my wanton recipe here
or dumplings (See my dumpling recipe here)
Meat & Seafood:
- 150 – 200 grams of deli-thin sliced meat (Beef/ Pork, usually frozen slices)
- 150 – 200 grams of chicken fillet, cut into bite size and seasoned with pinch of oyster sauce, soy sauce and pepper
- 200 grams of fish slices (*I used Batang fish and Red Snapper)
- 12 – 16 tails of large prawns with shell remained intact, trimmed and deveined
- 12 – 16 pieces of large mussles
- 3 – 4 pieces of flower crabs, cut into pieces
- 3 – 4 pieces of sea cucumber, cut and soaked to soften
- 1 pack of or canned razor clams or pacific clams or the usual hard clams
- 1 canned of cooked abalone, thinly sliced
Choice of starchy food:
- Cooked yellow noodles
- Rice vercimilli aka Bee Hoon
- Thin vercimilli aka Tong Fen
- Udon
Hotpot Recipes and Cooking Tips : Cooking the Herbal Chicken Soup Stock for Steamboat or Hotpot
Ingredients for Herbal Chicken Soup Stock
- 1 whole chicken back bone (whole bone shell)
- 1 teaspoon of Fructus Lycii aka Wolfberry “Gou Qi Zi” (枸杞子)
- 1 tablespoon of dried longan (桂圆)
- 5 pieces of Codonopsis Pilosulae “Dang shen” (黨參)
- 6 – 8 pieces each of dried Chinese Yam Root/ “Huai Shan” (淮山)
- Touch of salt
- 1 large pot of water, 70% filled (about 3000ml)
Condiments to serve with:
- Garlic chilli sauce
- Light soy sauce
Method for Cooking Soup Stock:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Reduce heat when boiled, add chicken bones, wolfberries, dried longan, dried Huai Shan and Dang Sheng.
- Simmer for 30 minutes to an hour over low heat.
- Add pinch of salt and stir well, about 5 minutes before heat off.
- Leave it on stove till needed later.
A touch of salt suffices; keep it somewhat bland at first. The soup’s flavor gets a boost as you gradually add a variety of food ingredients.
Hotpot Recipes and Cooking Tips : Serving Food during Hot Pot or Steamboat
When ready to start:
1) Get each diner a pair of long-handled metal soup spoon and a small wire basket.
2) Pour half-filled soup stock into the electric hotpot or metal pot, set on a portable induction cooker/stove, and place it at the center of the dining table.
3) Allow the soup to boil, and once it simmers, add longer-cooking raw items like meat, ribs, sweet corn, crabs, sea cucumber, etc. These enhance the soup’s flavor. Just ensure not to overcrowd the hotpot.
4) Cover the pot with a lid, bring the soup to a boil again, then reduce the heat. Let the food simmer a bit longer to ensure everything is well cooked.
5) For easily cooked or pre-cooked items like prawns, deli-thin sliced beef/pork, crabsticks, vegetables, fishballs, razor clams, abalone slices, etc., use a small wire basket to blanch them for 1-2 minutes before eating.
Tips:
* Refill the soup stock when it runs low. If the base thickens or becomes too salty, simply add water.
* Amount and choice of food are adjustable to your appetite.
Tips:
Arrange each food item on separate dishes or group them by categories. Keep raw and cooked foods separate; never serve them in the same dish. Have everything prepared and served on the dining table for a convenient hotpot experience.
Other Chinese New Year Recipes from MyWokLife
Hope you like this article. You might also like other Chinese New Year food recipes.
Deluxe Broccoli with Mock Abalone and Stewed Mushroom (花开富贵)
Chinese New Year Sweet Sticky Cake – Nian Gao (年糕)
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