A convivial Taiwanese hot pot centered around a fragrant clear broth simmered with sweet corn, ginger, and shacha sauce, served alongside thinly sliced meats, tofu, vegetables, and fish balls. Diners cook each bite right at the table and dip it into a rich, savory, slightly smoky seafood barbecue sauce.
Ingredients
- 1.5 l chicken broth
- 500 ml water
- 30 g fresh ginger
- 1 bunch scallions
- 2 pieces ears of sweet corn
- 500 g napa cabbage
- 300 g fresh or frozen taro
- 150 g fresh shiitake mushrooms
- 100 g enoki mushrooms
- 300 g firm tofu
- 150 g fried tofu puffs
- 250 g Asian fish balls
- 300 g hot pot beef slices
- 250 g thinly sliced pork belly
- 120 g sweet potato glass noodles
- 4 tbsp Taiwanese shacha sauce
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 0.5 bunches fresh cilantro
- 1 piece fresh red chili
- 4 pieces ultra-fresh eggs
- to taste fine salt
- to taste ground white pepper
Method
- Rinse and prep all the hot pot ingredients: cut the cabbage into large bite-sized pieces, cut the corn into rounds, peel the taro, slice the mushrooms, and cut the tofu; keep textures distinct and easy to grab with chopsticks.
- Soak the sweet potato glass noodles in warm water until pliable, then drain; they should bend easily without snapping.
- In a wide hot pot or Dutch oven set over a portable burner in the center of the table, combine the chicken broth, water, crushed ginger, scallion whites, corn, and taro; bring to a simmer until the broth turns fragrant and sweet.
- While the broth infuses, prepare the dipping sauce: mix together the shacha sauce, soy sauce, black vinegar, toasted sesame oil, grated garlic, cilantro, scallion greens, and sliced chili; the sauce should be thick, glossy, and deeply aromatic.
- Add the napa cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, firm tofu, fried tofu puffs, and fish balls to the simmering broth; cook gently until the vegetables soften and the fish balls float to the surface piping hot.
- Arrange the thinly sliced beef, pork belly, enoki mushrooms, drained glass noodles, eggs, and dipping sauce around the table; keep the broth at a steady, gentle simmer, never at a rolling boil.
- Cook the meats slice by slice in the hot broth just until they change color, then dip immediately into the shacha sauce to keep them tender and juicy.
- Add the enoki mushrooms and glass noodles toward the end of the meal when the broth is richer and more concentrated; serve each guest with a ladle of aromatic broth, vegetables, tofu, fish balls, and meat generously coated in sauce.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 500.8 kcal
- Protein
- 39.45 g
- Carbohydrate
- 38.9 g
- Fat
- 20.34 g
- Fibre
- 5.28 g
- Calcium
- 154.49 mg
- Iron
- 2.99 mg
- Magnesium
- 133.86 mg
