Clear Soup Hot Pot + Giveaway Winner
Warning: Parameter 2 to wp_hide_post_Public::query_posts_join() expected to be a reference, value given in /home/yirese5/public_html/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php on line 287
This is Part III of the Hot Pot Series. Here are the other posts in this series:
Part I – Introduction to Chinese Hot Pot
Part II – Sichuan Spicy Hot Pot
Part IV – Quick and Easy Sichuan Spicy Hot Pot
Before I start today’s recipe, I’d like to thank everyone for participating in the Chinese New Year Giveaway that just ended a few hours ago. I really appreciate for all your feedback on the recipes and ingredients you are interested to see. I promise that your requests will appear on this blog in the near future.
Now, you can find out the giveaway winner on the bottom of this post
*****************
In the recent years, Chinese hot pot has become increasingly popular in the States. I’ve noticed a dozen of new hot pot restaurants mushroomed out around NYC with patrons from all walks of live. How does this ancient Chinese tradition become a hit in the Big Apple? Well, hot pot is delicious, versatile, and easy to serve.
Did I say easy? That’s right, you can actually make hot pot at home easily. All you really need are hot pot equipments, cooking ingredients, and some good broth (or water if you do Cantonese/Fujian style seafood hotpot).
Speaking of broth, I am sharing a non-spicy clear broth today upon popular demand after I shared this Sichuan Spicy Hot Pot recipe last time. Although I personally prefer the Sichuan spicy broth, I always include a non-spicy side when I host a hot pot party (we Asians sure know how to party!!) so some of my friends can still enjoy their hot pot without burning their tongues and stomachs.
This is a very basic broth that calls for small amount goji berry and dried red date which are both typical Chinese soup ingredients. Goji berry is been getting quite some attention in the Western world due to its various health benefits. The dried red dates are also believed to be rich in nutritional value and can improve immunity and lower cholesterol. The combination of Chinese herbs and stock makes the broth not only delicious but also healthy!
Ever wonder why some Chinese soups are so milky white? In the recipe below, I will share an important trick I learned from Chinese restaurant chefs to make your soup extra white. But before I jump into the recipe, please help me out on future hot pot ideas. Please leave a comment below telling me what other kind of hot pot recipe you would like to see on this blog.
Step by Step
To make the stock, first pre-boil the chicken carcass and pork bones until the color of meat turned white. Rinse the pre-boiled bones and carcass to get rid of any scum and blood
In a large stock pot, combine the bones with 4 liters of water and boil over high heat
Once the stock is boiling, use a mesh strainer to remove any scum and impurities floating on the surface of the stock
(Optional) A professional Chinese chef taught me this trick to make the soup extra white and milky. Skip it as you wish. Once the stock is boiled for an hour or reduced by 1/3, add one sliced potatoes to the soup and boil over high heat for another hour or so. The potato not only makes your soup milk white but also adds a nice touch of root vegetable flavor to your stock.
After about two hours of boiling, the stock is done. To assemble for the hot pot soup, just combine the broth with cooking wine, goji berry, dried dates, and shiitake mushroom. Bring the soup to boil and simmer for another 30 minutes. Finally add the scallions, salt, and white pepper to taste. Serve with the hotpot ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken carcass
- 1 lb pork bones
- 3 slice ginger
- 2 stalk scallions
- 1 tbsp goji berry
- 2 dried red dates
- 1 dried shiitake mushroom, rehydrate
- 2 tbsp cooking wine
- 2 stalk scallions
- Salt and white pepper powder to taste
Instructions
- To make the stock, first pre-boil the chicken carcass and pork bones until the color of meat turned white. Rinse the pre-boiled bones and carcass to get rid of any scum and blood
- In a large stock pot, combine the bones with 4 liters of water and boil over high heat
- Once the stock is boiling, use a mesh strainer to remove any scum and impurities floating on the surface of the stock
- (Optional) A professional Chinese chef taught me this trick to make the soup extra white and milky. Skip it as you wish. Once the stock is boiled for an hour or reduced by 1/3, add one sliced potatoes to the soup and boil over high heat for another hour or so. The potatoe not only makes your soup milk white but also adds a nice touch of root vegetable flavor to your stock.
- After about two hours of boiling, the stock is done. To assemble for the hot pot soup, just combine the broth with cooking wine, goji berry, dried dates, and shiitake mushroom. Bring the soup to boil and simmer for another 30 minutes. Finally add the scallions, salt, and white pepper to taste. Serve with the hotpot ingredients.
Warning: Use of undefined constant rand - assumed 'rand' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /home/yirese5/public_html/wp-content/themes/yireservation/single.php on line 72
Warning: Parameter 2 to wp_hide_post_Public::query_posts_join() expected to be a reference, value given in /home/yirese5/public_html/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php on line 287
can use whole chicken? with skin?
yes whole chicken with skin works perfectly!
That sounds like it would be a pretty tasty soup. I have never tried hot pot, but it sounds like something I might be interested in. I’ll have to consider trying it a restaurant to see if it would be something that I would like to try cooking myself before I spend hours on cooking it.
Do you have a pressure cooker version for this recipe?
It looks great, thanks for making it so simple!
hi, to use a pressure cooker, just follow the same recipe but only cook it for 30 minutes once the pressure is on. Hope this helps.
Just saw your reply now, thank you!
I hosted my first Chinese New Year and bade my hot pot recipe off of this one – it was SO GOOD. Thank you so much for sharing it! The only differences were that I used only 1.5 lb of pork bones, added slices of fresh daikon, and had no rice wine or white pepper to work with, but it still came out great! BOMB BOMB BOMB.
Hi Asia, thanks for your feedback and happy Chinese New Year to you!
This is a pretty old article, but I recently stumbled upon it. I have a question about the potato. Does it turn to mush in the soup or what? I’m curious as to “how” it turns the broth white. Thanks!
Hi Jennifer, thanks for stopping by. The potato trick does turn the soup whiter because of the starch. The key is to use whole potatoes which are harder to break apart. Hope this helps.
hi Mr Yi
I really liked your picture of half shabu pot image.
where can i buy or is there any way to use that picture in my resto. ?
thanks. have a good day
Hi Jun, thanks for visiting. You can use the picture as long as you credit my site and provide a link back to this page. Thanks.
Pingback: Qiuck Sichuan Spicy Hot Pot 快速麻辣火鍋 | Yi Reservation
Your hot pot recipe series is very interesting to read. I love fondue , so I’ll have to give these recipes a try too. They sound delicious, tho some of the ingredients might be difficult to obtain tho.
Hi Debbie, i do realize that some of the spices are not so common. I am working on an easy to make version recipe and will share it soon:)!
Nice recipe. Thanks. I bought a twin hot pot from Posharp Store: http://posharpstore.com/en-us/myland-induction-cooktop-stainless-steel-twin-hot-pot-p439.aspx . Very easy to use.
After I use up the sauces coming with my pot purchase, I will try out your recipe and tell you if I like.
hi Kris, did you get a chance to cook the hotpot? I’d love to hear your feedback 🙂
I do too prefer Spicy side but non spicy sounds delicious. Fantastic recipe and I love the idea of adding potatoes, great tip and I know it does add more flavor. Thank you for sharing!
Pingback: Chinese Hot Pot Part I (火鍋) – An Introduction | Yi Reservation
Pingback: Sichuan Spicy Hot Pot (麻辣火鍋) | Yi Reservation
Too bad I didn’t win your awesome giveaway….but I still feel like a winner learning your trick to make extra white soup/stock! 🙂 Thank you for sharing the tip. I’m definitely going to try the potato trick next time I need to make stock. Your hot pod looks wonderful. I love that you have both clear and spicy soup base. That’s the way I love to make hot pot at home too. Spicy one for me and clear broth for the kids. 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend.
Thanks Amy! Yup the potato trick is pretty neat if you want to “whiten” your soup:) I am happy to hear that your kids enjoy hot pot as well!
Thanks for the tip
you are welcome!
I had this for the first time while visiting my brother in the bay area. To my surprise, I actually liked the clear broth better! I almost always prefer spicy. Great recipe Yi!
thanks Gomo…glad that you liked hot pot.
I lvoe the simplicity of this soup 😀
Cheers
CCU
We alternate Shabu shabu, sukiyaki, and chinese hot pot. 🙂 I love goji berries! I should make soup from scratch… I really should!! It must be so good.
yup goji berry is such an awesome ingredient!
It is definitely a fun way to eat. Plus, I always feel like I’ve had a facial afterward, too. LOL
haha i never thought of the facial aspect from eating hot pot. That’s a brilliant idea!
For me, a perfect hot pot experience would call for both spicy and non-spicy broths, as they create a great yin and yang balance.
Hi Simon, I am starting to eat more clear broth than I used to. I have to say I enjoy drinking the non-spicy broth at the end of the hot pot.
This is BRILLIANT!
thanks Greg!
I really like the two-broth idea. This is a pretty simple recipe, but one I’ve never done. I definitely need to do this sometime – hot pot is so good! Really good trick with the potato. Good stuff – thanks.
the two broth hot pot is very popular in China. Try it out when you get a chance!
Wow you make your own clear soup for hot pot 🙂 That’s so great! We’re usually so easy and we just buy the packets and it’s really not that great with all MSG will have to try your recipe soon 😉
i do like the packaged one but as you mentioned there is way too much MSG in it.
I never had hot pot with two different broths at the same time…although I heard a lot about it…looks great, and they complement each other.
This is great for the cold weather…
Have a great week Yi!
yup this is a must for me during each winter. It’s worth trying it!
I never had hot pot with two different broth at the same time…although I heard a lot about it…looks great, and it sure complement each other.
This is great for the cold weather…
Have a ret week Yi!
Both broths are great, though I like that spicy one a little more.
thanks Angie. I used to only eat spicy side but now I am starting to enjoy the clear broth as well.
Hello Yi! Xin Nian Kuai Le! Kung Hey Fat Choi! Gorgeous hot pot and such a fun dish to enjoy with a group. We have a few more weeks to eat hot pot and our family loves it. I also make both a la de and a bu la de broth and have been looking for a segmented hot pot device. Where did you get yours? Any suggestion of where to purchase in HK, I might try Shanghai cooking street….Our family loves hot pot and it is so much easier to make it at home. I also make my broth very similar to yours but I also add a diakon radish to my broth Take Care, BAM
Like the idea of two different broths. And I love the potato trick. Will have to look for goji berry and red dates next time I go to the Asian grocery. Do you have other recipes that use those?
Hello Abbe, thanks for stopping by. Yes I’ll certainly post more Chinese soup recipes that require all kinds of herbs. I do have another recipe that requires goji berry. Thanks.
Such a simple soup and it’s intriguing to see a clear soup…i haven’t had something like this before…
Thanks cakewhiz.