Epic Friday night hotpot!!

The weather has been getting colder and so we thought it'd be perfect to have some friends over for hotpot.

Little did I know that everyone else would agree it was a great idea and we ended up with almost 20 people rsvping yes. Luckily we recently acquired some folding tables and I borrowed an extra chair and the special hot pot nets from my parents.

I did a huge grocery run on Friday afternoon. The list of ingredients were:

• Chinese spinach (波菜)
• Choy sum (菜心)
• Kai lan (芥兰)
• Noodles
• Dumplings
• Thinly sliced beef, pork and chicken ( one pack of lamb as well but it has a very strong smell when cooked in hot pot that I don't like)
• Tofu
• An assortment of mushrooms including shiitake and enoki mushrooms.
• Fish balls!!
• Beef balls
• Fish tofu. There are a few hot pot assorted packs available.
• Hoisin sauce
• Soy sauce
• Chili sauce
• Pork bones for the broth

I made a huge pot of broth with the pork bones.

I like to quickly blanch the bones with hot water first then bring to boil. Then turn down to a simmer and skim off the froth as it is simmering. The longer the bones are boiling the more flavoursome the broth will be. Season with salt and sugar if needed.

Once the broth is ready everything else is cooked as you eat! Keep an eye on the meat you put in in case someone "accidentally" picks up your hot pot net ;)

Add hot water as the soup starts to evaporate or if too many people are drinking it :). Dumplings float when its ready to eat. Try not to leave them in too long or the skin starts to break up and turn to mush.

Our epic turnout!

Hot pot is a great way to gather friends and it's less stressful because everyones essentially cooking their own food. We'll be having a lot more hot pot now that its getting so much colder.

Enjoy!

Event: 27th April 2012