Recipe - How To Make Chinese Steamboat (Fondue or Hot Pot)

 electric wok

Steamboat or hot pots are a great way for friends and family to get together for a meal. Other names for steamboat are "Chinese fondue" or "hot pot". The Japanese variant is called "shabu shabu" or "sukiyaki" . Steamboats are popular all over the world and different countries have different names.

The steamboat meal is to be enjoyed slowly and there is no need to rush. People can digest their first round and come back for second helping. It is a light and healthy meal.

The ingredients must be fresh and the variety of food, from seafood to poultry with lots of vegetables will make this meal enjoyable. The best part is that the choice of ingredients is up to individuals. You prepare what you like.

The stock is the most important part and always prepare a little extra for topping up. With the process of cooking all the stuff, the stock becomes richer as you go along and more delicious. You can take a short cut of using canned broth or stock cubes but it doesn't come close. Besides, different families have their own "secret" recipe for the stock.

So here is my "secret" recipe for the stock. For a family of 5, I need to prepare about 1.5 litres of stock.

To make 1.5 litres of stock
In a pot, boil 2 litres of water
Add
100 grams of soya beans (soak for 1 hour before)
50 grams of dried anchovies
1 dried cuttlefish, cut into slices (microwave on high for 10 seconds to release flavour)
12 pieces of chicken feet, (clip off the nails) or chicken bones (about 500 grams).

dried cuttlefish

1 stock of lemon grass, helps to enhance the flavour of seafood.      
Blanch the chicken to get rid of surface fat.
(Note: pork bones are just as suitable, but they take a longer time to simmer).
Bring the pot to a boil and reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 1 hour.
Strain the stock and you are ready to go.

Some pictures of the ingredients.

napa cabbage                      
enoki mushrooms
xiao bai chye
oyster mushroom

pork shabu shabu
prawns

squid
cured cuttlefish
toman fillet
pork liver
scallops
fishballs                                                  

my favourite chicken feet

garlic chilli sauce and sha cha sauce

   










Enjoy

   

A 2 minute video on Beijing hot pot


A 4 minute video on Australian steamboat



A 5 minute video on making shabu shabu



A 3 minute video on making sukiyaki