Authentic Gluten Free Chinese Hot Pot

     In February 2011 our international student from Taiwan asked if he could invite his friends over to make a hot pot for the Chinese New Year.  I let him and his friends take over my kitchen, and it was fun to watch them all chopping and working together.  This year the students we have from China have made hot pot a few times already.  They told us back home their families frequently make a hot pot because it is very warming during the cold winter months.  

     I'm always looking for ways to make things from scratch to reduce gluten and MSG which is a popular Chinese spice found in hot pot paste.  The recipe I'm sharing today is also based on what I learned  from A Spicy Perspective, and the author says on her webpage that she picked up the broth from her travels in China.   When Yingying a student from Hunan tasted the broth, she added a large piece of cinnamon bark, 5 star of anise, 1/2 T of black peppercorns, and 3-5 red chili pods. When she tasted it at  dinner, she said it was great.

Authentic Chinese Hot Pot

1.  Veggie Prep:  Cut up 1 onion in slivers, 1 bunch of green onions--cut the ends small and the green parts in 1" pieces, cut up 2 cups of nappa cabbage, 4 bok choy leaves, 2 potatoes cut in large cubes, 1/2 a bunch of spinach, 8 oz of sliced mushrooms,  1  daikon radish cut in strips or cubes.  Then cut 1/2 of a container of firm tofu cut in large cubes and set aside until the last 5 minutes of cooking.  I've seen on some websites that some Chinese like to put all the veggies in separate bowls and let people use their chopsticks and hold the vegetables they've picked out over the hot pot 1-2 minutes until cooked.

2.  Meat prep:  Typically, the Chinese have a selection of thinly sliced raw meat that they put in individual bowls and then let people hold it over the hot pot with their chopsticks  and then add to their own bowl before serving. What our students from Hunan like to do is add the meat to the pot and let it all cook together.Slice in thin strips top sirloin steak, chicken breasts, and lamb.  The Chinese also like to add beef balls, shrimp, fish balls of all sorts, and individual chunks of fish.   

3.  Hot pot base from scratch:   In a soup pot add 12 cups of water.  When I make Chinese soups, I cut off the breast meat for stir fry and remove the legs, thighs, and wings for making teriyaki, etc. In another pot put in the the back and breastbone and add enough water to cover and bring it to a boil and let it cook a few minutes and then pour off this water.  Add these bones to the large pot of water, and then add:  1 T of rice mirin,  1/3 cup of gluten free tamari, 1 1/2 T of sesame oil, 2 green onions sliced in 1" pieces, 3-5 slices of ginger, 5 cloves of minced garlic, 1 large piece of cinnamon (you buy this from an Asian market), 5 stars of anise, 1/2 T of black peppercorns,  3-5 red chili pods (add according to how much heat you like), and 1 T salt.  Let this come to a boil and then simmer for 2 hours.  Skim off any foam.  

4.  Add the vegetables:  Add all the chopped vegetables and let them simmer in the soup about 30 minutes.  

5.  Preparing bean thread noodles: Put some boiling water in a pyrex pan and add 8 oz of bean threads and let them soak until tender about 5-10 minutes.  Drain them when done and put in a covered dish for people to add individually to their bowls. 

6.  Add the meat or keep it for cooking at the table. At this point you can either add all the meat and let them boil a few minutes before taking the pot to the table.  Taste the broth and make any adjustments you like by adding more salt, pepper, tamari soy sauce or sesame oil.  OR you can  put an electric cooking element on the table with an extension cord and arrange the bowls of vegetables and meats around it and let everyone individualize their servings.  

7. Individual Dipping sauce:  If you like to have some additional seasoning to dip your vegetables and meat in, you can make individual dipping dishes:   Mix in a glass bowl  2 t tamari, 1/2 T rice vinegar, 1 t sesame oil, 1/2 of a sliced green onion, 1 t of chopped cilantro.  You can also add 1/4 t of chill garlic sauce.  

If you are putting everything in the pot, then just increase these measurements and put them in a bowl and pass it around and let everyone put some into their bowl. 

You can get the meat and fish balls as well as the unique spices from an Asian market. If you ever tried making this before, let me know what you've learned!

Blog update 3/27/12:  Today I made this recipe again for  hot pot.   I let the chili pods cook on low with the chicken for about 5 hours.  The broth was a bit hot and Yingying told me that in China the heat of the broth is regulated by how long you keep the chili pods in.  So next time I will probably put them in half way.  

Other Chinese recipes on this blog:

BEEF RECIPES:
Delicious Gluten Free Beef Broccoli Stir Fry
The Best Gluten Free Mongolian Beef Stir Fry
Gluten Free Ginger Beef Stir Fry

CHICKEN RECIPES:
Gluten Free Chinese Almond Chicken Stir Fry
Amazing Gluten Free Chinese Cashew Chicken Stir Fry
Gluten Free Garlic Chicken Stir Fry
Gluten Free Chinese - Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry
Gluten Free Chinese - Spicy Kung Pao Chicken Stir Fry
Gluten Free Chinese - Authentic Chinese BBQ Chicken
Rose's Chinese Yellow Curry with Chicken & Vegetables
Gluten Free Chinese - Fantastic Soy Sauce Chicken

TOFU RECIPES:
Tofu & Vegetable Stir Fry

FISH RECIPES:
Steamed Scallion Ginger Fish with Stir-Fried Bok Choy
Fantastic Mahi & Vegetable Stir Fry

NOODLES & RICE:
Gluten Free Gluten Free Chinese Fried Rice

SOUP RECIPES:
Chinese Chicken Soups  - Boy choy chicken, chicken & spinach, and chicken & cabbage
Gluten Free Chinese Hot Pot
Chinese Egg Drop Soup
Chinese Egg & Tomato Soup

SALAD RECIPES
Gluten Free Chinese Chicken Cabbage Salad
Roses's Refreshing Cucumber Salad
Chinese Mandarin Salad