During the cold Winters, many of us want a nice bowl of hot soup to keep us nice and warm over the holiday season. A popular trend in Asia is to have pots of boiling soup in which food is placed in and cooked in a broth like fashion. Instead of cooking first and serving into individual bowls, the point is to cook your food directly in the pot in which you are not only the eater but also the chef.

It's called many different languages. Huoguo in Mandarin, shabu-shabu in Japan, and even in Fondue Chinoise in Switzerland (OK.. Switzerland isn't Asia but you get the point). The only difference is the type of spices, broth and food used.

With restaurants charging $15-$30 per person, most of us wonder just how we can do this at home at a much more affordable price. Not to worry. That's what this guide is about.

Equipment:
Let's cover the burner first. There's two types of burners: Electric and butane. These burners are stove top representation but it's portable so that you can bring it to the middle of the dining table. Each has their own advantage. Eletric burners are smooth and easy to clean. Because electric burners only operate when plugged in, you don't have to worry about running out of gas, paying for gas, gas tanks exploding or gas thanks leaking. The major drawback is that you have to plug it in. There's always a wire present and don't even think about bringing it camping. Butane ones are usually self lighting (look for those) and are much nicer to look at. Plus if you are cold, butane will heat up the room as well... and you can take it camping.

Personally I like the butane ones as it's portable and you don't have to worry about a wire sticking out. Look for "Made in Korea" ones as I've had the best experience with those.

Next is the pot. This you can actually use the pots you have at home or but a more specialized one from the store. The ones in the store has an array of features including having a dual section to separate two types of broth (spicy or non-spicy usually) and some even include a center cooking plate.

Personally I've never needed the center cooking plate. It's too small to cook anything important. I do find that the dual section is great when guests come over and don't like spicy while I do.

Chopsticks are the preferred tool but once again it's up to you. Whatever gets the food in your mouth as gracefully as you can works.

Bowls are most commonly used as we are talking about a broth based meal.

Now finally we have the last equipment. It is the metal food net used to scoop out the food. Some cultures preferred that the food thrown in and a bigger net is used to scoop out the food. In other cultures they use smaller scoops (one per person) in which they place prepared raw food into. Then they place the net into the broth, place a piece of vegetable on top to prevent the cooked food from floating away, and let it cook directly in the broth. Remind you of anything? Sounds like Fondue doesn't it?

Soup:
The next important step is the soup. This soup should be a thin stock from chicken or fish. Spices are added which include ginger to counter the meat. Choice of soup vegetable like dicon, Napa cabbage, or spinich is added. I love tofu so I usually add firm or extra firm tofu in. Remember that you can always add more stock and water. Also food does not cook unless the broth is boiling.

Most Asian stores sell special pouches of condensed soup base. It's up to you. Some are very very very spicy while others are mild.

Meat:
Meat should be cut in small strips or cubes to allow for fast cooking. For bloody meats such as beef, I usually do a quick dip it in boiling water first to get rid of the excess blood. But once again, it's up to you. Just remember that certain foods like seafood cooks really fast while meats like chicken takes longer.

Sauce:
This here is preference. I've seen everything from just soy sauce to an elaborate home made special sauce. A good middle ground would be to use Chinese Satay sauce and add some fresh ground ginger and soysauce.

So there you go. It'll probably take you a few tries until you find the right combination that will work for you. Happy Hot Pot!

Zeoth
Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Stock