Susan's Savour-It!: Chinese Hot Pot- Savour the Breadth of Asian Ingredients...

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Chinese Hot Pot- Savour the Breadth of Asian Ingredients...

What better way to end my TDSB Learn4Life Fall Chinese Cooking Program with Seniors in Chinatown than with a healthy hearty hot pot? Not only did it warm our bellies inside out in this cold weather, but it was such a fantastic way to showcase and savour the breadth of Asian ingredients- the familiar and the new. You simmer or boil in your preferred hot broth, so anything goes! To learn more about the history and intricacies of hot potting, check out my elaborate Post from a previous home entertaining session with pot and stock, and dibs about everything to cook in it. For a deeper dive to know about the various cultural hot pots, take a look at my Post on a food event with Chef Sang Kim, award-winning author, chef and restaurateur describe how hot pot traditions are famously celebrated in China, Japan and South Korea in their distinctive styles and ingredients.

Four pots on the go for crowd hot-potting (adapted to what we have, doing it over-the-stove style).

At St. Stephen's Community Centre

The spread of ingredients from vegetables- assortment of greens, mushrooms, beancurd, tofu...

to sliced meats, meat balls and more balls... beef, chicken, fried fish, fish cakes...

to noodles like Udon to savour and slurp with the richly flavoured broth after all the cooking...

And what is hot potting without a delicious soy sauce mixture to dip it in? Various options include a combination of fresh chilies, chili sauce, garlic, green onions, cilantro, vinegar, hot mustard, sesame oil or paste, lime juice, fermented bean curd, and end up in a continuously changing mélange. You can also add a raw egg to your sauce to tone down the heat from your cooked ingredients. It's the yin (cooling) to the yang (warming) by restoring your internal balance in the constant heat intake from the meal.

I usually prepare a homemade broth made with pork and chicken bones, but for the convenience of creating a quick flavoured soup base, I used packaged hot pot sauce. Lee Kum Kee offers flavours like Seafood Hot Pot (slightly spicy good, for all kinds of ingredients), Satay Sauce for something spicier, and there is Little Sheep known for their Mongolian-style lamb flavoured soup base in mild and spicy.

Round One...

We had about 4 to 5 people per pot. Scooping with a slotted or soup ladle into individual serving bowls, then dipping in their customized prepared sauce. Heavenly warmth...

Love seeing everyone using chopsticks so well!

We also had a delicious appetizer of cold and pan-fried beancurd rolls stuffed with mixed mushrooms-- a similar start to kickoff our first session with Pan-fried veggie beancurd rolls, which everyone loved.

Pan-Fried Beancurd Rolls Stuffed With Mixed Mushrooms

This is Round Two...

Last round with homemade Japanese-inspired pastries generously prepared by Japanese student Gordon. He filled these delectables with chocolate mousse and topped with matcha cream and marbled chocolate curls. Balanced flavour, sweetness and texture. Arigato gozaimasu (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

This wasn't the first time Gordon shared his home-cooked food with me. He has given me a package of dried Japanese chow mein along with a personal recipe which I have yet to make (but I will soon with a couple weeks on break), and also a bento lunch box containing his father's delicious Japanese Okuwa rice recipe and over-the-top juicy moist delectable chicken teriyaki. He shared his recipes to prepare the meal, which was elaborate, not leaving out a single detail which I like. It was all effort and all heart. Thank you, you are so very kind and sweet!