Hotpot greens
As my summer plantings produce less and less, I start to think about what to plant for the fall. All books indicate that it is the season of salad greens, but we don’t eat salad at home. Just as I was about to give up the idea of growing greens, I realized that fall is hotpot season, and I love green leaves in my hotpot. I’m thinking about spinach and garland chrysanthemum. Maybe some fancy greens like arugula too.
Seed rack, here I come!
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This entry is about Soleil's 
Sunnyvale, CA, 
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Verthandei wrote:
Hotpot – is this something you can make at home fairly easily? Do you need special equipment? (Like the pots I guess?) When I lived in New York one of my favorite restaurants was a Korean place that made spicy pork hot pot. SO YUMMY. I wish I could make it at home…
Posted on 27 Sep 08 (about 2 months ago)
Rockabella9 wrote:
Hey Verthandei, you can totally do hotpot at home, which we do quite commonly in my country (Singapore). There are specialised equipment in stores, but what you really need is a portable stove (could be gas or electric) which you can place on the dining table, and then a big pot that you can place on top. You then fill the pot with stock and let it boil before dipping whatever raw meat or vegetables into it to cook (some people say like you would in a fondue). If using meat, it’ll be better to marinate it a few hours or so beforehand. I knew some students who used rice-cookers as hotpots, but I think the stock might take a long time to boil in those.
Posted on 27 Sep 08 (about 2 months ago)
Jolantru wrote:
I ditto rockabella’s suggestion. :)
Hotpot is also great for winter’s cold nights. We also call it ‘steamboat’ as well. Rice-cookers can be quite slow – using a flat stove or a portable one is much faster.
Posted on 28 Sep 08 (about 2 months ago)
Soleil wrote:
Yes, you can easily make hotpot at home. You need a way to keep a pot of broth boiling on your table. Rice cooker is not powerful enough – takes forever to cook. I have uploaded the photo of my electric pot to the journal. It is good for four people. You can also use a portable gas stove. At home in Hong Kong my mother uses an induction cooker.
Once you found a way to keep your pot hot, the rest is fairly easy. Just chopped up what you want to eat, and throw them in! You can experiment with all kind of dipping sauce: peanut, sesame, satay, soy, mix and match with garlic, spring onion etc. Yum!
Posted on 28 Sep 08 (about 2 months ago)
Verthandei wrote:
Cool, thanks guys! I recently bought a crock pot (slow cooker) and I have noticed that even on low the liquid simmers. On high I think it would definitely simmer even with the top off, especially if I make broth in the cooker itself. It takes a long time but uses almost no electricity and is effortless! I shall have to experiment. :)
Posted on 28 Sep 08 (about 2 months ago)