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Chinese hot pot or Shabu-Shabu is one of my favorite meals not only because it’s warm, comforting, and really easy to put together but it’s also great to share with a big group of friends or family. This one is of course a vegan hot pot for one since I like to make small batches to enjoy myself from time to time. You can easily scale this by preparing more of the soup base and ingredients to cook, so it’s totally up to you!

HOT POT SAUCE

The sauce is also an integral part of hot pot. A lot of Chinese hot pot or shabu-shabu places offer sauce stations where you can prepare your own dipping sauce. My hot pot sauce is a rich mix of Chinese sesame paste, Chinese black vinegar, soy sauce, veg oyster sauce, sugar, chili oil, garlic, green onions, and a few other ingredients that make this sauce incredibly fragrant and tasty. Dipping pieces of cooked vegetables or tofu into this sauce is makes it so addicting.

WHAT IS CHINESE HOT POT?

Chinese hot pot that I grew up enjoying involved a group of people gathered around a large simmering pot with broth or soup base and lots of different ingredients – from thinly sliced meats, squid or shrimp balls, fried tofu, mushrooms, green leafy vegetables (such as Napa cabbage, spinach, watercress, etc) that we can dip into the broth and leave to cook before dipping into the sauce and enjoy with rice or noodles of our choice. 

Long wooden chopsticks can be used to retrieve whatever we cook in the pot of soup or wire baskets or ladles to easily scoop things up. The soup becomes tastier the more elements we cook into the pot, so drinking the soup after the session makes it all the more enjoyable. 

There is a very popular Chinese hot pot chain called Hai Di Lao Hot Pot that has branches across the world that you make already have heard of. 

SOME BASIC EQUIPMENT YOU NEED FOR HOT POT AT HOME

• A portable stove 
• A pot – or alternatively, a pot that heats up
• Long chop sticks or wired metal baskets, ladle
• Sauce bowls

INGREDIENTS YOU NEED

Do note that the ingredients for your own hotpot will be completely up to you, your preference, and what you have access to! Feel free to use what you like and want to have in yours. This is just a guide to see what kinds of ingredients to use.

VEGETABLES AND MUSHROOMS

• Napa cabbage
• Bok choy
• Spinach
• Watercress
• Lotus root
• Pumpkin
• Corn
• Shiitake mushrooms
• Enoki Mushrooms
• Black fungus or wood ear mushrooms
• Shimeji mushrooms

TOFU AND BEAN CURD

• Fresh extra firm tofu
• Frozen extra firm tofu
• Bean curd sticks
• Yuba or tofu skin
• Fried tofu puffs

NOODLES OR RICE

• Wheat noodles
• Japanese udon
• Vermicelli
• Steamed white rice

SOUP BASE

You can find the full recipe in the card below.

• 4 cups water
• 4-5 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1 vegetable bouillon
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp miso paste optional (to make a miso-based broth)
• 1 green onion white and green parts separated (I just sliced the white part into 2” thick pieces)

HOTPOT SAUCE

You can find the full recipe in the card below.

• 2 tbsp Chinese sesame paste
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1-2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar or rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar adjust to taste
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp roasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 to 1 tbsp chili oil adjust to desired heat
• 1 tbsp doubanjiang or fermented chili bean paste optional
• 1/2 to 1 tbsp minced garlic
• Chopped green onions or scallions
• Chopped fresh cilantro
• 2-3 tbsp water adjust to desired consistency

FOR THE SAUCE

Simply mix everything together. This sauce is customizable depending on your preference! So feel free to add more or less of everything depending on what you like.

FOR THE HOTPOT

• Soak the mushrooms in water overnight. I like to place this in the fridge. You can also do this the day itself and soak it for at least 1-2 hours until rehydrated.
• Prepare a medium or large-sized pot. The size will really depend on how many people are enjoying this hotpot.
• Add the mushroom broth, vegetable bouillon, soy sauce, miso paste (if using), and green onions.
• Allow the broth to come to a gentle simmer. Taste it and season more if needed.
• Once the soups comes to boil, you can now cook anything you’d like in it!
• Enjoy the cooked hotpot elements with a homemade hot pot sauce.

TO ENJOY

Once the different elements are cooked in the soup, dip each piece into the sauce and enjoy with rice or noodles!

MORE VEGAN RECIPES YOU’LL ENJOY

• Chinese Green Bean and Mushroom Stir-Fry
• Wonton Noodle Soup
• Vegetable Dumplings
• Chinese Chive Pies
• Shoyu Ramen
• One-Pot Spicy Miso Ramen
• Pan-Fried Cabbage and Noodle Buns
• Wontons in Chili Broth
• Scallion and Sesame Buns
• Spicy Cucumber Salad

Looking for more Vegan Asian recipes?

You can get a copy of my cookbook, Vegan Asian!

If you crave vegan-friendly versions of classic Asian dishes, this cookbook is packed with Southeast and East Asian dishes inspired by those I grew up enjoying at home and those I’ve tried from my travels. From iconic Thai dishes to piping-hot Japanese fare and everything in between, the recipes in this will take your palate on a delicious food trip across Asia, and hopefully keep you coming back for more!

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