# Hot Pot advice



## rickbern (Jan 13, 2020)

I'm planning on making a hot pot dinner along with some friends from Taiwan for new years and I could use a little advice on infrastructure. This is all new territory for me. 

I'll be doing this in a loft style open plan apartment.

We'll have about 30-40 people here. Am I better off with (a) induction burners, (b) butane stoves or (c) crockpots/Instant pots?

Secondly, what level of quality do I need. This is probably not something I'll do frequently but I know I need to be able to moderate the heat.

Next, my large table is about 40" x 20' (1m x 6m) and seats somewhere around 24 people. Do you think three setups is okay for that many people at that size table?

Lastly (so far!) should I serve this meal in dinner plates (10"), salad plates (8") or wide rimmed soup plates?

Thanks for the advice!


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## rickbern (Jan 13, 2020)

Actually, saw this guy, it looks pretty good:

https://www.amazon.com/Sonya-Electr...JE1T0SHT6DZ&psc=1&refRID=MKEZJVPDCJE1T0SHT6DZ

any opinions?


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## Ochazuke (Jan 13, 2020)

I wouldn’t do more than six people per nabe, just so everybody can get to the food. While I personally prefer butane, it might be easier to do IH.

Have you done a party this size before? That’s a lot of prep unless you’re getting all your ingredients pre-prepped for you...

As far as serving goes, most set ups have people mostly serving themselves. Usually people like to have a bowl for things they grab from the hot pot and a bowl for some sort of dipping sauce. At least in Japan, nabe is often served with rice. Having some light munchables nearby for people to crunch on while the ingredients are cooking is also usually a nice touch (like pickles).


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## TRPV4 (Jan 13, 2020)

Wow that's a lot of people you're having over! 

I'd go for induction hob, something that goes up to 2000W, no need expensive ones, just some cheap adjustable one. Butane works fine as well to be honest it depends on what you have on hand (and buy a few more bottles of gas).

Probably want more than 3, 4 at least for 30-40 people? at home we do 2 per 15 ppl ish. 

Plates are probably not the best option for hotpot, may want to buy some bowls. self-service like ochazuke said.

You can set out a few jars of condiments and dipping sauces for people to mix themselves, e.g. soy sauce, sesame sauce/paste, spring onions, garlic puree, chili oil/laoganma. 

enjoy! and good luck with the logistics, you won't be able to have all the food on the table.​


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## Gjackson98 (Jan 13, 2020)

I agree with Ochazuke, you don’t want more than 6 ppl per 1 standard size pot. I personally would suggest you to have a practice run early, for example order 1 pot get 5 people over (including yourself will be 6), go out and shop, try out the soup base (hot or not hot) and make the decisions yourself afterwards.


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## rickbern (Jan 13, 2020)

Thanks. I’m pretty good at making dinners that size, I probably do it about 8 times a year. 

Anybody have any experience with that integrated pot/heating element I posted the amazon link to? That seems helpful


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## rickbern (Jan 13, 2020)

Here’s the setup. The table in the back gets another two meters long.


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## TRPV4 (Jan 13, 2020)

rickbern said:


> Thanks. I’m pretty good at making dinners that size, I probably do it about 8 times a year.
> 
> Anybody have any experience with that integrated pot/heating element I posted the amazon link to? That seems helpful



To me it seems like the heating element is built specifically to the shape of the pot, so might not be that useful after the hotpot is over. Are there other more versatile flat induction heaters which can be found for a similar price?


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## JDC (Jan 13, 2020)

A gas stove + the pot is a very popular setup. Induction heaters can certainly do the same job. 
https://www.amazon.com/Suntouch-Por...s+hot+pot&qid=1578930422&s=home-garden&sr=1-3
As for the food, the best way to impress your friends is to buy prime/choice short ribs and hand cut them thinly against the grain.


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## boomchakabowwow (Jan 13, 2020)

i have a specified electric hot pot thing.

i wouldnt do butane. but i'm paranoid. i know those burners are indoor rated, i just dont know what happens when you run five of them indoors side by side. 

my wife is taiwanese and we do hot pot any chance we get.


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## Ochazuke (Jan 13, 2020)

I don’t have experience with your link, but I’m with everyone else: get an IH that you can use for other things too. You never know when you might do a cooking class (or something similar) where a bunch of portable ranges would be very useful.

The only last concern I have is if your apartment can handle 6 or so IHs all plugged in and running at the same time?


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## Talim (Jan 13, 2020)

Running all of those hotpots would be a nightmare. I've done as much as three and it wasn't fun as a host. Ever sat down with people who never had hotpots and end up doing most of the work? Now imagine doing that for at least 6 tables.


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## lowercasebill (Jan 13, 2020)

I've made 10 gallons of soup in a parking lot an hour from home many times. 
Something to think about to get you started
40x 12 0z serving = 480÷36 = 13 qts or 3 plus gallons of soup.
Do you want seconds? 
What size pots do you have. And are they induction capable. Those small butane burners used at Asian restaurants are not powerful enough for large pots. 
Good luck


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## rickbern (Jan 13, 2020)

Ochazuke said:


> The only last concern I have is if your apartment can handle 6 or so IHs all plugged in and running at the same time?



Oh, good call! I knew I wanted a little advice. Probably three electric and three gas. Maybe I’ll scale back my ambition and make something supplemental that doesn’t need tableside cooking.

Thanks, great advice


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## rickbern (Jan 13, 2020)

boomchakabowwow said:


> i have a specified electric hot pot thing.
> 
> i wouldnt do butane. but i'm paranoid. i know those burners are indoor rated, i just dont know what happens when you run five of them indoors side by side.
> 
> my wife is taiwanese and we do hot pot any chance we get.


Boom, I’m a 66 year old New York Jew. I worked on a team with three kids from Taiwan who were 25-30 years old for a while, I started making lantern festival because they were far from home. Love these kids, they became part of the family, they’re super excited about being able to do hot pot at my house. 

I’m gonna figure out a way to pull it off.


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## boomchakabowwow (Jan 13, 2020)

rickbern said:


> Boom, I’m a 66 year old New York Jew. I worked on a team with three kids from Taiwan who were 25-30 years old for a while, I started making lantern festival because they were far from home. Love these kids, they became part of the family, they’re super excited about being able to do hot pot at my house.
> 
> I’m gonna figure out a way to pull it off.


i believe you!!

just picturing the big piles of frexh veggies now! cleaning and prepping that many heads of napa cabbage would buckle me


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## Xenif (Jan 13, 2020)

You need BEEEEF and lots and lots of it thinnly sliced. Veg/mushrooms/soy products/fishballs of diffrent types/noodles

If they are from taiwan you MUST get Sa Cha sauce
https://www.amazon.com/BULL-HEAD-BBQ-SAUCE-1x26OZ/dp/B005WG1UII

Other condiments are green onion, cilantro, minced garlic, fried shallots, seasame paste, hoy sin sauce, oyster sauce, fresh chilli, chilli oil, soya sauce, etc


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## Xenif (Jan 13, 2020)

For visual aid this is about 4 adults worth of food


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## rickbern (Jan 13, 2020)

Yeah, I’m thinking I may scale it back to 24 people. You guys have been a great reality check for me. 

I gotta say, I really do like this forum we have here. Great help


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## rickbern (Jan 13, 2020)

Xenif said:


> For visual aid this is about 4 adults worth of foodView attachment 68741


Xenif, do you slice that by hand? And how much boneless protein per person?


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## Xenif (Jan 13, 2020)

rickbern said:


> Xenif, do you slice that by hand? And how much boneless protein per person?


Yes Sir. This case I just deboned a short rib, kept the bones for stock and have some very fatty beef for hot pot, but takig all the silver skin and following the twisty grain takes a bit more time. I would prepare between 15-25 slices per person (baseball card sized slices). Just be aware that it will take time to process that amount of meat, but is there a beter time to pull out the suji/yani ?


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## rickbern (Jan 13, 2020)

mmmm, looks good enough to boil!


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## boomchakabowwow (Jan 13, 2020)

I think the go-to meat for a hot pot is lamb. 

then seafood. A variety of fish balls is a treat.


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## rickbern (Jan 14, 2020)

boomchakabowwow said:


> I think the go-to meat for a hot pot is lamb.
> 
> then seafood. A variety of fish balls is a treat.


what cut of lamb do you use? Do you think leg is too lean?

And also, is tongue appropriate?


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## Xenif (Jan 14, 2020)

rickbern said:


> what cut of lamb do you use? Do you think leg is too lean?
> 
> And also, is tongue appropriate?


Yes tongue is appropriate as well thin slices. With Lamb I prefer a stronger aromatic soup base, like Xin Jiang or Mongolian flavored. But soup like that will make your house smell of spices for weeks. I usually cut lamb shoulder for hot pot.


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## chemicalstar (Jan 14, 2020)

rickbern said:


> what cut of lamb do you use? Do you think leg is too lean?
> 
> And also, is tongue appropriate?



Just had tongue in Chinese style hot-pot the other weekend and it worked wonderfully. Such a nice texture.


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## Michi (Jan 14, 2020)

Not made by me. I ate this at a restaurant in Sunnyvale a few months ago. Absolutely amazing: Taiwanese stinky tofu wok with chilies, pork, pork blood, mushrooms, intestines, and bok choy.




The restaurant was quite large, with a lot of Asian customers. In fact, I was the only non-Asian person there. I got quite a stare from the waiter when I ordered this. He considered it for a moment, then asked "you sure want this?" I got quite a larger stare when he came back to clean up my table and and saw that I had eaten the lot


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## boomchakabowwow (Jan 14, 2020)

rickbern said:


> what cut of lamb do you use? Do you think leg is too lean?
> 
> And also, is tongue appropriate?



man..great question. i dont know!! i buy it in pre-sliced packages from our chinese grocery store. or Korean markets.

i truly like the veggies better. there is a dark green plant with lacy leaves that is amazing. no idea what it is called.

and lotus roots..the one that look like wagon wheels. yum!!


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## rickbern (Jan 15, 2020)

I’m glad to see I’m not the only kkf’er that was contemplating buying pre sliced meat!

I’m doing most of the marketing with the taiwanistas so I should be okay with that. I was thinking of getting something special that I prepared in addition. 

This all kind of started with a bolito misto I made for Hanukkah this year. I had 35 people and my Asian friends loved it, they thought the hot pot would make a great cross cultural counterpoint. 

If you’re a hotpot afficianado and you’re looking for something related, give that a whirl. I found an article that you can get online from fine cooking that really explains the whole process. The French make almost exactly the same thing called pot au feu, different sauces.


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## chemicalstar (Jan 15, 2020)

Posted in the wrong forum haha 

I have a question about slicing meat for hot pot: did anyone try thicker cuts of fatty beef to make it rarer? I always worry about the texture in that case but must be doable?


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## Xenif (Jan 15, 2020)

chemicalstar said:


> Posted in the wrong forum haha
> 
> I have a question about slicing meat for hot pot: did anyone try thicker cuts of fatty beef to make it rarer? I always worry about the texture in that case but must be doable?


Yes works very well, up to a certian thickness. Also depend on the cut of meat, typically the leaner the thinner. If you use somethig very fatty and great marbling, then cutting thicker is a bonus. Too thick though will throw off the balance between sauce:meat ratio and mouth feel/texture. 

Tongue for example is something you want to slice slightly thicker at the base of the tongue (fattier) and very very thin towards the tip (tougher/leaner) and gives a almost crunchy texture

When I do the ribeye, the eye (leaner central part) i slice very thin, and the cap thicker.


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## rickbern (Feb 2, 2020)

Just a little follow up...

Based on everyone's recommendations, I decided to "slightly" scale back my ambitions to 24 people. A couple of people (and one whole family) were a little sick, so we ended up at more like 20. Got four hotpots going on a 20' long table, 2 chicken, 1 veal and one coconut (which I'll post the recipe for). Used two electric and two butane, good mix.

Skipped the tongue, opted instead for monkfish (coconut broth)

Thanks again to all for the advice!







ps-the blonde ukranian looking woman on the left had a LOT more fun than she looked like in this shot.


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