Chinese Hot Pot

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A classic family-style Chinese dinner also known as Chinese Fondue. The meal is best served on a cold evening with loved ones. The Japanese version is called Shabu Shabu. It involves an electric wok, ingredients and seasonings of your choice. I don't really measure in Chinese cooking, but this will feed approximately 6 hungry adults. Most of the less familiar ingredients can be found at any asian market.

Ingredients

3/4 lb flank steak, sliced thin
3/4 lb chicken breast, sliced thin
1 lb fresh medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, and butterflied
1 pkg fishcake tempura, sliced
1 pkg cuttlefish balls
8 oz bean thread noodles (aka cellophane noodles), rehydrated in cold water
8 oz udon noodles (fresh)
1 pkg enoki mushrooms (fresh), roots removed
8 oz fresh baby spinach leaves, washed
8 oz fresh napa cabbage, washed, trimmed, cut
8 oz bamboo shoots, sliced (fresh or canned)
6 oz snow peas, washed, trimmed
1 quart chicken broth
1 quart water

Sauce
Chinese BBQ sauce
soy sauce
sesame oil
chili garlic paste
1 bunch green onions, washed, trimmed and minced
6 oz preserved mustard green, minced

Preparation
The bulk of the meal is preparation since guests cook their own food in the fondue pot. I generally address the vegetables first so that there isn't any contamination from raw chicken (my family rarely serves pork, but I've seen it at Chinese Hot Pot restaurants). I like the chicken and beef to be half frozen so that I can get a consistently thin slice (not too thin!) and easy display.

Instructions

Start by soaking the bean thread noodles in lukewarm water for 30 minutes. Remove them from their packaging and cut any strings off. Grandma says not to buy them from China because of some bad chemical, and not to buy them from Taiwan because they fall apart. She recommends Korean or Thai brands. Of course, she told me this after I had made this dish, so I don't recall what brand I bought. The electric wok is to the right of the noodles for those who don't know what they look like.

The noodles should not be brittle any longer, but pliant.

Good fresh ingredients are the key to this meal. Select a nice napa cabbage (inspect it for little green worm dudes). Peel off about 12 leaves depending on the size of the cabbage (medium here).

Remove the ends of the snow peas, pulling the woody threads off. Trim green onions and cut off the bottoms of the napa cabbage. Wash thoroughly. You should do the same with the spinach, but I buy triple wash and rinse it once.

Chop the napa cabbage into large bite size pieces.

Slice the bamboo shoots. Pictured here are the udon noodles, the bamboo shoots and the cuttlefish balls. There is an enormous variety of fishballs, but I prefer the cuttlefish balls.

Slice the tempura fishcake.

I can find fresh enoki mushrooms at the local Chinese grocery store. I just remove them from the package and lop off the ends.

With a good sharp knife, take the semi-frozen flank steak and slice at an angle against the grain of the meat. I think the slices are about 1/8 inch thick, which is ideal.

Arrange the beef on a plate or platter. Fanning the slices makes it easier for people to select pieces to cook.

Slice the chicken the same way as you slice the beef, against the grain.

You can arrange the chicken on its own platter or, in this case, I set them opposite the beef. I would advise the former.

Shell the shrimp. I use a nifty little gadget just for shelling and deveining shrimp.

Try to leave the tail intact when removing the shell. It just makes it prettier.

Remove the veins which are really digestive tracts (Jeremy calls them the poop shoots). I hate these things, but can't bring myself to serve guests lovely butterflied shrimp with poop shoots remaining. Blegh.

Butterfly the shrimp by placing it on its side and running a sharp blade along the center crease of the back. Take care not to cut all the way through.

It should look like this.

Arrange the shrimp on a plate for serving.

The Sauce

Chop the onions and set them aside in a small serving bowl.

The preserved mustard greens are probably only found in the asian market. Sometimes they are sold in cans whole, or shredded. Go for shredded, it makes your life easier. I prefer these little mini bag versions myself. Mince the mustard green and set aside in another small bowl.

Soy sauce, sesame oil, and possibly a good and spicy chili garlic paste, can be found in your local store. The Chinese BBQ sauce may not be so easy to locate. Here's a picture for you to go by. I can't read Chinese, so I go by the labels that my parents always bought (or buy now). Set these out for people to add to their bowls.

How to eat

Set out the raw ingredients. Turn on the wok and heat the water and broth together in the wok. When the water comes to a boil, add some fish balls, cellophane noodles, udon noodles, spinach, napa cabbage and tempura to get it started. Each person should have a bowl in which they can put a combination of the sauce ingredients (usually a tbsp of bbq and 2 tbsp of soy sauce and a dash of sesame oil - all of it is to taste). Here's the table that Rebecca set with a nice bottle of Stag's Leap Cab (her favorite) to compliment.

You are supposed to pick pieces of meat from the plates and cook them in the pot and then place them in your bowl with some broth and noodles and vegetables and eat. Mmmm! Don't add it all at once, and don't forget the other goodies too.

	Start by soaking the bean thread noodles in lukewarm water for 30 minutes. Remove them from their packaging and cut any strings off. Grandma says not to buy them from China because of some bad chemical, and not to buy them from Taiwan because they fall apart. She recommends Korean or Thai brands. Of course, she told me this after I had made this dish, so I don't recall what brand I bought. The electric wok is to the right of the noodles for those who don't know what they look like.
	The noodles should not be brittle any longer, but pliant.
	Good fresh ingredients are the key to this meal. Select a nice napa cabbage (inspect it for little green worm dudes). Peel off about 12 leaves depending on the size of the cabbage (medium here).
	Remove the ends of the snow peas, pulling the woody threads off. Trim green onions and cut off the bottoms of the napa cabbage. Wash thoroughly. You should do the same with the spinach, but I buy triple wash and rinse it once.
	Chop the napa cabbage into large bite size pieces.
	Slice the bamboo shoots. Pictured here are the udon noodles, the bamboo shoots and the cuttlefish balls. There is an enormous variety of fishballs, but I prefer the cuttlefish balls.
	Slice the tempura fishcake.
	I can find fresh enoki mushrooms at the local Chinese grocery store. I just remove them from the package and lop off the ends.
	With a good sharp knife, take the semi-frozen flank steak and slice at an angle against the grain of the meat. I think the slices are about 1/8 inch thick, which is ideal.
	Arrange the beef on a plate or platter. Fanning the slices makes it easier for people to select pieces to cook.
	Slice the chicken the same way as you slice the beef, against the grain.
	You can arrange the chicken on its own platter or, in this case, I set them opposite the beef. I would advise the former.
	Shell the shrimp. I use a nifty little gadget just for shelling and deveining shrimp.
	Try to leave the tail intact when removing the shell. It just makes it prettier.
	Remove the veins which are really digestive tracts (Jeremy calls them the poop shoots). I hate these things, but can't bring myself to serve guests lovely butterflied shrimp with poop shoots remaining. Blegh.
	Butterfly the shrimp by placing it on its side and running a sharp blade along the center crease of the back. Take care not to cut all the way through.
	It should look like this.
	Arrange the shrimp on a plate for serving.

	Chop the onions and set them aside in a small serving bowl.
	The preserved mustard greens are probably only found in the asian market. Sometimes they are sold in cans whole, or shredded. Go for shredded, it makes your life easier. I prefer these little mini bag versions myself. Mince the mustard green and set aside in another small bowl.
	Soy sauce, sesame oil, and possibly a good and spicy chili garlic paste, can be found in your local store. The Chinese BBQ sauce may not be so easy to locate. Here's a picture for you to go by. I can't read Chinese, so I go by the labels that my parents always bought (or buy now). Set these out for people to add to their bowls.