Hot Pot – Huoguo

This is a cold-weather dish widely eaten in Shandong and elsewhere in northern China. It is cooked at the table in a traditional chafing pot. Use a fondue set, electric wok or frying pan, or a heatproof casserole over a flat tabletop burner (butanefueled, available at Oriental food stores). Skinless chicken breast or pork may be used instead of beef or lamb, but all meat used must be sliced very thinly so that they cook immediately

• 6 cups any soup stock, boiling hot
• 11⁄2 pounds lamb or beef, sliced paper thin into 11⁄2 x3-inch pieces
• 1 Chinese cabbage (bok choy), cut into 3-inch pieces
• 2–3 bunches fresh spinach, or flowering cabbage (choy sum), cut into 3-inch-long pieces
• 2 cups bean vermicelli (also called cellophane noodle), softened in warm water for 15 minutes, cut into 6- to 8-inch lengths
• 2 blocks firm bean curd, cubed

Dipping Sauce The quantities given below for the sauce ingredients may vary, depending on each diner’s taste.
• 4 TBS green onion, chopped
• 4 TBS sesame seed paste (available from Asian shops, or as tahina from Middle Eastern or health-food stores)
• 4 or more TBS vinegar
• 2 TBS sesame oil
• 2 TBS fermented bean curd or dark miso
• 2 tsp sugar (optional)
• 2 tsp rice wine or sherry (optional)

• First prepare the sauce. Mix all sauce ingredients thoroughly in a bowl. Taste, adding more or less vinegar or sugar as desired.
• Transfer to four individual sauce bowls. (Alternatively, place all ingredients in separate bowls at the table. Each diner can mix his/her own sauce, choosing from among the given ingredients as desired.)
• Arrange the prepared meat, vegetables, and other ingredients in separate dishes or in separate groups in one large dish on the table. Carefully place enough stock to come about 2⁄3 of the way up the fondue pot or wok.
• Set the appropriate heat source at medium to high heat. When the stock boils, each diner takes a slice of meat and dips it into the pot until just done, then dips the meat into sauce and eats.
• After a few helpings of meat, put in the vegetables and bean curd, similarly dipping them into the sauce before eating.
• Finally, put in the noodles; allow to cook briefly, then serve with the soup. The stock must simmer continuously.