Taiwanese hot pot and homemade meatballs recipe, the perfect comfort food for a cold winter day.
My kids love eating Shabu Shabu (Japanese hot pot) and Taiwanese hot pot. Japanese hot pot, we call “nabe,” typically has a basic soup base using kombu or dashi. On the other hand, Chinese hot pot is more creative, ranging from super spicy hot pot to just simple chicken broth.
We love hot pot because it not only tastes good, but it is also extremely simple to serve for a large party. Everyone cooks their food in a big shared pot. Today I will share our Taiwanese hot pot and meatball recipe that I make occasionally for hot pot, just to provide a variety of cooking ingredients besides the typical frozen options (dumplings, fish/shrimp ball, fish cake, etc). I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as our family does!
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Taiwanese Hot Pot with Homemade Meatballs
Taiwanese hot pot and homemade meatballs recipe, the perfect comfort food for a cold winter day.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For Homemade Meatballs
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 green onion/scallion (finely chopped)
- 1 Tokyo negi (long green onion; Welsh onion) (use only white part, finely chopped)
- 1 Tbsp ginger (minced)
- 1 large egg yolk
For Meatball Seasoning
- 1 Tbsp sake
- 1 Tbsp potato starch or cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp roasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 ½ tsp kosher or sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
- freshly ground black pepper
For Dipping Sauce (per Person)
- 2 Tbsp Taiwanese BBQ Sauce (spicy or non-spicy Satay Sauce)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 ½ tsp roasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp rice vinegar (unseasoned)
- green onions/scallions (chopped)
- cilantro (coriander) (chopped)
For Taiwanese Hot Pot Soup
- 4 cups chicken stock/broth
- 4 cups water
- 2 green onions/scallions (chopped into 2" pieces)
- 5 cloves garlic (sliced)
- 1 knob ginger (1 inch, 2.5 cm; sliced)
For Hot Pot Ingredients (Suggestions)
- homemade meatballs (recipe follows)
- 1 lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or rib eye) (I get "shabu shabu beef" from a Japanese grocery store; you can thinly slice your own meat following my tutorial)
- dumpling (store-bought)
- fish balls (store-bought)
- shrimp
- napa cabbage
- shungiku (tong ho/garland chrysanthemum)
- Tokyo negi (long green onion; Welsh onion) (you can substitute it with leek or green onions)
- carrots
- fresh corn
- enoki mushrooms
- shiitake mushrooms (discard the stem)
- maitake mushrooms
- button mushrooms
- 1 medium tofu (momen tofu)
- aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch) (or Chinese crispy fried tofu)
- kirimochi or homemade mochi (Not Taiwanese, but it's my family's must-have hot pot menu)
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
Instructions
To Make Homemade Meatballs
- Combine all the ingredients and seasonings in a large bowl and mix well with your hand.
- Make small balls with your hands and refrigerate them in the fridge until you are ready to cook in the hot pot.
To Make Dipping Sauce
- Add all the ingredients in individual bowls.
To Make Taiwanese Hot pot
- Cut and gather all the ingredients on serving platters.
- My favorite hot pot ingredient is stuffed mochi in aburaage (fried tofu pouch). Cut aburaage in half and stuff a small piece of kirimochi in it. You can use a toothpick to close the pocket.
- In a large pot, add chicken stock and add water until the pot is half full (You may not need all of the soup now, but keep them to add later). Add chopped green onions, sliced garlic, and sliced ginger. Bring it to a boil.
- First, add some of the hard/dense vegetables such as corns, negi, the white part of napa cabbage (near the root), shungiku stem, shiitake mushrooms, enoki, frozen dumplings, etc. Cook, covered, until boiling.
- When the soup boils again, reduce the heat but simmer. Most of the ingredients you put in earlier are not ready yet. Keep cooking until they are fully cooked (10-12 minutes). Meanwhile, add in homemade meatballs, mochi in Aburaage, and soft/less dense ingredients and keep simmering till they are cooked through.
- When you cook sliced beef, hold a piece on the end of chopsticks and dip it in the boiling broth. Gently shake the beef in the simmering broth for 20-30 seconds. The beef is now ready to consume. Try not to leave the meat in the broth for too long because it’ll get hard and won’t taste as good.
- Dip the ingredients in the sauce to enjoy!
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
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