Mongolian Hot Pot
Submitted by lmjgdj
Mongolian hot pot with thinly sliced lamb, spinach, napa cabbage, and bean thread noodles cooked tableside in ginger-scallion broth with a spicy tahini dipping sauce.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
20 minREADY
45 minHot pot is one of the most social ways to eat. Everyone gathers around a pot of simmering broth, swishing thin slices of lamb and vegetables through the bubbling stock until just cooked, then dunking each bite into a spicy, nutty dipping sauce. It’s interactive, communal, and surprisingly easy to pull off at home with a fondue pot or portable burner.
The broth is clean and simple: chicken stock infused with fresh ginger, scallions, garlic, and cilantro. It stays light on purpose so it doesn’t compete with the dipping sauce, which is where all the bold flavor lives. Tahini, soy sauce, rice wine, chili bean sauce, and sugar blend into a rich, savory paste with serious depth.
Slice the lamb as thin as you possibly can (partially freezing it first helps) so it cooks in seconds. Spinach, napa cabbage, and bean thread noodles round out the spread. The best part comes at the end: after all the meat and vegetables are gone, the noodles go into the now-concentrated broth for a final soup course.
Chef Tips
- Partially freeze the lamb for 30 minutes before slicing. Firm meat cuts into paper-thin slices that cook in the broth almost instantly
- Soak bean thread noodles in warm water for 5 minutes only. Over-soaked noodles turn mushy in the hot broth
- Give each guest their own small bowl of dipping sauce so they can adjust the heat and seasoning to taste
- Keep the broth at a gentle boil, not a rolling one. Too vigorous and it splashes; too low and the food cooks too slowly
Variations
- Add thinly sliced beef, shrimp, or fish balls alongside the lamb for a more varied spread
- Include enoki mushrooms, tofu puffs, or thinly sliced lotus root for additional textures
- Use peanut butter in place of tahini in the dipping sauce for a more approachable, slightly sweeter version
Ingredients
Directions
USING A CLEAVER or sharp knife, slice the lamb into very thin slices.
Soak the noodles in warm water for 5 minutes, then drain them and cut them into 5 inch lengths.
Separate the spinach leaves from the stalks and wash them well.
Discard the stalks. Cut the Chinese cabbage into 3-inch pieces.
Combine all the ingredients for the dipping sauce in a small bowl and mix them well.
Each guest should have his or her own small portion of dipping sauce and a plate containing lamb, spinach and Chinese cabbage.
When you are ready to begin, bring the stock to a boil and light the fondue.
Ladle the stock into the fondue pot and put the ginger, scallions, garlic and coriander into the stock.
Each person selects a piece of food and cooks it quickly in the pot.
When all the meat and vegetables have been eaten, add the noodles to the pot, let them heat through, then ladle the soup into soup bowls.
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