How to Cook Vietnamese Frog Hotpot

Prepare and Simmer the Pork Bones

First, prepare the pork bones as they need time for processing and simmering to make the broth for the hotpot.

Rinse the pork bones, then grill them until slightly charred to remove any blood odor from the marrow, and rinse them clean again.

Next, blanch the bones in boiling water with a little salt and a few slices of fresh ginger to remove any smell. Blanch for about 2-3 minutes, then remove the bones and rinse them clean.

Afterward, place the bones in a pot, add water, and bring to a simmer. For a hotpot serving 5-6 people, you'll need about 4-4.5 liters of broth, but since it takes time to simmer, start with 5-5.5 liters of water so it can reduce gradually.

Add 2 peeled shallots and a piece of grilled ginger to the pot for fragrance. Once the water boils, lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Do not cover the pot and do not season the broth during this process.

Simmer the bones for at least 3 hours to develop a good flavor. If possible, prepare and simmer the bones earlier in the day or the night before, as pork bones require 6-10 hours to fully extract their flavor. Beef bones take even longer, about 12-16 hours, while chicken or fish bones simmer more quickly.

Prepare the Frog Meat

When buying frog meat, you can ask the seller to do some initial cleaning, such as skinning the frogs, removing the guts, and cutting off the feet to reduce any unpleasant odor.

Don't throw away the frog skin. Clean it thoroughly with salt and vinegar, rinse well, and let it dry. You can then coat it with flour and fry it to make crispy frog skin, which is a tasty snack.

After the frog meat has been initially cleaned, rub it with salt and ginger-infused rice wine. This helps to clean and deodorize the meat effectively. Then rinse it clean and let it drain.

Cut the frog meat into bite-sized pieces. Typically, the frog is divided into four parts, leaving the thighs whole.

Marinate the frog meat with some seasoning to enhance its flavor. For 2kg of frog meat, use the following ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon seasoning powder
• 1/2 teaspoon MSG
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder or a piece of fresh turmeric, crushed
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
• 1 piece of ginger
• 1 spicy chili
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil

Prepare Other Ingredients

It's a good idea to taste the spicy bamboo shoots beforehand to gauge their level of spiciness and sourness, so you can adjust the seasoning of the hotpot broth accordingly. If the bamboo shoots are too sour or spicy, you can rinse them and then drain them.

You can also make your own pickled spicy bamboo shoots at home for use in frog hotpot, spicy chicken with bamboo shoots, duck with sour bamboo shoots, or fish with bamboo shoots...

Trim and peel the outer layers of the bamboo shoots to reveal the fresh core, then slice them into bite-sized pieces. Cookbeo uses some of these bamboo shoots in the hotpot broth, some for stir-frying with the frog, and some to serve on the side for dipping.

After cutting the bamboo shoots, rinse them and boil them. Boil the bamboo shoots with a little salt, making sure the water covers the bamboo shoots. Boil for about 5 minutes, then drain and rinse them, and boil them a second time.

In the second boiling, if you want the bamboo shoots to have a nice yellow color, you can boil them with a bit of turmeric powder and a few slices of chili to reduce their sharpness.

Once the water comes to a boil, remove the bamboo shoots and immediately plunge them into a basin of cold water to keep them crunchy. Bamboo shoots boiled with turmeric will have a very appealing color. Once cooled, drain them in a colander.

Since you'll be stir-frying the frog with the bamboo shoots and tomatoes for the hotpot broth, divide the onions and garlic into two portions. One portion is for stir-frying the frog and bamboo shoots and includes crushed onions, garlic, and sliced chilies. The other portion is for cooking the hotpot broth and includes crushed onions, garlic, sliced chilies, and bruised lemongrass.

Wash and coarsely chop the spring onions, perilla leaves, piper lolot leaves, and cilantro.

Rinse and cut the tomatoes into wedges. Rinse the dried shiitake mushrooms, soak them in water until they soften, then rinse them again and trim the stems.

Rinse the tofu and cut it into bite-sized pieces.

For the frog hotpot vegetables, as previously mentioned, you'll need water spinach, banana blossom, and Malabar spinach. These ingredients should be cleaned, soaked, and drained thoroughly.

Fry the Frog Meat

When making frog hotpot, some people prefer to leave the frog meat raw for dipping into the hotpot, which keeps the meat juicy. However, many others prefer to fry it first to enhance its flavor and texture.

Cookbeo usually divides the frog meat, keeping 1/3 raw and frying the remaining 2/3.

Heat a pan with plenty of oil to deep-fry the frog meat until it's crispy and golden brown.

Once the oil is hot, add the frog meat and fry until it floats to the surface. Remove and drain the meat.

If you want the frog meat to be even crispier and more flavorful, you can fry it a second time. For the second fry, cook the meat until it is fully crispy. The double-fried frog meat will be used later when stir-frying with the bamboo shoots.

You can also fry the tofu or tofu skin to have both fresh and fried versions. Additionally, you can fry some garlic, perilla leaves, or piper lolot leaves for extra flavor and texture in the hotpot.

Make Stir-Fried Frog with Bamboo Shoots

Sauté onions and garlic until fragrant. For a nice color in the stir-fried frog with bamboo shoots, you can add a little annatto oil.

Once the onions and garlic are fragrant, add 1/3 of the bamboo shoots and half of the spicy bamboo shoots, and stir-fry over high heat until the bamboo shoots are crispy.

When the bamboo shoots are crispy, add the frog meat, toss the pan, and quickly season to taste with MSG, seasoning powder, and oyster sauce. Don't over-season because the frog will later be dipped into the hotpot broth and served with a salt and pepper dipping sauce.

Cook the Frog Hotpot Broth

First, heat a little oil in a pan, then sauté onions, garlic, chilies, and lemongrass until fragrant.

The frog hotpot broth should have a slight spiciness and a hint of red-orange color, so add a little satay sauce. If you don't like it spicy, you can skip this ingredient.

Next, add the tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms, stir-fry, then add the remaining bamboo shoots and spicy bamboo shoots. Stir-fry quickly over high heat, then turn off the heat.

By now, the broth from simmering the pork bones should be flavorful. Remove the bones, onions, and ginger.

When the broth comes back to a boil, add the stir-fried mixture of tomatoes, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms to the pot.

Season the broth with salt, seasoning powder, a little sourness from fermented rice or rice vinegar, turmeric powder, and vinegar. Finish with a splash of fish sauce.

When seasoning the hotpot broth, whether it's frog, chicken, or beef hotpot, make it slightly less salty than you would a soup, as the flavor will intensify as you cook and dip ingredients into the broth. A slightly sour taste in the frog hotpot broth is especially appealing.

Serve the Frog Hotpot

Once the broth is boiling, transfer it to a specialized hotpot pot and set up everything for serving.

When the hotpot broth is boiling, add tofu, tofu skin, stir-fried frog with bamboo shoots, fried or raw frog meat, along with vegetables like water spinach, banana blossom, and Malabar spinach. Once cooked, dip them in a salt, pepper, and lime sauce for an incredibly flavorful experience.

In addition to fried frog and stir-fried frog with bamboo shoots, you can also make salt-fried frog, frog stir-fried with lemongrass and chili, sweet and sour frog, or frog fried with fish sauce to serve alongside the hotpot for an even more delicious meal.

Good luck!