How to Make a Delicious, Restaurant-Style Seafood Hotpot

Prepare the Seafood

Trim the shrimp, removing the digestive tract from the head and the black vein along the back. Toss the shrimp with salt, rinse well, and drain.

For the squid, separate the head and remove the ink sac and the slimy membrane at the end of the head. Remove the spine along the back and peel off the light purple membrane on the body. Also, remove the eyes to prevent discoloration during cooking. Rub the squid with salt, white wine, and finely crushed ginger to clean and remove any fishy odor. Rinse well, drain, and cut the squid into bite-sized pieces. Be careful not to cut the squid too small, as it will shrink when cooking, making it appear too fine.

How to Clean Squid Before Cooking

For squid tentacles (or octopus tentacles), cut them in half, remove the eyes, and the sockets. Similarly, rub the tentacles with salt, wine, and ginger, rinse again, and slice into pieces.

Once the squid and tentacles are cleaned, place them on a plate or in a bowl, and marinate with some crushed ginger and ground pepper.

Marinate the squid balls with a bit of fish sauce and ground pepper, then shape them into small balls.

Scrub the crab thoroughly, especially the joints, claws, and under the shell.

Rinse the clams and soak them in water. To help them release sand quickly, soak them in rice water or regular water with a few slices of chili. You can also soak them in salty water, which will encourage the clams to open and expel sand.

Prepare Other Ingredients

Rub the pork bones with salt, rinse, then roast them slightly before blanching with a pinch of salt for about 5 minutes. Remove the bones, rinse them thoroughly.

Rinse the tomatoes and cut them into wedges.

Peel the outer layers of the lemongrass, rinse, and divide into two parts. One part will be used for the broth, and the other part should be finely chopped for sautéing with tomatoes.

Divide the shallots into two parts: keep the skin on one part, and peel and chop the other part.

Rinse the ginger, cut off the roots of the onions, keep the skin on, and rinse. Lightly char the onions, shallots (with the skin on), one part of the lemongrass, and ginger. These ingredients will add fragrance to the broth.

Peel and rinse the carrots and white radishes, and cut them into chunks. Remove the husks from the sweet corn, rinse, and cut into pieces.

Rinse the lime leaves and drain.

Pick and rinse the vegetables and mushrooms for the hotpot, soak them in saltwater, and drain well. For mushrooms, if you have rice water, use it to soak them. Rice water effectively cleans and removes the strong odor of mushrooms.

Trim the roots and wilted tips of the scallions, rinse, and cut into finger-length pieces to cook with the vegetables.

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

If using rice noodles, blanch them in boiling water to remove their sour taste.

Cook the Broth

The key to a delicious seafood hotpot, apart from the freshness of the seafood, is the broth. If you don’t like the slightly pungent and spicy taste of pre-packaged hotpot seasonings, don't worry—Cookbeo will show you how to make a flavorful broth that's just as good as the ones in restaurants.

First, ensure the broth is sweet. In addition to pork bones, vegetables like white radishes, carrots, onions, and sweet corn help give the seafood hotpot its delicate sweetness. These vegetables, especially when simmered, contribute a light sweetness and aroma that can't be achieved with just pork bones alone.

When cooking the seafood hotpot broth, you only need a small amount of pork bones.

Add the blanched pork bones to the pot, along with white radishes, carrots, sweet corn, and onions. To enhance the fragrance and remove the fishy smell from the seafood, add the charred ginger, lemongrass, and shallots. Make sure to scrape off any burnt bits from the ginger, lemongrass, and shallots before adding them to the pot to avoid clouding the broth.

Add water to the pot for simmering the broth. For 4 servings, about 4-5 liters of water should be sufficient after simmering for 1-2 hours. While simmering the broth, remember not to cover the pot and to skim off any foam to keep the broth clear.

Cook the Seafood Hotpot

Prepare a pan and add 2-3 tablespoons of cooking oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped lemongrass and shallots, and sauté until fragrant. Then add mild chili powder and a bit of satay to add color and a slight spiciness. A touch of spiciness helps mask the fishy taste of the seafood.

Finally, add the tomatoes and lime leaves, and stir-fry over high heat. Stir until the tomatoes are evenly coated with oil and color, then turn off the heat. Be careful not to overcook the tomatoes, as they can become mushy.

Once the broth has simmered long enough and developed the desired sweetness, remove the vegetables and bones. Add the stir-fried tomatoes to the hotpot pot, then pour in the simmered broth and turn on the heat.

When the broth comes to a boil, season with salt, sugar, MSG, and fish sauce to enhance the flavor. The hotpot broth should taste slightly milder than regular soup, as the flavor will intensify as you cook the seafood and clams, which will further enrich the broth. However, ensure that the seafood hotpot broth has a balanced sour, spicy, and sweet flavor.

Arrange the seafood, vegetables, and mushrooms on the table. As you eat, dip the ingredients into the broth and enjoy them as they cook, savoring the warm, fragrant, and flavorful hotpot. To enhance the experience, you can dip the seafood and vegetables in a lime pepper salt dipping sauce or soy sauce with garlic and chili.

It's best to add the clams last, as they release a sweet flavor but can also make the broth salty. Adding them too early may cause the broth to become too salty and slightly cloudy.