This dish gets most of its intense flavor from 2 cloves of raw garlic. Now that may seem really strong. And it is. But in Northern China, raw garlic is used extremely often, and we grew to love it. The hot oil poured over the top mellows it out a bit, but you still get that spicy hum throughout the dish. If you’re not in love with garlic like I am, you can reduce the amount you put in. Hot pot can be a deeply personalized meal! Each individual can mix their own dipping sauce, and choose exactly what they want to eat.

But Chow Mein is right up thereand it’s not just because it’s noodle-slurpingly delicious, but also because of the following: The thing that distinguishes Chow Mein from other stir fried noodles are the type of noodles used. Chow Mein noodles are thin crinkly looking noodles that are lightly coated in flour. Because there is, after all, someheavy hitting noodle competition in this big wide world. Pad Thai, Pad See Ew (Thai Stir Fried Noodles), Singapore Noodles, Yakisoba (Japanese noodles)– to name just a few.

Before you go!

Again I play it safe with Batchelor’s Super Noodle Pot Curry, ‘noodles in a curry flavour seasoning with peas and tomato’. Unfortunately they are worse than I remember, given they’re kind of mushy, and messy, and a bit like baby food. They’re really just not my style of noodles. I prefer a bit of chew in my noodles. And even ground white pepper and dry chilli flakes failed to save them. They’re still good for the saucepan though. We have hot pot restaurants here in the U.S. as well, but we find them to be relatively pricey, and the quality varies widely. That’s why we prefer to make our hot pot at home. Equipment Needed to Have Hot Pot at Home Most vegans accept that not all processed foods are made in a 100% vegan environment and accept the small risk of cross-contamination. It’s up to each individual to decide whether they are comfortable with this. Sauce Bowls: You’ll need small bowls ( Chinese rice bowls work great) for each person to assemble their own dipping sauce.

We spent a great deal of our free time with Chinese college students who were eager to befriend “the foreigners” and brush up on their English. Soy sauce (light soy sauce, seasoned soy sauce, and seafood flavored soy sauce are all good options) We like to have our hot pot with a side of white rice, but eating rice with hot pot isn’t the norm. Many prefer to cook their starches right in the pot along with everything else.Metal hot pot baskets/wire ladles: It’s not completely necessary, but metal hot pot ladles are basically wire sieves with wide holes. You nestle the food in the small wire cup, and the boiling liquid circulates around the food to cook it through. Then you simply lift it up to tip the food tidily into your bowl. It also acts as a sort of “net” to catch other tasty morsels from the pot. soft noodles(this recipe) –soaked in boiling water until soft then tossed with a sauce, vegetables and meat; or Other meat & seafood items include pre-cooked beef balls, pork balls, fish balls, squid balls, and mixed seafood balls. These are pre-cooked, and just need to be heated through in the hot pot. Seafood items are also popular—whole shrimp, thinly sliced fish fillets, shrimp balls, squid, and scallops. Charlie– Chow Mein Sauce can be made from scratch, or using Charlie, my all purpose Stir Fry Sauce that I always have on hand. Yes, I named him because I love him so much.

These friends introduced me to a classic Chinese hot pot recipe, a method of making soup in which you gently cook raw vegetables in your serving bowl by pouring hot broth over the top, and allowing them to steep.So don’t get too hung up on the exact noodle type! Concentrate on the sauce. The sauce, the sauce!! – Nagi x But I will go out on a limb here and say these Itsu noodles are homegrown here in the U.K. Firstly, because Itsu doesn’t seem to exist in the instant ramen scene in Japan. But the potentially fictitious Yoshihiro is also said to be from “Nagano Valley” near Tokyo. I have been to Nagano before, the prefecture, the city, the snow monkeys, and Google maps don’t even know where Nagano Valley is. Anyway, they seem to be selling a more upmarket ‘Japanese’ pot noodle experience. “Eat with pride” “Eat beautiful” “Solution for foodies” which seems to be an alternative to slobbing away on a Bombay Badboy.