Buying a pre-packaged hot pot soup base is becoming more popular these days, especially as these products become more widely available. In this article, we’ll talk more about this ingredient and how to use it.
What Is a Hot Pot Soup Base?
Hot Pot (huǒguō, 火锅) is a Chinese cooking method and type of meal involving a simmering pot of soup in the middle of a dining table with a variety of raw ingredients (meat, seafood, mushrooms, vegetables, tofu, noodles/starch, etc.).
The pot of broth is kept simmering, and the raw ingredients are then dipped and cooked in the boiling liquid at the table by each individual diner (almost like a Chinese fondue, sans cheese).
Pre-packaged Hot Pot soup bases (huǒguō dǐ liào, 火锅底料) make preparing a hot pot meal at home much easier, because hot pot broths can be quite complex in flavor. They come in small packets of different varieties––soup bases for Mongolian Hot Pot, Seafood Hot Pot, Spicy Sichuan Hot Pot, etc. A well-stocked Chinese market will have many varieties!
Ingredients can include chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, fermented bean paste, sugar, and other spices.
How Is It Used?
You can certainly use hot pot soup bases to make hot pot, simply by dissolving the contents of the packet in water to make the hot pot broth.
However, we sometimes use hot pot soup base in other dishes, as a base for a sauce or seasoning for a stir-fry, to which we add other aromatics, pastes/sauces, and spices. An example of this is our Spicy Numbing Stir-fry Dry Pot (Ma La Xiang Guo).
Buying & Storing
You’ll find hot pot soup bases in Chinese grocery stores. The type we use most often is the spicy Sichuan flavor.
They come in small plastic packets, usually to make one large pot of broth.
If using the soup base for a stir-fry, you’ll usually only need a couple tablespoons. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. Use within 1 week, as long as it hasn’t been contaminated by any raw meat, unclean utensils, etc.
You can also freeze the leftover soup base in an airtight container, or in smaller individually portioned containers. Simply thaw in the refrigerator and use as normal.
Our Favorite Recipes Using This Ingredient
- Sichuan Hot Pot
- Spicy Numbing Stir-fry Dry Pot (Ma La Xiang Guo)
If you have further questions about hot pot soup bases, let us know in the comments.
Homemade Sichuan Hot Pot Soup Base
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 6 slices ginger
- 3-5 bay leaves
- 10 cloves garlic (peeled)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 star anise
- 10 cloves (smashed)
- 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
- 12 whole dried red chilies
- 2 1/2 tablespoons spicy bean paste (la doubanjiang)
- 12-15 cups chicken stock (or vegetable/mushroom stock)
Instructions
- In a wok over medium heat, add the oil and the ginger. Cook the ginger for about a minute until caramelized, taking care not to burn it.
- Add the bay leaves, garlic, cinnamon stick, star anise, and cloves. Cook for another 2 minutes, until very fragrant.
- Add the Sichuan peppercorns, dried chilies (whole), and the spicy bean paste.
- Cook for another 2 minutes, and then add the stock. Bring to a boil and transfer to the pot (it should be relatively wide and shallow) you’ll be using for your hot pot meal.
I have been trying to find a good broth recipe for hot pot so I can prepare it at home. I find your recipe the best. Just looking at the ingredients makes my mouth water. I check out all the pre-packaged hot pot seasonings at our local Asian market, it all contain MSG, from small to excessive amount. I will definitely try your recipe this weekend with the family. Thanks.
Hope you will like it, Jack.
Hi , we are a hotpot seasoning manufacturer located in Chengdu, China. Liked your recipe, we are wondering if there is any opportunity that we can cooperate together. Tks.
Hi Paul, feel free to reach out via email at [email protected].
Hello! I purchased this soup base on a hunch, completely had no idea what it was… I just played around with it in the kitchen. This is the by far the shortest, to the point. 1-2-3 article regarding this hot pot soup base. My favorite way so far is with ramen. I run the pot leave it boiling and drop noodles in it, sausage, beef chicken all leftovers from other meals. It’s given me a new way to eat old things. On Sunday I’m going to make a sea food boil with crawdads, crab, lobster and clams… every single sea food boil uses variations of Cajun flavors. I’m going to make my boil using this soup base. Oh! I can’t wait! Can you just please make one thing clear to me? Even though I understand that we can add or reduce water to liken it to our preference, what is the recommended amount of water to be used with one packet of soup base?
Hi Mayra, do feel free to adjust it accordingly, 1/2 cup at a time.
I kept the leftover soup base in the fridge and forgot about it! it must’ve been 2 weeks. it’s in container in the fridge the whole time. can i still use it? if i were to freeze the leftovers next time, how long can i keep it for? Thanks in advance.
Sorry to have missed your msg, Emily. I usually boil the broth to see how it smells. It’s fine to use if it does not smell foul once boiled.
Love you guys! Love this blog. It’s been a wonderful year following your recipes. I normally wouldn’t post because I always mess something up and improvise but tonight’s last minute hot pot turned out amazing! I didn’t have the spicy bean paste, but we make quite a bit of Korean food, so I used doenjang and sambal oelek to offset that. It turned out exactly like this Sichuan hot pot place near our house. I really really liked it. I’ll try it completely without any additives next time, but thank you!
Sorry we missed your comment, Julia! Sounds awesome, and thanks so much for sharing! Love your improvisations :)
Super spicy, which is perfect! If anyone cannot take how spicy it is, just add more broth to the recipe, and if anyone wants more spicy, just do 8 cups of stock instead of the recipie’s 12-15.
Thanks for that tip!
Hi I have a spicy soup but would also like to have the more plain , my hot pot burner gas a divider so would like to offer both , please? The hot mix I’m using is Swan from ChongQing Mike
Hi Mike, for the plain side, you can use just chicken broth with some ginger, scallions, and perhaps a few fresh or reconstituted dried shiitake mushrooms added in!
Hi Mike, for the more plain hot pot soup base, we usually just use a homemade broth like Pork and Chicken Broth.
Hi. Do you have a recommended brand for hot pot soup bases? I’ve heard Hai Di Lao, Little Sheep, ans Lao Gan Ma are all good? But not sure if you have a preference?
Hi Mimi, we have tried Hai Di Lao spicy hot pot seasoning and Lee Kum Kee Satay Hot Pot, which are good. I have also heard Little Sheep is great.
Could I use 5 spice blend as a shortcut rather than buying and then grinding the ingredients?
That’s an interesting idea to use a hot pot of soup to cook tour food. I feel like that would be a fun activity to do with friends or on a date or something. I should consider trying a hot pot restaurant some time to see if that is something I might want to try making on my own for all my friends to come and try.
Hey Tyler, it definitely makes for a great date night or night in with friends!