When I and my friend have a homemade hot pot together, there is always a problem. some of us are on diet, some are vegan or vegetarian, and some eat meat. To deal with it, we found a solution: making a vegan hot pot broth. A vegan hot pot base is delicious, healthy, and also easy to adapt to every diet by simply changing the dipping ingredients for the hot pot. From basic ingredients like daikon, carrot, dried shiitake mushroom, onion you can make a tasty vegan hot pot broth in 40-50 minute. Check my recipe below.

Why Vegan Hot Pot Broth?

Hot pot is a dish that everybody eats together, with 1 to 4 hot pot bases and a dozen of toppings according to the preference of each person. Usually, when I come to a hot pot restaurant, the pot is divided into 4 compartments for maximum 4 different broths, so it can meet the needs of every customer.

At home, it’s a bit more difficult because you might have to prepare many types of broth just for one meal. That’s why I found vegan hot pot broth so convenient. It’s always a good choice for various diets because it’s free of animal products. It’s suitable for everyone regardless of whether they are vegans, vegetarians, or following a specific diet. The delicious sweetness and umami flavor in vegan broth come from ingredients like daikon, carrot, mushroom, onion, and more. These veggies provide a rich and savory taste without the need for meat or animal-based broths.

Apart from being tasty, vegan broth is also healthy. It’s low in calories and fat, making it a good option for those watching their weight. Plus, it’s packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants from the veggies, which can boost your immune system and keep you feeling good. So, whether you’re making a hot pot or any other dish, vegan broth is a flavorful and wholesome choice for your meal.

Ingredients

To enjoy hot pot at home, you’ll need to prepare 2 sets of ingredients, one for the vegan hot pot broth and one for the set of fresh ingredients to dip in the broth.

Vegan Hot Pot Broth

300g carrot
300g daikon
100g dried shiitake mushroom
1 white onion
2L water

2-4 lemongrasses
2-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
4-6 ginger slices, chopped
1-3 chilies (if desired)
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp lemon juice/3 tbsp tamarind juice
3 tbsp siracha sauce/ ketchup
3 tbsp cooking oil

Vegan Hot Pot Dippable

Any of these:

Tofu
Tofu knots
Vegetables: Crown Daisy, lettuce, morning glory, bok choy, Chinese cabbage, etc.
Mushrooms: button, enoki, shiimeji, king oyster or oyster mushroom.

Non-Vegan Hot Pot Dippable

Any of these:

Haidilao Prawn Paste
Shrimp
Beef
Squid
Tofu and Tofu knots
Vegetables: Crown Daisy, lettuce, morning glory, bok choy, Chinese cabbage, etc.
Mushrooms: beech, button, crimini, inoki, maitake or oyster mushroom.

How to cook Vegan Hot Pot Broth

Step 1. Prepare vegetables

Peel daikon, carrot, onion and cut them into pieces. Soak dried shiitake mushroom in water for 15 minutes.
With lemongrass, cut a half of your lemongrass into shorter pieces, and mince another half together with garlic, ginger and chilies. If you can’t eat spicy foods, don’t chop but keep the whole chilies. You’ll use it to add the aroma in the soup only.

Step 2. Simmer the broth

In a large pot, add all vegetables in with 2-2.5L of water. Cook in 30-40 minutes under normal or high pressure to extract the umami flavor of vegetables.

Step 3. Adding marinade

When you wait for the vegetables to be simmer, in a pan, heat up 2-3 tbsp of cooking oil then 2 tbsp of sugar in. Stir on medium heat until the sugar caramelizes, then add garlic, ginger, chili, lemongrass you prepared in step 1 to the pan. Stir them well until they turn golden-brown. After that, add ketchup or siracha sauce into the pan together with 1 cup of the broth you are boiling.
Finally, transfer the marinade to your vegan hot pot broth. Adjust the taste with salt and soy sauce until you’re satisfied with the taste.

Step 5. Enjoying vegan/non-vegan Hot Pot

To enjoy a vegan hot pot, eat the vegan broth you have done with vegan dippables such as tofu, tofu skin, tofu knots, various types of mushrooms and vegetables.
Dip each food items in 2-3 minutes then remove from the hot pot. Enjoy with rice vermicelli or noodle and a small amount of hot pot broth.
If you are a meat/seafood lover, feel free to add squid, shrimp, prawn paste, beef… together with vegan dippaples like mushrooms tofu and vegetables. The meat should be cut thinly so that it doesn’t become chewy after cooking.
Dip meat/seafood a bit longer than vegan food items to make sure it is all cooked.
For the dipping sauce, you can try mixing everything: soy sauce, chopped spring onion, chili oil, chopped chilies and garlic, etc. to find your right sauce. You can even simply dip the foods with soy sauce, ketchup, sweet chili sauce or siracha sauce. In non-vegan version, fish sauce or BBQ sauce is also very tasty.

Storing Hot Pot

Actually, you can store hot pot for a longer period, as long as you store the broth and dippables separately. For the vegan hot pot broth, keep it in fridge for 3-day usage and freeze it in maximum 2 months. For other food items, you can freeze meat like beef, squid and shrimp; however, don’t do that with vegetables, mushroom or tofu. Dried tofu skin or tofu knots are easily preserved at room temperature.

In a winter day, let’s try homemade hot pot and feel the happiness from home!