Pork and Pickled Cabbage Hot Pot - 酸菜白肉鍋

Snow alert!

I'm so happy that my snowboard season is finally here!

It's been too long since the last time I set my feet on the board,

The snow season has been delayed every year,

People,

We really need to do something to solve this global warming crisis!

(Cough cough) I got carried away there,

Let's save the global warming talk later yep?

So with happy tears circling in my eyes,

I finally got on my board last weekend at Mammoth Lakes,

It was freezinnnnnggggggggg, but I absolutely loved it!

Sadly, happiness can never last too long,

I had to drag my sore legs, aching muscle, and empty stomach back to real life.

There is nothing I can do about my exhausted body,

However,

I can make something to warm up my stomach!

- Simplified pork and pickled cabbage hot pot -

Ingredients?

20 slices of thin sliced semi-fat pork (I used shabu pork from Mitsuwa)

2 bundles of pickled cabbage (I used nearly two bags from Ranch 99)

12 shitake mushroom (stemmed)

1 box of grilled tofu (medium firm tofu works too)

2 chicken bouillon cubes

Water

Sauce:

1 fermented bean curd 豆腐乳

2 tablespoons of sesame sauce

2 teaspoons of soy sauce

1 teaspoon of sugar

2 tablespoons of hot water

(You can use the soup to replace the water. However, remember to use less soy sauce since the soup is salty already)

How?

Take out the pickled cabbage from the package,

You can make it yourself, but I'm talking about simplified version of the hot pot here.

Rinse it with water and soak for at least 10 minutes.

Chop it into thin slices and drain the water before putting into the pot.

Have a medium soup pot ready,

I use ceramic cooking pot (砂鍋) for this dish,

It's like one of the must haves cooking ware for Chinese food, love it.

So pour in the water till about 70% full,

Bring to a boil,

Turn to medium heat and toss in 2 chicken bouillon cubes,

Give it a stir so the cubes can melt evenly in the pot.

Add all the ingredients except pork slices to the soup,

Bring to a boil again then let it simmer afterwards.

Remember to taste the soup before serving,

I like it really sourish, so I add lots of pickled cabbage into the pot,

You and adjust the flavor by the using different amount of pickled cabbage.

For the pork slices,

It'll be wonderful if you have an induction cooker,

The soup will remain its temperature,

And you can "shabu" the meat and eat it immediately after the color turned white.

However, if you don't have an induction cooker, it's no big deal,

Just toss in all the pork slices and serve the dish right after the meat is cooked.

Oh, don't forget to dip the pork slices with the sauce!

For the sauce, just mix all the sauce ingredients together and stir it well.

The whole dish can be done in less than 30 minutes,

(I feel like Rachel Ray here)

Feeling cold there?

This dish will definitely do the job!

Cindy's Rating: 7