How to Eat Hot Pot Properly: Beginner Tips & Must-Know Etiquette

Hot pot is a popular communal dining experience from East Asia. It involves cooking thinly sliced meat and vegetables in boiling broth, and it's often shared with friends and family members. In this article, we’ll teach you everything you need to know about hot pot, including how to order it, cooking times for different ingredients, and where it comes from. We’re also providing etiquette rules to keep in mind when you’re sharing hot pot with other people.

What’s the Right Way to Eat Hot Pot?

Pick the broth, meat, seafood, vegetables, and noodles you want to eat.
Place slow-cooking meat, seafood, and vegetables in the hot pot first.
Add thinly sliced meat, delicate leafy vegetables, and noodles at the end.
Dip the meat and vegetables into a personal dipping sauce before eating.
If you like, pair the hot pot with a cold drink, salad, nuts, or spring rolls.
Wait until your broth is boiling again to cook more meat or seafood.

Section 1 of 6:

How to Order & Eat Hot Pot

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1
Select a broth. Look at the hot pot menu and decide if you're doing a full pot or a divided pot. If you're getting a divided hot pot, you can choose multiple broths—most people pick a mild one and a spicy one. Popular hot pot broths include:^{[1]
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- Chicken broth: a basic broth that's great for beginners.
- Savory mushroom: a good vegetarian broth that's rich in umami.
- Tom yum: a slightly sweet and spicy broth that goes well with meat.
- Mala: a Szechuan broth that's very spicy and has curry-like flavors.
- Hainan broth: fresh coconut water is boiled by itself or with chicken broth for the base.^{[2]
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- Chongqing: a rich butter or pure beef lard broth, with Sichuan peppers and dried chillies.
- Chrysanthemum: a broth made from boiling chrysanthemum flowers and chicken or beef.
- Beijing: a plain and water-based broth with spring onion, ginger, and sometimes mushrooms.
- Chengdu: a broth made of water and rapeseed oil that has fresh red chilies and Sichuan pepper.
- Milk: made by simmering milk with some butter, garlic, onion, vegetables, and sometimes stock.^{[3]
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- Shabu: a clear broth made from bonito and kombu, and sometimes made with chicken bones, pork bones, or dried bod.
2
Choose several types of meat or alternative proteins. Thinly sliced beef is one of the most popular hot pot choices since it cooks within 10 to 30 seconds. Chicken is also available, but not as popular since it takes much longer to cook. In addition to meat, you can add dumplings or balls made of meat, fish, or pork.^{[4]
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- There are a lot of meat and protein options, such as beef, pork belly, chicken, lamb shoulder, tofu, and offal. Most restaurants offer unlimited broth but charge you for each ingredient you put in the hot pot.
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3
Select a few different kinds of seafood. Head-on shrimp is a good choice for hot pot since they cook in their shells, and the shells flavor the broth. If you prefer seafood that’s easier to eat, choose haddock, seabass, squid, or eel. Shellfish, such as mussels, oysters, crab, and lobster, are also delicious options.^{[5]
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- If you get head-on shrimp, be careful when you eat it since the hot broth can get trapped in the shell.
4
Order a variety of vegetables. Include some of your favorites and a few new ones to add to the broth. Keep in mind that vegetables cook at different rates. Delicate vegetables cook within seconds or a minute, while hardy vegetables and mushrooms take several minutes.^{[6]
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- Mushrooms: shiitake, enoki, button, straw, oyster
- Hardy vegetables: turnip, daikon radish, carrot, corn, potato, pumpkin
- Delicate vegetables: spinach, tomatoes, watercress, lettuce, bean sprouts
5
Pick several types of noodles. Noodles are a great way to round out a hot pot meal since they're filling and cook quickly. You'll probably see udon, vermicelli, and Shandong noodles on most hot pot menus. However, if you're trying to cut carbs, check the menu for yam (or shirataki) noodles.^{[7]
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- Udon: a thick and chewy Japanese noodle made from wheat flour, water, and salt.
- Vermicelli: a thin, white noodle that’s typically made from rice flour and water.
- Shandong: a thick and short wheat flour noodle that comes from Shandong, China.
- Yam/Shirataki: a translucent and gelatinous Japanese noodle that’s made from the starchy tuber of the konjac plant (also called konjac yam or elephant yam).
6
Create a personal dipping sauce. Most hot pot restaurants will have a small sauce bar or will bring a tray with several sauce components on it. Take a small dish and combine your favorite ingredients to make your own unique sauce.^{[8]
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- Tahini
- Chili oil
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Peanut sauce
- Chopped garlic
- Scallions or cilantro
Amy Kimoto Kahn, Chef & Hot Pot Enthusiast

Hot pot is a fantastic communal dining experience centered around a simmering pot of broth kept hot at your tabletop. You dip thin slices of meat, vegetables, tofu, noodles, and dumplings into the pot to cook, then eat them with a dipping sauce. The variations are endless—you can make the broth spicy, mild, tomato-based, creamy, or completely vegetarian. Play around with ingredients and discover new flavor combinations every time.
7
Put slow-cooking meat, seafood, and veggies into the hot pot first. Once the broth is boiling, use a strainer (or chopsticks) to add thicker cuts of meat, fish balls, seafood, and starchy root vegetables into the hot pot.^{[9]
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Research source} These can take several minutes to cook, so give them a head start before adding other ingredients. Stir the ingredients so they cook evenly. You’ll know the meat is cooked once it floats on top and changes color.^{[10]
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Research source} Here are the cooking times for popular hot pot ingredients:
- Potato: 4 to 8 minutes
- Shrimp: 2 to 3 minutes
- Pumpkin: 4 to 8 minutes
- Fish balls: 3 to 5 minutes
- Lotus root: 5 to 10 minutes
- Napa cabbage: 10 minutes
- Taro root chunks: 10 minutes
- Kabocha squash: 10 minutes
- Sirloin chunks: 2 to 6 minutes
- Tripe and intestines: at least 5 minutes
- Cubed beef short ribs: up to 30 minutes
- Chrysanthemum greens: 3 to 4 minutes
- Pork belly: up to 10 minutes for thicker cuts
- Clams: 5 to 10 minutes (or until the shells open)
- Shiitake mushrooms: at least 10 minutes to cook through
- King oyster mushrooms: 6 minutes for chunks, 2 to 3 minutes for slices
Did You Know? Hot pot balls come in all different types. Common types of balls are made from beef, squid, fish, shrimp, pork, or steak.
8
Add in your delicate meats and leafy greens. Once you've given longer-cooking foods a head start in the hot pot, add ingredients that cook quickly. Quick-cooking ingredients include thinly sliced meats and delicate leafy vegetables, like spinach, bok choy, and watercress. These only take 30 seconds to 3 minutes to cook.^{[11]
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- Thinly sliced meats, such as beef, will turn brown once they've finished cooking.
- Only put in a few of these at a time, since they usually cook in less than a minute. This gives you a chance to remove and eat them before adding more to the hot pot.
9
Stir in your noodles at the last minute. After you're halfway through your hot pot meal, add your choice of noodles to the hot pot. Stir them gently and cook for 1 to 3 minutes or until they're tender.^{[12]
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- The noodles will soak up the broth that's been flavored by all of the food you've cooked in it.
10
Lift food out of the hot pot and dip it in your sauce. Use long chopsticks or a hot pot strainer to remove your choice of cooked food from the hot pot broth. Lower the food into your dish of sauce and then eat it. If you're eating tofu or a ball, let it cool off a little and use caution since it will have absorbed a lot of hot broth.^{[13]
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- Always ask the people you're eating with whether the food you want to remove from the hot pot is theirs or not.
- Avoid pouring your sauce into the hot pot. Everyone will have different flavor preferences and doing so could ruin the broth for others.
11
Keep the hot pot set to medium so it constantly bubbles. The broth should always be bubbling gently, so it will cook the food you continue to add. Don't worry about the broth evaporating, since someone from the restaurant will occasionally swing by and pour more broth in your hot pot.^{[14]
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- Remember to lower new food into the hot pot slowly. This will prevent hot broth from splashing out of the hot pot.
- After everyone has finished cooking and eating their food from the hot pot, ladle some broth into your bowl. The broth will have absorbed extra flavor from all the food you cooked in it.^{[15]
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Section 2 of 6:

Do you eat hot pot with anything else?

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1
Enjoy the hot pot along with salad, nuts, or spring rolls. Although you don't have to eat side dishes, hot pot pairs well with roasted nuts, scallion pancakes, and spring rolls. Most restaurants usually offer spicy cucumber or mushroom salad to help you cool down.^{[16]
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- Fresh fruit or creamy ice cream are great desserts to eat after having a spicy hot pot.
2
Drink a cold beer or sour plum tea to cut through the heat. Many people love having a cold beer with their hot pot, but if you’re not a drinker, try sour plum tea (or suanmeitang), which is made with sour plums and herbs. It’s said to aid in digestion and restore your body’s temperature equilibrium, according to herbalists.^{[17]
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- If you ordered a spicy broth, try drinking a fermented milk or yogurt drink after your meal.^{[18]
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Section 3 of 6:

Hot Pot Etiquette Rules

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If you’re adding raw meat or seafood to your hot pot, you need to designate a specific pair of tongs (or chopsticks) to cook the raw ingredients. You should also avoid dipping plastic and non-heat-safe utensils in the hot pot.^{[19]
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Instead of dumping all the ingredients into the hot pot, cook your food in small amounts. Adding everything in at once can overcrowd the pot and cause certain things to become mushy and break down. Cooking as you eat ensures the meat and tougher veggies are cooked properly and each bite is perfectly hot.^{[20]
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Hot pot is a communal eating experience, so don’t forget to share everything you ordered (and serve others before yourself to be super polite). Check the rules on double dipping beforehand, and ask if anyone has any food allergies or dislikes certain ingredients.^{[21]
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Section 4 of 6:

What is hot pot?

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Hot pot is a popular communal dining experience in East Asia. You cook a variety of ingredients, like thinly sliced meats and vegetables, by dipping them in a pot of boiling broth that’s in the center of the table. The broth is usually heated on an induction burner or electric range, and you can cook everything to your exact liking.^{[22]
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- Think of it as an interactive eating experience, like KBBQ or fondue, that’s meant to be shared with friends and family.

Section 5 of 6:

Where does hot pot come from?

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The first form of hot pot originated in China. While the exact origins of hot pot are unclear, many people believe it first appeared during the Zhou Dynasty (approximately 1600-256 BC).^{[23]
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Research source} Others believe it was created by the Mongols, who needed a hot and hearty meal to fuel them after hours on horseback. During this time, mutton and horse meat were used in the hot pot.^{[24]
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- Eventually, various forms of hot pot emerged in Japan, Korea, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Section 6 of 6:

How much does hot pot cost?

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There’s a hot pot restaurant for every budget, and since it’s a group activity, it’s fairly cost-effective. Most places charge around $20 per person, but the price depends on what you order and where you’re located. Premium add-ons, like higher-quality meats and fresh pulled noodles, will also be more expensive.

Shopping List and Recipe for Hot Pot at Home

Sample At Home Hot Pot Shopping List

Sample At Home Hot Pot Recipe

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Tips

If you have longer hair, tie it up so it doesn’t accidentally get into the hot pot.^{[25]
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If you’re vegetarian, you can still enjoy hot pot! Most restaurants offer mushroom or tomato-based broths, and you can add tofu, noodles, and vegetables (instead of meat and seafood).

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Warnings

Always use caution when adding food to your hot pot because the broth could splash and burn you.

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To completely kill bacteria, it's important to bring the hot pot broth to a boil before you put any meat or seafood into it.^{[26]
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