What is Canton-Style Hot Pot?

Canton style hot pot originates from the Guangdong province of China. It is usually a communal meal where a pot of simmering broth is placed at the center of the table, and diners cook various ingredients in the broth to their liking.

Each diner has their own individual dipping sauce, which can be customized according to taste. Our dipping sauces include soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, chili sauce, and various herbs and spices. Once the ingredients are cooked in the broth, they are dipped into the sauce before being eaten.

The broth used in Canton style hot pot is typically lighter compared to other styles of hot pot as one of the distinctive aspects of Canton style hotpot is the emphasis on the freshness and quality of the ingredients and drinkability of the broth.

We at Soupleaf are committed to maintain such premium ingredients and wish to provide the hot pot experience for a broader audience.

The Experience

While there are several ways to enjoy hotpot we do have a few tips:

  1. Take it slow when cooking. Add ingredients individually and batch them. Cooking them all at once can make things hectic, prone to overfilling, and difficult to manage.

  2. Enjoy the dips. The broth starts off light and won’t impart much flavor to the ingredients. We recommend trying the house sauce with a bit of cilantro! It’s sweet and sour, with a little tang.

  3. Finish the meal with the broth. The broth evolves as meats, veggies, and other ingredients are added, building flavors and complexity over time.

  4. Share the meats that are ordered!

Sauce Bar Guide

Creating sauces is an art and finding a balance is difficult. However, there is a rule of thumb that can be followed:

Identify a base sauces as the main flavoring agent. Base sauces should be able to stand by themselves as a flavor that you enjoy. A few good examples for those starting out include:

  • House Sauce: Sweet & Sour; Tangy

  • Soy Sauce: salty, savory

  • Chinkiang Vinegar / Black Vinegar: salty, sour

  • Shacha: savory, sweet

Seasoning sauces add subtle flavors to the base sauce and should be used in limited amounts. Seasoning sauces and base sauces are interchangeable for the most part, but their functionality differs in that these sauces should not overwhelm the base sauce. Thicker sauces tend to be on the side of seasoning compared to thinner sauces.

  • White Vinegar: sour

  • Beancurd Sauce: fermentation, salty

  • Mala Spice Blend: sour, bitter

  • Peanut Sauce: nutty

Garnishes / Topping tend to have impart heterogeneity into the sauce, breaking the sauce into newer parts and imparting complexity. Garnishes and toppings can be added generously to the sauces.

  • Cilantro

  • Garlic

  • Thai Chili

  • Jalapeños

  • Green Onions

  • Sesame Oil

Example Sauce:

  • 3 parts house sauce (Base)

  • 1 part beancurd sauce (Seasoning)

  • 1 part cilantro (garnish)

Sticker Guide

  • Yellow = Contains Gluten

  • Red = Contains Meat Products

Cook Times

Sliced Meats

Ingredients: Pork Belly, Pork Jowl, Pork Shoulder, Lamb Shank, Beef Toro, Angus Brisket, Chicken Breast

Cook Time: 15-45 secs

Tips:

  1. While red meats can be eaten pink, other meats such as pork should be cooked fully.

  2. Meats should be cooked per bite as they cook quickly

  3. Eat w/ sauces

Leafy Greens

Ingredients: Napa Cabbage, Watercress, Daisy Leaf, Taiwan Spinach, Kale, Tai Shan Cauliflower, Brussel Sprout, Mustard Greens, A Choi, Green Leaf Lettuce, Baby Bokchoi, Chinese Broccoli, Yu Choy, Shanghai Greens, Broccoli

Cook Time: 30 secs - 3 mins

Tips:

  1. Leafy greens are best slightly undercooked as they impart a level of crunch and sweetness

  2. Overcooked leafy greens will be slightly bitter

  3. Eat by itself

Noodles

Ingredients: Ramen, Bean Thread, Udon

Cook Time: 1 - 3 mins

Tips:

  1. Noodles disintegrate when they overcook, they should be removed before this stage

  2. Recommend cooking one to two serving at a time

  3. Eat w/ broth

Clams

Ingredients: Clams

Cook Time: Cook till open + 30 secs

Starch & Root Vegetables

Ingredients: Potatoes, Carrots, Taro, Kabocha, Lotus Root, Daikon, Onions, Sweet Potato

Cook Time: 4 - 8 mins

Tips:

  1. Root vegetables may disintegrate into the broth if overcooked

  2. Undercooked root vegetables are crunchy and is not recommended

  3. Perfectly cooked root vegetables should be soft enough to give on light chopstick poke

Fishcake & Fishball

Ingredients: Yamasa, Fish Cakes, Chimni

Cook Time: 3 - 8 mins

Tips:

  1. Fishcakes and fishballs expand when cooked.

Octopus

Ingredients: Octopus

Cook Time: 1 - 2 mins

Tips:

  1. Overcooked and undercooked octopus is chewy and tough. There is a sweet spot where it becomes tender

Mushrooms

Ingredients: Enoki, Shiitake, Portobello, Wood Ear Mushroom, King Oyster Mushroom, Button Mushrooms

Cook Time: 1+ mins

Tips:

  1. Mushrooms are impossible to overcook. The longer you have them in the broth, the more flavor they gain from the broth.

Shrimp Paste

Ingredients: Shrimp Paste

Cook Time: 30 - 90 secs

Tips:

  1. Cooking time dependent on size of ball formed with shrimp paste