Taiwanese hot pot: the ultimate guide (step-by-step)

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It’s time to enjoy the coziness of a classic Taiwanese hot pot in the comfort of your own home! Easily make your own flavorful broth (just like the hot pot restaurants in Taiwan!), tender vegetables, and succulent meat right at the table with loved ones.

This is a traditional Taiwanese hot pot recipe, but I’ll also be sharing a variety of ways you can customize it to include additional cultural influences. And don’t worry, I’m sharing my favorite hot pot dipping sauces too!

Top down view of Taiwanese hot pot in a simmering pot with a small sauce-filled bowl and chopsticks along with ingredients on the side.

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✨ why you'll love this recipe

hot pot highlights

The broth! It starts out light and becomes more and more flavorful as you cook. By the end, the hot pot broth will be infused with vegetables, beef, and briny clams. The soup at the end might be the best part!
Since the meat is thinly sliced, it cooks quickly in the simmering broth. You only cook it for seconds until it’s just cooked, so it’s always super tender.
The vegetables can be cooked according to individual preferences. Some people like napa cabbage cooked longer while others like it cooked just for a few minutes.
Dip all of the vegetables and meat in a customized dipping sauce. It’s packed with umami from the sha cha sauce and soy sauce combo.
Make room in your belly for the end! Add noodles to the flavorful broth to cap off your meal.

This is my favorite food of all time and might become yours as well. I can’t wait to share this traditional Taiwanese hot pot recipe with you! When the craving hits - and it always hits - this recipe will empower you to make and enjoy hot pot at home any time you want.

Whether it’s hot and steamy outside or chilly and brisk, I think it’s hot pot season year-round as long as you have AC or a good fan! It’s delicious and nutritious, of course, but it’s also the perfect way to connect with friends and family, catch up, and foster a sense of community.

You can enjoy your meal with a glass of taro boba or a refreshing watermelon drink. End with a cooling bowl of Taiwanese aiyu jelly dessert.

Other Taiwanese recipes you should try include chhá bí hún (chao mi fen) and stir-fried Taiwanese cabbage, spinach (which also uses sacha sauce), or water spinach.

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📋 key hot pot ingredients

If you're having trouble finding some of these ingredients, a local Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese grocery store will likely carry it.

If you don't have access to a local Asian grocery store, you can give these online stores a try: 99 Ranch Market (has a delivery app - iOS or Android - and currently has stores in CA, OR, WA, NV, TX, NJ, MA, MD, and VA), or Weee! (affiliate link).

Taiwanese hot pot recipe ingredients laid out on a pastel purple background and individually labeled.

chicken stock - I like to use a low sodium version or you can use bouillon.
pre-thinly sliced meat - Taiwanese, Japanese, and Korean grocery stores like 99 Ranch Market, Mitsuwa, and H Mart will carry a variety of sliced meat for hot pot. You can also get it delivered through Instacart or Weee! (affiliate link).
clams or cockles - whichever you can find at a local fish market or grocery store. Cockles tend to be smaller and sweeter than manila clams.
tomato - on the vine or Roma variety works well.
kombu (dried kelp) - one piece, about 3 by 4 inches.
napa cabbage - the combination of this with thinly sliced beef is amazing! In a pinch, you can use Taiwanese or green cabbage.
mushrooms - enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and beech (shimeji) mushrooms.
chrysanthemum greens - optional but a favorite that's worth trying
daikon radish - a must-have in my opinion (I show you a special way to cut it for soups below)
silken tofu - soft tofu and medium-firm tofu also work well
kamaboko (Japanese fish cake)
udon noodles (frozen) - or mung bean noodles, potato starch noodles depending on your mood

See the recipe card for quantities.

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🍜 dipping sauce ingredients

Sacha sauce - shāchá jiàng, 沙茶酱 (I prefer the Bull Head brand), and soy sauce are must-haves for Taiwanese hot pot dipping sauce!

sacha sauce - I recommend the Bull Head brand (paid affiliate link) based on personal taste preferences. A local Taiwanese or Chinese grocery store will carry it. If you don't have access to a local Asian grocery store, you can find it online.
soy sauce - I prefer a lower sodium one like the Yamasa soy sauce or Kimlan soy sauce.
sesame oil
garlic
scallion
cilantro
Thai chili (optional) - for the spicy food lovers like me, this chili adds a whole other dimension to the sauce!
eggs (optional) - look for pasteurized eggs since these will be used raw (not recommended for immunocompromised or pregnant guests; make sure to follow the FDA food safety recommendations).
chinese black vinegar (optional) - or rice vinegar. Some guests like a few drops of vinegar in their dipping sauce. I personally leave it out.

Want to skip the step-by-step guidance? You can use the button below to skip straight to the printable recipe!

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📖 substitutions and variations

Each person has their own preferences for hot pot ingredients. This recipe covers the basis for what you can include when hosting, but there are so many other ingredients you can include too if you'd like.

The great thing about hot pot is that you can customize the ingredients and sauce to your and your guests' preferences.

other meats - thinly sliced pork, lamb, and chicken can be found at local East Asian grocery stores (in the meat or frozen sections) or online at Weee!
fish balls - various store-bought or homemade fish balls, "lobster" balls, shrimp balls, shrimp paste, or meatballs are fun additions.
more vegetables - other vegetables that taste amazing in hot pot include peeled and sliced celtuse, Taiwanese cabbage, thinly sliced carrot, sword leaf vegetables, even baby kale, fresh or frozen bamboo, previously fried and cooled chunks of taro, and thinly sliced potato when cooked just for a few minutes in the hot pot broth.
deluxe - add fresh seafood like shrimp, mussels, and slices of your fish of choice.
gluten-free - provide a gluten-free soy sauce and opt for mung bean noodles and/or white rice rather than udon noodles.

Although a sacha-based dipping sauce is the classic, there are other dipping sauce options too.

Packages of optional ingredients such as frozen pollock and cuttlefish rolls, egg dumplings, and bamboo shoots on a wood surface. — Some of my favorite frozen hot pot additions: pollock and cuttlefish rolls, egg dumplings, and bamboo shoots.

🍲 what is Taiwanese hot pot?

Taiwanese hot pot (sometimes spelled hotpot) - or huo guo 火鍋 (hóe-ko in Taiwanese, or huǒ guō in Mandarin, Chinese) - directly translates to “fire pot”.

It's a dish that's also an important social ritual – enjoying a complete meal shared over a bubbling pot with others! You get a variety of protein, vegetables, carbs, and an umami-filled soup – what’s not to love?

All hot pots start with the broth, which can vary in flavor (especially by region), but it typically consists of chicken stock that’s simmered with a variety of vegetables. You then use chopsticks to cook vegetables, meat, tofu, and/or seafood in the broth.

Each person can use the ingredients offered to whip up their preferred dipping sauce, and then at the end, noodles can be added to the broth for a final course!

Also called 涮涮鍋 (shuàn shuàn guō) as an onomatopoeia for the light swishing sound from chopsticks moving a slice of meat in the hot broth to help it cook faster… this is also where the Japanese name for hot pot, shabu shabu, stems from. In Taiwan, many hot pot restaurants are called 涮涮鍋.

For many Taiwanese families, almost every Taiwan and U.S. holiday includes hot pot. It’s a meal that brings everyone together because you surround a central pot and there’s no single chef.

Everyone plays a part in making their own meal exactly how they’d like it.

It can be served as a quicker weekday meal too (some people even have it for lunch at work in Taiwan!), or a meal for 1-4 can be prepped and thrown together quickly on weekdays.

We sometimes have hot pot 2-3 dinners in a row, especially during the colder months. It’s nice because you can swap out ingredients here and there to keep the flavors new and fresh.

There are many different types of hot pot and their ingredients vary by cuisine/region. While this recipe focuses on the base Taiwanese version, I'll also touch on the different soup bases, sauces, and ingredients for a Chinese version and Japanese shabu shabu in this post. Read on if you're curious, or jump straight to the printable recipe below.

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💭 hot pot vs shabu shabu

Even within the Taiwanese hot pot category, there are different types of broths and ingredients used, and then there are even more options when you consider different cultures.

Different versions include Vietnamese hot pots, Mongolian lamb hot pots, Chinese hot pots, etc. One of the most popular types alongside Taiwanese is Japanese hot pot, also known as shabu shabu.

did you know? The Chinese hot pot that's more commonly known in Western cultures uses a numbing (from Sichua peppercorns) and spicy broth called mala tang (also known as Sichuan hot pot). Sometimes it's served in a pot that has a center divider so you can include a non-spicy broth-based soup on one side.

The main differences between the Japanese and Taiwanese versions are the broth, dipping sauces, and some of the ingredients. For example, the shabu shabu hot pot soup base typically has water and kombu (kelp) in it, and shabu shabu is usually served with two dipping sauces; one is sesame-based and the other is ponzu-based. Additionally, Japanese shabu shabu is usually served with fresh udon noodles and a bowl of rice.

Both the Taiwanese and Japanese recipes have a lot of the same elements since they’re heavily influenced by each other, but they differ in small ways that make them their own special dish.

💧 hot pot broth

Usually, when you go to a restaurant in Taiwan or here in the States, you'll have a lot of broth options to choose from, including soy milk-based broths, herbal chicken broths, bone broths, spicy broths, etc. This hot pot broth recipe is the classic soup base that's usually the most popular!

I'll also show you other ingredients to add to easily make the soup base into different flavors – all packaged in an easy-to-reference infographic.

Chinese hot pot is typically made with a mala broth, which is spicier than the Taiwanese version, and as I mentioned above, shabu shabu is water and kombu-based.

🥣 dipping sauce

There are so many options for hot pot dipping sauces – there are classic recipes or traditional ones within each culture.

Shabu shabu dipping sauce is typically ponzu or goma, but the typical Taiwanese dipping sauce contains soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and spring onions. In Taiwan, we add sha cha sauce too!

Sauces and toppings such as sliced cilantro, scallion, Thai chili, and minced garlic for hot pot dipping sauces laid out on a counter with a platter of ingredients.

Usually, a multitude of ingredients are individually laid out on the table (as shown above) so each person can concoct their own dipping sauce, though.

🥢 special equipment

The key equipment for being able to sit at the dining table and cook hot pot is a tabletop burner or portable stove (paid affiliate link). This can be a butane version like the one I use.

Alternatively, you can use an individual induction cooktop or an electric pot made for hot pot. Just make sure you have plenty of ventilation when cooking and never leave it without someone watching.

Here are a few other tools I like to use:

Communal chopsticks and long cooking chopstick s (paid affiliate link)
Ladle (paid affiliate link)
Individual strainers and broth skimmers (paid affiliate link) made for hot pot
Slotted spoons if there are ingredients you can't grab with your chopsticks

Hot pot equipment like a broth skimmer (also works as an ingredient scoop), ladle, and long cooking chopsticks on a counter.

🔪 instructions

I’m going to go through each step in detail below, including step-by-step photos of how to prepare each ingredient for your hot pot. In a hurry? You can jump straight to the printable recipe.

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Recipe step 1: clams soaking in cold water in a small glass bowl.

If you're using clams, you'll start preparing your hotpot by soaking them in a bowl filled with cold water. Then, you can start preparing the other ingredients.

🍅 how to make hot pot broth at home

This version of Taiwanese broth is similar to Japanese shabu shabu in that kombu is used. The unique ingredient here is tomato, which adds a subtle sweetness to the broth. Without it, you'll feel like something's missing.

There's also another version that uses a milder version of Chinese Sichuan broth. This soup base includes Sichuan peppercorns, beef tallow, and spices, oftentimes pre-cooked for hours or even overnight for all the flavors to infuse.

Recipe step 2: Cindy preparing the first broth ingredient – holding a roma tomato cut in half lengthwise and cutting one side of the stem at an angle with the tip of a chefs knife.

Slice a tomato lengthwise. I tend to use Roma tomatoes since they're more firm and work well in soups.

Recipe step 3: Cindy preparing the first broth ingredient – holding a roma tomato cut in half lengthwise and cutting the other side of the stem at an angle with the tip of a chefs knife.

Slice the stem out from the tomato.

Recipe step 4: Cindy preparing the first broth ingredient – with half of a roma tomato flat side down on a cutting board, cutting each half into 4 wedges.

Continue cutting the tomato into slices lengthwise. You should get about four wedges out of each half.

Add 2 quarts of water, 1 quart of low-sodium chicken stock, the tomato wedges, and a piece of kombu (about 3-inch by 4-inch) to a wide, shallow pot (or medium 4-quart pot).

Heat until the broth is just about to boil and then turn it down to simmer over low heat.

Recipe step 5 - Top down view of broth with tomato wedges and 6 pieces of napa cabbage in a pot.

While the broth is simmering, prepare the other ingredients.

🔪 prepare hotpot ingredients

Recipe step 6: Cindy preparing hot pot ingredients – pulling napa cabbage leaves off from a head of cabbage.

Pull about 5-8 leaves off of a napa cabbage (5 if the cabbage is smaller).

Recipe step 7: Cindy cutting a thin strip off the bottom of a napa cabbage leaf.

Cut the thin stem-like strips off the bottom of each cabbage leaf.

Recipe step 8: napa cabbage leaves stacked on top of each other and cut into 2-inch (50 millimeter) wide pieces.

Stack the napa cabbage leaves on top of each other and cut them into 2-inch wide pieces.

Recipe step 9: Cindy cutting larger pieces of napa cabbage leaves in half.

Cut the large pieces in half.

Now, let's prep the mushrooms and daikon (plus my chef's tip on the little-known way to cut it for the perfect texture).

Recipe step 10: Cindy cutting the ends off of a bunch of enoki mushrooms.

Cut the ends off of one (7-ounce or 200 grams) package of enoki mushrooms.

Recipe step 11: Cindy cutting a shiitake mushroom into thin ½-inch (about 13 millimeters) thick slices.

Slice 5 fresh shiitake mushrooms into thin ½-inch thick slices.

Recipe step 12 - Cindy pulling small segments of shimeji mushrooms from one bunch.

Cut the ends off of one package of shimeji mushrooms (about 2 ounces) and separate them into smaller chunks by hand.

Recipe step 13 - A bunch of chrysanthemum greens cut in half.

Roughly cut one medium bunch of chrysanthemum greens into 3-inch pieces.

Recipe step 14: Cindy cutting a medium-sized daikon in half with a chefs knife.

Cut a 4-inch section of a washed daikon radish off.

Recipe step 15: Cindy peeling half of a daikon with a vegetable peeler.

This way you're only peeling the part of the daikon that you'll use right away. The other half will stay fresh longer stored in the refrigerator.

Recipe step 16: Cindy cutting half of a daikon into 2-inch long pieces (about 50 millimeters) with a chefs knife.

Cut the daikon into 2-inch long pieces (about 50 millimeters).

Recipe step 17: Cindy using a chefs knife to cut a piece of 2-inch long daikon (about 50 millimeters) into ¼-inch (6-millimeter) thick slices by placing the daikon piece flat side down, then slicing the daikon from top down with the grain.

Place each disk flat side down and slice the daikon from the top down with the grain into ¼-inch (6-millimeter) thick slices.

pro chef's tip

When using daikon in soups, cut slices with the grain rather than against the grain (as shown in the step-by-step photos). This will give each slice a satisfying toothsome bite even after being fully cooked – this is a restaurant secret!

For the proteins...

Recipe step 18: Cindy cutting a block of silken tofu into 1-inch by ¾-inch (about 25 by 20 millimeters) cubes on a wood cutting board.

Cut a 14-ounce (400 grams) block of silken tofu into 1-inch by ¾-inch cubes.

Recipe step 19: Cindy placing her non-dominant hand, palm down, over the top of the cut tofu and slicing it in half by cutting with the chefs knife parallel to the cutting board.

Slice the tofu in half by cutting parallel to the cutting board.

Recipe step 20: Cindy cutting kamaboko (Japanese fish cake) into ¼-inch (about 6 millimeters) thick slices.

Cut a package of kamaboko (Japanese fish cake) into ¼-inch thick slices.

A platter of vegetables and mushrooms for hot pot next to a small shallow dish filled with live manila clams.

Place the prepared ingredients on serving platters. I recommend grouping vegetables and mushrooms, tofu, fish cake, and noodles on different platters or containers.

Place the beef on a separate plate with its own serving utensil (chopsticks).

Rinse the clams under cold running water while scrubbing the shells with your hands to remove any remaining debris. Place the cleaned clams back into a clean bowl.

🥢 dipping sauce

Usually, dipping sauce ingredients are laid out for guests to use like a buffet line. Have the garlic minced, Thai chili sliced (remember to wear gloves!), and cilantro washed and roughly sliced and placed in separate bowls.

Each person can customize their own sauces based on preference. In the recipe card below, I share my personal favorite sauce - shacha sauce, soy sauce, minced garlic, a little bit of sliced Thai chili, and chopped cilantro - as an example.

Sauces and toppings such as sliced cilantro, scallion, Thai chili, and minced garlic for Taiwanese hot pot dipping sauce laid out on a counter with a platter of ingredients.

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🔥 how to cook and eat

Set the table with a countertop burner, the hot pot ingredients, sauce ingredients, communal chopsticks or tongs, a small bowl, and utensils for each person.

Make sure you have spare chopsticks ready to go as well!

Close up view of a chopsticks holding a slice of just cooked beef in Taiwanese hot pot.

Heat the pot of broth on the countertop burner over medium heat and add a small portion of the mushrooms, tofu, fish cake, napa cabbage, and daikon radish to start. Cook the chrysanthemum greens right before eating (about 1 minute) to prevent them from overcooking.

Top down view of a hot pot strainer holding cooked clams, tofu, and fish cake above simmering hot pot.

It helps to use a strainer or ladle for the harder-to-grab items like tofu and clams so they don't overcook.

When you’re ready to eat the beef, each person can cook individual slices of beef in the broth using a pair of communal chopsticks as you eat. Cook each slice just until the beef is no longer pink (about 30 seconds).

Close up view of a chopsticks holding a slice of cooked beef and dipping it in a sacha based hot pot dipping sauce.

Dip cooked ingredients in your sauce of choice to eat and add more ingredients to the pot as needed.

When most of the ingredients are cooked, you can heat the previously frozen udon noodles or mung bean noodles in the broth for about 3 minutes. Divide the cooked udon noodles into each person’s bowl, and add some broth to the noodles.

Enjoy good company while eating hot pot!

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🍲 equipment

Note: Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means we do make a small profit from your purchases (your price is not affected by this commission). We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. If you click on an affiliate link, you consent to a cookie being placed on your browser for purposes of tracking commissions.

4-quart pot
ladle
broth skimmers (paid affiliate link)
chefs knife
chopsticks
tabletop burner – butane, induction, or an electric pot
Serving platters and bowls for hot pot ingredients
Small rice bowls for dipping sauces

❄️ leftovers

Already prepared but uncooked ingredients can be stored in covered containers in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. Ingredients such as uncooked, cut napa cabbage can be stored for up to 1 week. Store tofu and sliced daikon in separate containers filled with cold water (enough to cover each ingredient).

Allow leftover hot pot broth and any already cooked ingredients to properly cool down, then store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. The broth can be reheated one more time for another hot pot meal.

💭 top expert tip

Make sure you turn the heat down to a simmer right when it starts to boil. The broth is essential so you don't want it to boil for too long and cook down. The more you cook your meal in it, the more it's enriched and delicious to slurp down with your choice of noodles at the end!

👨‍🍳 COOKING WITH KIDS

What can kid chefs help with?

Set the table with the individual bowls, platters, and chopsticks
Add the dipping sauce ingredients to their individual bowls
Note: make sure the simmering pot is far away from children. Adults can dish out the ingredients and allow them to cool down before serving them to the little ones.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Happy cooking! ~ Cindy 周昀

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🍜 more cozy recipes

Here are more Taiwanese and East Asian cozy soups to try.

💭 faq

How do I store hot pot ingredients and leftovers?

Allow any cooked leftover broth and cooked ingredients to cool down and then store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days. It can be reheated and enjoyed with leftover refrigerated dipping sauce. However, hot pot is really best fresh and used the day of.

What is the difference between Chinese and Taiwanese hot pot?

Taiwanese hot pot shares similarities with Chinese hot pots since Taiwanese food has influences from other cultures.

The main differences are that hot pot in China is usually more heavily meat-focused and the broth tends to be a lot spicier than Taiwanese versions. The Taiwanese versions tend to utilize a lot of vegetables and sometimes fresh seafood like calms, mussels, shrimp, and fish in addition to meats. Both versions include meat - and seafood - pastes or meatballs too!

The dipping sauce can vary across cultures as well – sometimes sacha sauce is used in both versions, but Chinese hot pot dipping sauce usually also includes sesame paste and sacha is used in smaller quantities. On the other hand, dipping sauces for the Taiwanese version almost always have sacha sauce as its base.

Also, different types of noodles are used depending on the type of broth used. Chinese mala hot pot is often served with a translucent sweet potato starch-based noodle called glass noodles because it goes so well with the spicy broth, and Taiwanese hot pot is often served with thin mung bean noodles, instant ramen noodles, or udon noodles.

What is the point of hot pot?

It's the most warming, nourishing, and delicious food, but beyond that, the point is about connection. There's something special about sitting around a shared pot of broth cooking your meal with other people. It's a time to be intentional and slow down, and that will never go out of style.

🌡️ food safety

Cook raw beef, pork, lamb, fish slices, shellfish, fishballs, and fish cake to a minimum temperature of 145 °F (63 °C)
Cook raw sliced chicken (if using) to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat. I recommend having separate chopsticks or tongs for raw meat and seafood.
Wash hands after touching raw meat
Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
Never leave cooking food unattended
Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.