Ottawa Foodies

Or... you can go even cheaper which is what many Chinese families do and that is to buy an indoor butane burner!

I've been eating at Mongolian Hot Pot Mongolian Hot Pot a couple of times a week lately. It's close to work and for $13 I think it's a pretty good deal.

But I'm thinking it would be fun to make it at home. It's not complicated cooking.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_pot

If you search on ebay you will see induction cooking units costing thousands but I found some sellers in BC and Ontario that sell refurbished units (some Chinese made, some German made – with good user reviews for both on the web) for about $80 - $120, with power in the 1400w to 1500w range. That should be fine for home use.


tinyurl.com/aanb4o


The premise is simple - a savory stock, meats sliced paper thin, vegetables. Cook very quickly so flavor is preserved. I don't think exact recipes need to be followed, latitude is definitely open for creativity.

A Chinese friend told me it's the most widespread cooking method in the country (methods like stir frying may be popular in some areas, but hot pot is popular everywhere).

I have eaten at the Hot Pot twice now and both times I loved it. Great selection and very yummy.

Note - I prefer the small pots so that I don't have to choose the same food as my lunch buddies.

Our team from work went for lunch on Thursday 05 Feb, and it was excellent. Good food, good quantities, good quality. And, it's a fun, new experience!

I drove by the place yesterday, the paper on the windows was peeled down and you could see the waitstaff and chef talking, possibly even tasting their food.

As of this morning, everything seemed set to open as the inside appears prepped, cleaned and in order. I would predict this weekend, if not tonight.

Here's May's seperate Hot Pot Menu.

For a clear copy, send me a message, at my profile, with your email address and I'll send ya the full size scan.

BTW: Had lunch special there today.... Hot and Sour Soup with Kung Pao Chicken on Rice. Not too shabby.

May's husband, the head chef, is really friendly. He'll come out of the kitchen and talk to diners, at a drop of a hat.

Tried their fondu hot pot which is a rich broth with shrimp paste (I think) - very flavourful. We got the one with vegetables and beef, chicken, shrimp, scallop, squid. It was fantastic. The flavour lingered and left me wanting to overstuff myself. Served with noodles.