Beef and Tomato Soup Base
1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 ¼ cups veal or beef stock
1 heaping tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
1/2 cup sliced green onions, white part only
1 heaping tbsp tomato paste
2 medium tomatoes, cut into eighths
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp maggi sauce
1 tbsp black vinegar (optional)
Salt to taste
Ontario Veal and Shiitake Meatballs
1lb (454g) of ground Ontario veal
3 tbsp of cold water
1/2 cup dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and finely chopped
1/3 cup of thinly sliced green onions, green part only
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch
1 tbsp light soy
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/4 tsp sesame oil
Other Ingredients for Cooking in Hot Pot
Thinly sliced Ontario veal, freeze before slicing for extra thin slices or try veal scallopini
Tofu puffs, cut in half
Firm tofu, sliced into bite-sized cubes
Fresh shiitake mushrooms and shimeji mushrooms, whole
Asian greens such as napa cabbage leaves, bok choi or snow pea leaves
Carrots, thinly sliced
DIY Dipping Sauce
Roasted sesame paste or sesame oil
Light soy sauce
Hoisin sauce
Chili oil or hot sauce
Finely chopped green onions, green part only
Finely chopped cilantro, leaves only
Instructions:
For the beef and tomato soup base –In a medium sized pot, heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat and cook the garlic, ginger, and green onions until fragrant. Add the remaining ingredients into the pot, lower the heat and simmer until tomatoes start to break down slightly. Season with salt to taste
Put two thirds of the ground veal into a food processor with 3 tablespoons of cold water and pulse until it looks like a homogenous paste.
Combine the meat mixture with the remaining ground veal and all of the other meatball ingredients. Mix with your hands until thoroughly combined. Wet your hands with cold water to prevent sticking and form the meat mixture into bite-sized meatballs.
Place the soup base on a portable burner turned to medium or medium-low heat and arrange your meatballs, sliced raw veal and your favourite veggies around the pot. Add a few ingredients to the pot at a time and cook them in the simmering broth.
Optional: For a more beautiful presentation, carefully arrange your first batch of ingredients in a heat-safe pot before pouring in the stock and putting it on the burner. Once the first round is finished, you can continue to cook more ingredients like in Step 4.
The soup base will already impart a delicious flavour to your ingredients but it’s also traditional and fun to create your own dipping sauce. Create your own combination with the ingredients listed above or incorporate your favourite condiments. Please note that sesame oil is very strong and a little goes a long way.
Hot Pot Tips
The Veal Meatballs can also be prepared ahead of time or frozen. Make sure the meatballs are not touching while you freeze them and once frozen, they can be transferred to a freezer bag to save space.
The hot pot ingredients listed are just suggestions, so you can play around with your favourite vegetables and get creative! Various types of noodles are also great for hot pots.
The water level of your soup base will start to decrease as it boils, but you can add more hot water to it to bring it back up. Add a pinch of salt or a dash of soy sauce if you need more seasoning.
For cooking directly in the hot pot, you can use chopsticks, tongs, slotted spoons and ladles.
Source: Cindy Chan (hungrycindy)
