Ultimate Herbal Hot Pot Recipe for Thanksgiving

Growing up I always wished my family would have a normal American Thanksgiving with the turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and gravy. Now I really appreciate how I have my own Thanksgiving recipes and traditions to fall back on that are much more delicious.

Recently I held a Friendsgiving at my little NYC apartment. We packed 10 people around a tiny 4X2 table and dipped meats, tofu, and veggies into my medicinal herbal hot pot broth. We had one section for the spice lovers and the other that was more mild. Listening to the buzz of conversation and happy slurping was the best reward after all the prep. Personally, I find my favorite part of cooking a meal for people is when I get to hear them enjoying it.

If you’re looking for a relatively easy Thanksgiving dinner that just requires you to make soup, try this herbal hot pot recipe this year!

Ingredients:

• 2lbs of beef knuckle bones

• 2lbs of chicken wings and drumsticks

• 3 small shallots, halved

• 1 head of garlic, halved

• 2 scallions

• 4 slices of ginger for parboiling, 1 big piece of ginger halved for stock

• 1/2 head of napa cabbage

• ~10-12 cups of water (enough water to fill 6qt Instant Pot to Max line)

• 1 carrot

• 2 celery

• 1 bunch of cilantro

• Palm sized piece of dried Virginia ham

• 5 pieces of huang qi

• 1 piece of dang gui

• 5-6 dried shiitake mushrooms

• 1/2 cup dried chanterelles (optional)

• 1/4 cup dried jujube dates

• For spicy hot pot:

  • 2 tbsps chili bean paste

  • 1 tbsp garlic

  • 1 sliced Thai chili

Instructions:

• Wash the bones, chicken wings, and drumsticks then set in a pot with water, ginger slices, and scallions. Bring to a boil and let it cook for 5 minutes. This process helps to remove as much of the scum to result in a clearer broth.

• Set Instant Pot to Saute mode and add a few tbsps of oil to coat the bottom. Brown the shallots, garlic, and ginger first, then add in the blanched bones and chicken to brown.

• Once the bones and chicken are browned, add in the cabbage, carrot, celery, cilantro, and ham with 10-12 cups of water.

• Add all the dried herbal ingredients to a bowl and rinse under water. Then add everything to the Instant Pot.

• Set the machine to cook on High Pressure for 1 hour. After the hour is up, manually release the pressure, and remove the veggies.

• Add salt to taste or a bit of soy sauce for flavor and your mild broth is done.

• For a spicier broth, sauté 2 tbsps chili bean paste with 1 tbsp of garlic and sliced Thai chili in your hot pot. Add in the broth and adjust seasoning with a pinch of salt and soy sauce.