Camp Vietnamese Hot Pot, Lẩu Thái

Hot pot. It’s a phrase that is synonymous with parties, get togethers, celebrations, and good times for many people around the world. Ever wonder how to feed a bunch of people delicious food without breaking the bank? Hot pot is the answer. Growing up, the lẩu thái (thai-inspired) variant of Vietnamese hot pot, was the go-to dish for my mom to serve whenever we knew that the rest of the massive Nguyen clan was coming. 

Hot pot is a dish that hits all the right notes: its savory, tangy, slightly sweet, has a good selection of various proteins. It also features a whole assortment of fresh herbs and vegetables. It’s also hot and soupy to touch deep into soul. The pièce de résistance of this dish is that it has the filler that keeps people feeling full, and satisfied long, after the meal was done: noodles. Everyone loves noodles. 

These days, I crave meals that harken back to those laugh and smile filled memories. What better way to celebrate, and honor, those days gone by having a piping bowl of hot pot while camping?

INGREDIENTS

SERVES 2-4
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min

• 64oz/2L of chicken stock

• 4 stocks of lemongrass

• 6-8 slices of galangal (optional)

• 2 tbsp tom yum soup paste

• 8 kaffir lime leaves (optional)

• 2 tomatoes

• mushrooms, (I prefer oyster, enoki, beech but any will do)

• 1/4 lb thin sliced beef

• 1/4 lb shrimp

• catfish/fish balls (optional)

• leafy vegetables (nappa cabbage, baby bok choy, chinese broccoli, morning glory, kale, watercress)

• 4 tbsp fish sauce

• 3 tbsp sugar

• 2 tbsp of chicken bouillon (optional)

• 1 package of egg or nice noodles

DIRECTIONS

Choose a large pot that you can cook and serve in. It should be big enough take both the broth, and all the accoutrements that will be added at the end. Empty the boxes (or cans) of chicken broth into the pot and bring it to a boil.

As the broth is being brought up to temperature, prepare your aromatics. If your lemon grass are full stocks with the leaves, cut them off until the bottom portion is about 6 inches long. Smash the bottom portion of the stock. You can either use a hammer, or the side of a knife with a swift slam of your palm. Smashing the lemon grass helps extract the flavor out faster as its simmering away. Place the stocks into the broth.

Bring a second smaller pot with water to a boil. Once boiled, cook the noodles, drain the water, and set aside on a serving plate.

Slice the onions into thin strips of onions, or cut them into 1x1” squares. This will bring additional sweetness into the soup.

Tear the Kaffir lime leaves in half and toss them into the broth as well. Bring everything up to a boil. Once boiled bring it to a simmer for 10-15 minutes to let the flavors melt together.

As you wait for the soup to simmer, prepare all the vegetables by cutting them into easily edible sizes. This will help the veggies cook quicker in the broth while at the table, and also make for easier consumption. No one wants big giant pieces of things as you’re stuffing things into your mouth!

Next, season the broth with the tom yum soup base, fish sauce, chicken bouillon, and sugar. Taste and adjust if needed.

Cut the tomatoes into wedges. Add it to the soup and bring the it back up to a boil.

Before serving, remove the lemon grass and kaffir leaves.

Transfer to a secondary stove if you’re serving this traditional hot pot style at the table. If you don’t have a second stove, use the camp stove you cooked it in to keep the soup bubbly hot. As you’re eating, you’ll want to adjust the heat as you add and ingredients to it.

If you don’t want to do it traditional hot pot style, you can always add in the ingredients into the pot and let them cook through before serving.