The hot pot is a centuries-old tradition originating from China, designed for communal eating. Families sat around a hot metal pot filled with a simmering broth, dipping noodles, meat, seafood, and vegetables into it. The high temperature of the broth instantly cooks the ingredients, making for a quick, hearty, shared meal consumed with the broth.
“In the past, when there were many children in a family they prepared hot pot dinners,” says chef Cong Yong Li from Beijing, who is curating Spice Up Your Lunch with a Chinese Hot Pot, a Sichuan-style Chinese hot pot menu, at the Oriental Kitchen restaurant, Hyatt Regency Trivandrum at Vazhuthacaud, Thiruvananthapuram.
“A hot pot, an immersive culinary experience that brings groups together, is designed to offer a complete meal,” says Cong, 45, who started working at Oriental Kitchen in 2022.
The experience was reintroduced following a positive response to the hot pot earlier in October. “This included queries about included queries about whether the hot pot was a Chinese or Korean variant, which begins with a cooked base unlike the Chinese versions, which uses raw ingredients.”
Two types of Chinese hot pots are available at the restaurant — red and clear. “The red variety uses a rich, thick and spicy soup-base, while the other version has a clear soup base with lighter flavours.”
Meats, noodles, and vegetables are added once the spiced broth starts simmering in the large metal pot.
The ingredients used in hot pot with a red soup base
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Thin slices of chicken thighs, beef tenderloin, and lamb are added for a quick, even cook, followed by leafy vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, bok choy, lettuce, spinach and mushroom varieties such as button mushrooms and black fungus mushrooms.
Seafood including prawns, squid, and sea bass are added towards the end due to its low cooking time. Cooking is completed with rice noodles, glass noodles (transparent noodles of starch and water) or Udon noodles (made of wheat flour) added to the broth.
Some customers prefer adding shrimp balls and beef meatballs made of minced prawns and beef, respectively. For vegetarians, Tofu cubes and soy sticks are available.
The cooked ingredients are dipped in a sauce mix of peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, coriander, and chilli. “This combination can be adjusted accordingly to match personal tastes,” says Cong. Peanut butter is added more for sweetness and soy sauce for saltiness.
Chef Cong Yong Li preparing a hot pot lunch
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Nainu Oommen
Finally you mix the spicy broth with the dipping sauce and drink it to finish off the meal. One hot pot can serve four people.
The all-inclusive non-vegetarian hot pot is available at ₹3,200, seafood hot pot at ₹2,600, meat hot pot at ₹ 2,200 and vegetarian hot pot at ₹1,800. Each add on costs ₹400. For reservations, contact 6238600446. Time: from 12pm to 3pm
Published – October 22, 2025 10:15 am IST
