Can You Make Hot Pot Broth In Advance? We Asked A Chef

Hot pot is like a kind of soup fondue experience that offers satisfying bowls of broth that can contain an assortment of vegetables and meat. The concept also lends to some pretty fantastic dinner parties, as guests can pick and choose which ingredients they want in their meal. We spoke to Kenny Leung, who is executive chef of Yao, an NYC restaurant that specializes in Cantonese cuisine. The chef had some advice that might make our hosting responsibilities a bit lighter the next time we invite friends over for a hot pot night.

Leung suggests making the broth in advance. That would cut down on the cooking tasks the day of so you can simply get to setting out ingredients and arranging dishes of fresh bean sprouts and other accouterments for guests to choose from and design their own meals. "Just make sure the broth is fully cooled down before putting it in the refrigerator," Leung warns. This is sound advice, since placing a hot dish directly into the fridge can result in an increase in the temperature of your fridge to the point where bacteria can grow and perishable foods might spoil.

Shallow containers can help cool larger amounts of soup quickly. Alternatively, you can borrow some tricks from professional chefs and use ice paddles (such as these Blushtier Chill Utensils), to cool vats of broth. If you don't have these handy utensils at home, you can place the pot in which you made the broth into a larger vat or sink filled with ice-cold water. Once cooled, your homemade broth should be placed into the fridge within two hours.

When stored properly, your broth can be kept for several days in the fridge. You'll simply need to reheat it when you're ready to serve, and that dynamic broth duo you worked hard to create can be presented to guests without you needing to fuss over recipe steps or ingredient lists the day of the dinner. With one less chore to worry about, you can focus on pouring drinks, refilling plates of ingredients, and passing out dipping sauces to flavor bowls so that no guest leaves the party unsatisfied.