How to Order Hot Pot Alone: A Simple Three-Step Guide to Broth, Main Plate, and Add-ons

When you order individual hot pot alone, go in the order of broth, main plate, then add-ons, and make only one decision at each step. First pick the broth flavor you want today. Choose a main plate that suits that type of broth. Use add-ons only to fill the one category the set is missing. Leave the dipping sauce for last and mix it after you've tasted the broth.

The scenario in this article is adapted from common everyday situations, and the person's name has been changed. This is just one way to plan an everyday meal, so adjust it to fit your own situation.

The pot Yating ordered that night

Yating works in admin. She eats lunch with coworkers, but she usually handles dinner on her own. One Wednesday after work the weather suddenly turned cold. She wanted something hot, so she walked into a small hot pot place near her office.

The menu ran several pages. There were over ten broths. The meat plates were split into four sections: beef, pork, chicken, and seafood. The add-on section listed over twenty hot pot items and staples, and next to it was a whole row of self-serve dipping sauces. The server came over twice to ask if she was ready, and both times she said she needed a little more time. In the end she pointed at the spicy mala broth with beef, then added three hot pot items on top of that.

The broth came out much spicier than she expected, and she could barely taste the meat. Some of the add-ons were the same things already on the set's vegetable plate, and she left half a plate untouched.

On the walk home it clicked for her. She knew how to eat hot pot just fine. The problem was that she started from scratch every time she walked into a restaurant. Broth, main plate, add-ons, sauce, and drinks stack on top of each other, and if one step isn't settled, everything after it gets held up. Eating alone, there's no one to share with, so if you order too much you either force it down or leave it. Every restaurant's set is different too. Some come with a vegetable plate and a staple, and some only come with a meat plate. Add a server standing beside you and people waiting at the door, and when you feel rushed you just point at anything. So she turned ordering into a fixed sequence. Next time she sits down, she follows it and doesn't have to keep flipping through the menu.

Spend half a minute on the set menu after you sit down

Don't rush to the broth page. When you get the menu, check three things:

• What comes with the set, such as a vegetable plate, a staple, a drink, or dessert.
• Whether you can swap the main plate, and whether switching to a different meat or seafood costs extra.
• Whether add-ons are ordered one full portion at a time, or whether smaller portions are available.

You'll use what you learn in this half minute in all three steps that follow. Pay special attention to what's on the vegetable plate, because you'll check back against it when choosing add-ons.

Broth: do you want to taste the ingredients or the broth?

Over ten broths looks like a lot, but sorting them into three types makes it easy. Kombu, vegetable, and bonito broths are clear broths. They're light, so you can taste the ingredients themselves. Tomato, milk, and miso fall into the rich type, where the broth itself has a strong presence. Mala, kimchi, and sacha are the bold type, with stronger aroma and heat.

When choosing, just ask yourself one question: today, do you want to taste the ingredients or the broth? If you want the ingredients, pick from the clear broths. If you want to enjoy the broth, or you're in the mood for something stronger, pick from the other two types.

If the broth comes in spice levels, start with mild the first time. If it isn't spicy enough, add chili oil yourself at the sauce bar. That night Yating ordered it too spicy from the start, and once the broth arrived there was no taking it back.

Main plate: match it to your broth type

Once your broth is set, you don't need to compare the whole row of meat plates from the top. Just check this table:

If you still can't decide after checking the table, go with the set's default plate. Try it once, then decide next time whether to swap. If you want to switch to a different meat or seafood, remember to check the extra charge rules you looked up in that first half minute.

Add-ons and sauce: only fill the category the set is missing

The add-on section has over twenty items, and you can roughly split them into four categories: mushrooms, soy products, hot pot dumplings, and staples (white rice, glass noodles, udon). Before you order, look back at which categories are already on the set's vegetable plate, and pick just one item from a category the set doesn't have.

For example, if the vegetable plate already has enoki mushrooms and tofu, you don't need more mushrooms or soy products. Pick one item from the hot pot dumplings or the staples. The extra half plate Yating had that night came from not checking what was on the vegetable plate before ordering.

Dipping sauce works the same way. Start with a small dish of a basic mix, like soy sauce with chopped scallions and minced garlic. After you've tasted the broth and know its flavor, decide whether to add other sauces.

When the server is waiting, there are too many options, or you can't remember last time's order

Even with the order sorted out, a few situations still come up once you're in the restaurant.

The server is standing there and your mind goes blank

You can order in two rounds. When the server comes, just give your broth and main plate, and tell them you'll order add-ons a bit later. The broth takes a while to heat up after it arrives, and that gap is the perfect time to look over the add-on section. If there's a menu posted by the door, take a look while you wait for a table, so you don't have to start from page one when you sit down.

Over ten broths and over twenty add-ons make your eyes glaze over

Use elimination. First decide which broth type you want today and skip the other two types entirely. Do the same with add-ons. Figure out which category the set is missing, and don't bother flipping through the pages for the other three. Narrowing twenty-some options down to three or four is much faster than comparing them one by one.

You don't want to read the whole menu every time

If there's a small hot pot place nearby that you go to often, take a photo of the menu with your phone on your first visit, and jot down next to the photo what the set comes with. On later visits, just check whether the restaurant has posted any seasonal specials or new items, and order the rest based on what you remember from the photo.

You liked a combo last time but can't remember it now

Before you get up to leave, write one line in your phone's notes app. Keep the format fixed as "broth + main plate + add-on + one thing to change next time," for example "tomato broth + sliced pork + mushrooms, switch the staple to glass noodles next time." Over time, that page becomes your own hot pot log. The next time you walk into the same restaurant, open it up, order from it, and change one thing depending on your mood that day.

Going with friends, or trying a different kind of eating out

This sequence still works when you go to a small hot pot place with friends. Individual hot pot is usually one pot per person, so everyone orders their own broth, main plate, and add-ons. If there's an add-on you want to share, like a plate of hot pot dumplings, the two of you can order one portion, put it in the middle, and each take some into your own pot. It's easier to get the portion right, and you get to try one more flavor. If it's four to six people sharing family-style dishes instead, check out how to order for group dinners by sorting dishes first, then dividing the work.

Yating went back to that restaurant twice more. The first time she followed the three steps. The second time she just opened her notes and changed one thing from her last entry.

Other kinds of eating out that leave you stuck are similar. The options stack up layer by layer, and you start from scratch every time. Turn it into a fixed sequence and keep a one-line note. Whether it's picking braised lu wei items in the order of staple, greens, then extras, or putting together a noodle shop meal with one main, one soup, and one side, it's the same approach.

If you also like organizing your life this way, you're welcome to subscribe to the FP Duoduo team's life organizing tips. We'll keep sharing everyday planning ideas like how to order when eating out, how to arrange your daily routine, and how to use your commute time, so the next time you face a choice, you'll have a set of steps to follow.

FAQ

Q: When eating hot pot alone, is it better to order a set or order à la carte?
The first time you go to a restaurant, order the set. The set already pairs the broth, main plate, and vegetable plate, and after eating it once you'll know roughly how big the portions are there. After a few visits, once you know what you like, switch to ordering your own combo à la carte. You're less likely to get the portions wrong.

Q: What if the broth cooks down and the flavor keeps getting stronger?
You can ask the server to add more broth. Some places add the original broth and some add plain broth, so ask which one before you request it. If you don't want to keep bothering the server, turn the heat down so the broth stays at a low simmer, and it will cook down a bit more slowly.