Lau Thai (Hot and Sour Thai Seafood Hotpot) Recipe

Method

1. Husk the corn, pull off the silk, wash it and cut it into pieces about 3cm long. Separate the napa cabbage leaves, wash them and cut them into lengths of about 4cm.
2. Wash the mushrooms and cut them into bite sized pieces. Soak the vegetables in lightly salted water, rinse them and cut them into lengths.
3. Cut the tofu into 9 small pieces. Rinse the beef and slice it as thinly as possible. Remove the heads and tails from the prawns.
4. Mix the dipping sauce: put 1 teaspoon tom yum paste, 2 teaspoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, a little chopped fresh chili and some toasted sesame seeds in a bowl and stir well.
5. Cut the tomatoes into wedges. Cut the galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, chili and onion into small pieces.
6. Pour 3 liters stock into a large pot, bring it to a boil, then add the galangal, chili, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, onion and tomato.
7. Add 2 teaspoons Thai hotpot seasoning, 4 to 6 tablespoons fish sauce and the juice of 1 lime, taste it, then cover the pot and bring it back to a boil.
8. Pour the broth into the hotpot, set it on a table burner and bring out the prepared ingredients.
9. Add the corn first so the broth turns sweeter, then dip the seafood, beef and vegetables as you like.

Tips

• Corn added to the pot first makes the broth naturally sweet.
• With clams in the pot, season the broth more lightly, as clams are salty already.
• Vegetables go in last so they keep their crunch.
• Lime juice squeezed in near the end of cooking gives a fresher sourness.
• Drop the galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves into boiling water and lower the heat at once, since a long hard boil turns the broth bitter.