“Let’s have steamboat!” This is often a clarion call for some festive, heart-warming get-together with family, friends or colleagues. But is this richly flavoured, soup-based cauldron of fresh ingredients we call hot pot or steamboat, good for your body too?

The answer is: Hot pot can certainly be healthy, provided you choose your ingredients, base soup and dipping sauces carefully to avoid an overdose of sodium, saturated fats, and carbohydrates in your meal.​

High sodium content in hot pot

The sodium content in a typical hot pot meal far exceeds the recommended daily sodium intake. Popular hot pot ingredients, such as fish balls, cuttlefish​​ balls, crab sticks, and meatballs, are all processed foods high in sodium, advised specialists from the Department of Endocrinology​, Singapore General Hospital (SGH), a member of the SingHealth​ group.

One can easily devour a dozen of these perennial hot pot favourites – fish balls, meatballs, and cuttlefish balls – in one sitting.

By consuming 5 pieces (100g) of cuttlefish balls or 4 pieces (63g) of crabsticks will hit your 25% of daily sodium allowance (2000mg). And this does not include the sodium in the broth!

Beware of saturated fats in hot pot broth

Hot pot lovers are spoilt for choice when it comes to the broth.

You have the popular Chongqing spicy (ma la) soup, Thai tom yam soup, collagen broth, pork bone broth, spicy beef tallow broth, Sichuan hot and spicy soup, Chinese herbal pork belly soup, and kombu dashi soup (for Japanese nabe).

The base soup, which already contains salt, is made more flavourful by adding slices of marinated pork belly, chicken with skin, fatty beef and organ meats such as liver, pork kidney, beef tripe. All of those are high in saturated fats / cholesterol.

Even the chilli paste added to ma la soups is sometimes fried with Shichuan peppercorns, spices, soybean paste, and oil. 

Tips for a healthy hot pot

​Observe t​hese rules to enjoy a healthy hot pot meal that doesn’t lead to heartburn, indigestion or constipation:
  1. Select a light soup base for your hot pot

  2. Go for clear or light-flavoured soup such as mushroom and cabbage tofu soup for a healthy hot pot. Buy only low-sodium chicken or vegetable bouillon /lower in sodium stock cubes for soup stock. And avoid drinking the broth.

  3. Choose lean over fat

  4. Choose fish, seafood, lean pork, and chicken without skin, over internal organs such as liver, intestines, beef tripe, and pork kidney.

  5. Go easy on carbohydrates

    Choose a small bowl of rice or noodles for your hot pot to avoid consuming excess refined carbohydrates and calories.

  6. Add more vegetables to your hot pot

  7. Fill your hot pot with carrots, cabbage, spinach, mushrooms, peppers, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and green peas.

  8. Choose light dipping sauces

    Go for light dipping sauces such as fresh cut chillies with soya sauce, minced garlic, vinegar sauce instead of sambal, chilli oil, deep-fried garlic, shacha sauce and other oil-based sauces.

  9. Go easy on processed foods such as fish balls, meatballs, cuttlefish balls, and crab sticks

    These are high in sodium, saturated fats, and chemical preservatives such as sodium nitrite which is used to preserve the meat’s flavour and colour.

  10. Watch out for increased nitrite levels in hot pot broth

    Repeated boiling of the hot pot broth for more than 90 minutes may increase nitrite levels, so set a time limit.

  11. Eat slowly

    The brain takes about 20 minutes to register you are full so eat slowly and chew thoroughly to prevent overeating.

Check out our other articles on food tips:

Eating at the Food Court: How to Pick Healthier Choices

Chinese Hawker Food: Healthier and Less Healthy Choices

Malay Hawker Food: Healthier and Less Healthy Choices

Indian Hawker Food: Healthier and Less Healthy Choices   

Ref: T12