Monoglian Firepot
Recipe from Lawrence C.C. Chu
Excellent to serve at your next dinner party, this meal is cooked right at the table, and by your guests. The fiery brass kettle adds a touch of drama to the presentation, and the array of thinly-sliced meat and fish, shrimp, and many vegetables promise a delectable feast.
Yields:
8-12 servings
Time Required:
- 30 mins. cooking time
Ingredients:
- 4 ats. (3.8 L) Rich Chicken Broth (recipe below), or chicken bouillon1
Proteins: Allow 2 to 4 oz. of each, per person
- Slices of fish filet, such as snapper or rock cod
- Slices of leg of lamb
- Slices of shelled, de-veined, and butterflied prawns
- Slices of sirloin beef and lean pork
- Bite-size pieces of fresh spinach
- Bite-size pieces of soybean cake (tofu)
- Presoaked pieces of bean thread
- Bite-size wedges of Chinese ("Napa") cabbage
Sauces
- Soy sauce
- Chinese barbecue sauce (in Author's Notes)
- Hot Chilli Paste (in Author's Notes)
- Rice vinegar
Preparation:
Arrange fish and meat attractively on individual serving plates. Arrange vegetables together on one large serving platter.
To assemble, start charcoal in firepot braiser, outdoors. When red-hot, bring braiser indoors, and place on wet towel on top of heat-resistant platter. Heat chicken broth on stove, and, when hot, pour about 2 qts. (1.9 L) into firepot.
To cook, provide individual strainers for each guest to use. Blanch food by immersing into boiling broth, until desired doneness is reached. Offer SAUCES for dipping at the table, as well. Towards end of meal, offer broth in individual bowls for sipping.
Author's Notes
The nice feature about cooking with a firepot is that the quantity of ingredients can be changed, depending on how many people you're serving.
I enjoy offering other ingredients such as fresh squid, oysters, shrimp balls, bite-size wedges of romaine lettuce, or any other type of food available.
Hot Chilli Paste: Red chilli peppers, soybeans, garlic, and sesame oil combine to make chilli paste. Available in jars and cans. I often add a dash of sesame oil, just before using.
Chinese Barbecue Sauce (sup-tsou) has a paste-like cansistency and is made from krill fish, oil, garlic, shallots, and chillis. Available in jars, it is used for dipping or in stir-fried dishes. Store tightly sealed in the refrigerator, for up to 3-4 months.
Rich Chicken Broth
A good, rich-tasting chicken broth is essential to Chinese cooking, so, in my restaurant, I make no exceptions. I always use 4-5 lb. (1.8-2.3 kg.) chickens, because I'm preparing food in such volume, but you can use a regular broiler-fryer, if you prefer. I firmly believe a good broth needs no additives. So, why not take a little time (and not much effort), and prepare this chicken broth?
Yields:
8 servings
Time Required:
- 1 ½ hrs. cooking time
Ingredients:
- 1 roasting chicken (4-5 lbs., 1.8-2.3 kg.) or about 4-5 lbs. (1.8-2.3 kg.) chicken bones (wings, neck, back, carcass)
- 4 qts.2 (3.8 L) water
- ½ white onion, cut up
- 4 knobs fresh ginger, crushed
Preparation:
To par-boil, place chicken (or bones) in an 8-qt. (7.5 L) stockpot. Cover with boiling water, and cook for 5 mins., to get rid of the scum. Pour chicken into a colander, rinse under cold water, and return chicken to pot.
To cook, add water and vegetables. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for about 1 hrs. Occasionally skim surface as needed. Remove from head and cool, then strain well before using.
Author's Notes
As I mentioned, this recipe produces a rich broth that is the basic stock for many of my other soups. If you prefer not to make it, or you don't have the time, always use chicken bouillon (cubes)3 in water, rather than the less flavourful, canned chicken broth.
Save your chicken bones. You can use them to make broth, instead of a whole chicken.
Since the vegetables are added only for flavour, use tips and ends of onions and knobs of ginger root. I mention this since I was once told by a student that she couldn't find "knobs" of ginger at her market.
If you make broth several hours ahead of serving time, let it cool with the bones still inside. If made several days in advance, try freezing it in ice cube trays; when frozen, store cubes in a sealed freezer bag (1 ice cube equals ¼ to ⅓ cup broth).
1 For easy bouillon, consider Summit Hill Foods's "Better Than Bouillon Base" paste, dissolved in hot tap water. It's fairly high quality, available in large 8 oz. (227 g) jars, and (the main point) a heck of a lot better than any bouillon cubes. Flavours: roasted chicken, roasted beef, turkey, ham, and vegetable.
2 Quarts, pints, cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, and fl. oz. are as defined in US Customary Units, not to be confused with differing British imperial, "legal", "coffee", Commonwealth of Nations, Canadian, Latin American, Japanese, Russian, or Dutch definitions — further proof that everyone needs the metric system.
Taken from: Lawrence C.C. Chu's classic cookbook Chef Chu's Distinctive Cuisine Of China, p. 112. published 1980 by Harper and Row, which can be checked out in scanned format at Internet Archive. Thank you! (Chu's the chef / restaurateur of beloved local restaurant Chef Chu's, in Los Altos, California.)
Collected and re-published at http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/recipes/montolian-firepot.html by Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> on Oct. 4, 2026. Individual recipes are free from copyright. Share and enjoy!
(If I have any copyright title in my own very minor contributions to this page — not my intention — they were created in 2026 by Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> and licensed for use under CC0. I have thereby waived all copyright, compilation copyright, and related or neighbouring rights to this work. This work is published from: United States of America.)