A hot pot vessel is a wide, shallow pot used for communal tabletop cooking. In Chinese hot pot (huoguo), the pot sits over a portable burner at the table, filled with simmering broth; diners cook thinly sliced ingredients in the broth and retrieve them with chopsticks or wire ladles.
Divided pots
The yin-yang divided pot (鸳鸯锅) holds two broths simultaneously — commonly a mild white broth and a spicy Sichuan mala broth. The partition allows diners with different spice tolerances to share the same pot.
Types by material
- Stainless steel: durable, easy to clean, conducts heat quickly
- Copper: traditional; excellent heat distribution; expensive
- Clay: slower to heat but retains temperature longer; Chinese-style