Lemon & Chicken Soup Pot - Let's also Make an incredibly delicious Zosui!

For some, using lemon to make hot pot might be uncommon. However, this Lemon Chicken Hot Pot can be considered one of the best hot pots, with its broth combining sour, salty, and fragrant flavors. It's definitely the kind of dish you'll regret not trying!

Hot pot isn't exclusive to autumn and winter; savoring a tangy and fragrant hot pot in spring and summer can be truly appetizing. This time, we’re making a variation of the Japanese Mizutaki hot pot, a specialty from Hakata, Japan. The traditional method involves simmering chicken bones for hours to create the broth. Of course, we’ll simplify it for home cooking. This dish features local chicken and vegetables, providing a rich collagen experience that's incredibly delicious.

Imitating the method of Mizutaki hot pot, we also use chicken bones to make the broth. However, to shorten the cooking time, I've added some vegetables to enhance the sweetness.

Don’t think that adding lemon to a hot pot is strange; on the contrary, the flavor is outstanding and seamlessly integrated. I recommend that before you start eating the ingredients from the pot, take a sip of the broth first—it’s an extremely comforting sensation that will whet your appetite.

In this recipe, I used chicken bones with the meat removed, kombu, and green onions to make the broth. Adding lemon juice at the end acts as the finishing touch, making the broth instantly refreshing and helping to balance the richness. As for the chicken, I cut half of the chicken thighs into pieces and used the other half to make chicken meatballs. Of course, if you want to save time and effort, you can skip making the meatballs.

Bonus Recipe: Fragrant Lemon Chicken Zosui

Don’t waste the delicious broth leftover from the hot pot. Since this broth is freshly made without any MSG, we can follow the Japanese dining tradition by using the leftover broth to make an amazing Zosui (a rich broth-based congee) with some rice, egg, and green onions.

This lemon chicken broth produces incredibly sweet and flavorful claypot rice, making it hard to stop eating. So, remember not to fill up too much on the hot pot and leave some room in your stomach to enjoy the claypot rice!

ʙɪɢʙᴏʏ ᴛɪᴘs✨

📌 It’s recommended to remove the skin from the chicken and trim any excess fat to keep the broth clear. This way, the claypot rice won’t be too greasy.

📌 When making the claypot rice, turn off the heat before adding the egg and stir it in well to finish!

Ingredients (serve 2-4)

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Basic Ingredients

Chicken Thighs with bones	6 pcs
Wombok	1/4 bulb
Leek	1 stick
Carrot	½ stick
Fried Beancurd Sheet Rolls	few pcs
Shimeji Mushroom	100 g
Kombu	10g
Lemon	1 bulb
Onion	½ bulb
Sea Salt	½ tsp

Marinade for Chicken Meatball (optional)：

Egg	1 bulb
Sea Salt	½ tsp
Sesame Oil	2 tsp
Corn Starch	1 tbsp
Ground White Pepper	½ tsp

Zosui (optional)

Egg	1 bulb
White Rice	1 bowl
Spring Onion	to taste

Steps

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1. Cut leek into two portions: chop the lower green part into sections and slice the upper white part diagonally. Cut half of the lemon into slices and keep the other half whole. Chop the onion into chunks and slice the carrot. Cut the wombok into sections, reserve the head. Debone the chicken.

2. Boil approximately 1.5 liters of water, then add the chicken bones, green parts of the scallions, onion, wombok head, and kombu. Simmer over medium-low heat for 45 minutes. Once done, remove the ingredients from the broth, then add ½ teaspoon of salt and squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. The broth is now ready to be used.

3. Half of the chicken should be cut into chunks, and the other half should be minced (if you prefer to save time, you can skip making the meatballs and simply cut all the chicken into chunks).

4. Add the chicken meatball marinade to the minced chicken and mix thoroughly.

5. Shape the minced chicken into meatballs. Cook them over medium-low heat until the surface turns golden brown, ensuring the inside is not fully cooked.

6. Place the napa cabbage at the bottom of the pot, then layer with shiitake mushrooms, green onions, chicken pieces, chicken meatballs, carrot slices, daikon radish, and lemon slices. Pour the broth over the ingredients, bring to a boil, and it's ready to serve!

After enjoying the hot pot, you can use the remaining broth to make the rice: