Chef's guide to ordering at all-you-can-eat Mongolian hot pot

If you're looking for something new to add your fall dining options other than soups, stews and curries — consider hot pot.

It's a steamy favourite of many Asian families, including my own, as temperatures start to dip.

We gather around a pot of simmering broth and platters of carefully prepared raw meats and veggies. Everyone cooks for themselves what they feel like eating during the meal.

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Depending where you go, hot pot styles vary but primarily in its broth and dipping sauces.

In Hong Kong, you might find a simple chicken soup or satay broth inspired by Indonesian cuisine. In Japan, "shabu shabu" calls for just kelp steeped in hot water and then a generous dipping in a citrus soy or sesame sauce.

At Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot — found in Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond — long-time chef Kang Wu says the chain's proprietary broth is the main focus. 

"I can't tell you everything that goes into our soup recipe, some of that's a secret," Wu told me in Cantonese. "But after our soup's been slow-cooked, it's milky-white, very intense and very smooth in flavour."

He says the primary ingredient in the Mongolian-style broth is chicken bones. 

It's stewed along with dozens of traditional herbs such as dried goji berries, red dates, female ginseng, and Codonopsis root or "dong sum" which is often compared to ginseng.

A house-made red chili concoction is added to the fiery version of the soup.

Wu recommends getting a taste of both the original and spicy broths if you visit any of Little Sheep's three restaurants by doing the duo.

As for what to order, his top picks are the lamb shoulder flown in from New Zealand, slices of their "fatty" well-marbled beef and their unique beer-marinated lamb.

"It's very fragrant after it goes in the hot pot," he said, adding that the beer tames the game notes in the lamb.

He's also a fan of the restaurant's five different hand-made meat and seafood balls because he says there is a lower ratio of starch compared to store bought kinds.

To round out the meal, he says his family always orders a couple fresh dumplings and green vegetables such as "tong ho" or edible chrysanthemum, spinach or watercress.

If you want to try more than what the chef recommends, go for it — it's all-you-can-eat at this hot pot joint.