By Marie-Antoinette Issa.
Hotpot looks deceptively simple. Pick your broth, throw in your ingredients, fish them out, eat, repeat. Easy, right? Not so fast.
According to Executive Head Chef Joanne Lee of Sydney’s Shabuway, there’s a whole unspoken code of etiquette that separates the seasoned hotpot pros from the people who treat the communal pot like their own personal soup spa.
Spoiler alert! If you’ve ever reached into the wrong side of a yin-yang pot, you’ve already made the rookie mistake.
Hotpot has been a way of dining long before waiters lingered over your shoulder and explained their share plate concept. In fact, its DOB is approximately 2000+ years ago and it was born in China as a way to warm up on cold nights and keep company close.
It was never just about the cooking. It was about sharing, sitting elbow to elbow with family, friends or strangers and dunking food into the same bubbling pot. That’s right, hotpot is the original share plate.
Before tapas, before banchan, before small plates were marketed as ‘for the table’ hotpot was already delivering broth-soaked proof that food tastes better when you don’t hoard it.
Fast forward to Sydney 2025 where hotpot has become one of the city’s favourite dining rituals. From Chatswood to the CBD, steam is rising off tables, spoons are clinking against broth and someone, somewhere, is inevitably making one of the following mistakes.
According to Joanne, the number one sin of hotpot is failing to share. Shabuway’s yin-yang pots are literally built for compromise: two broths split down the middle so everyone at the table gets what they want. However, diners still find ways to sabotage the peace.
"The biggest mistake diners can make with hotpot is not sharing and disrespecting the taste preferences of other people by mixing soup bases between the yin-yang pot. Make sure to use public chopsticks to put in and pick out food and a separate set for eating.
"Don’t wait until the pot drains, add more soup when needed. Above all, don’t take the cooked food that other people put in without permission…the act in itself can be seen as disrespectful to those you are dining with.”
Another mistake Joanne sees beginners make is misjudging cooking times for ingredients in the broth which often leads to overcooking. "We see a lot of diners throwing ingredients in all at once, which I don’t recommend. Since our meat is such high quality and well-cut, it could become too tough to eat if cooked for too long.
"Instead, dip the freshly sliced, thin beef into the broth for just 10 seconds, which is just enough to keep it juicy and tender. Finally, don’t overload the pot!”
There’s also the matter of utensils. Joanne stresses the importance of using public chopsticks for the pot and a separate set for eating. Nothing kills the mood like watching someone fish out a mushroom with the same sticks they’ve been chewing on.
Oh, and don’t be that person who scoops up a prawn you didn’t put in. Hotpot is communal but it’s not a free-for-all. Respect the social contract or risk getting side-eyed harder than the guy who double-dips at a fondue party.
Still, it’s not all rules and wagging fingers. Joanne’s biggest piece of advice for first-timers is to get messy with the sauces. "Mixing sauces is a must. Most seasoned hotpot diners have their own secret recipe, so I always encourage newcomers to experiment. Try different combinations, get creative and figure out what works best for you.”
Shabuway isn’t holding back on options. Think Japanese sukiyaki, tomato broth, spicy Malatang and beef and mushroom bases bubbling away. Wagyu signature rolls, ready for a quick dip. Pork belly, brisket, chicken tenderloin, gyoza, sushi rolls and even truffle cream pasta if you want to take a detour.
Dessert? Grab mochi, ice cream or go rogue with Milo and M&Ms. It’s a buffet in broth form, but the etiquette still applies.
For Joanne, hotpot is personal. "My first hotpot experience was in Korea in 1990 when I was 18 years old, helping my mother at the hotpot restaurant where she worked. It was a Budae Jjigae (Army Stew) restaurant and I still remember that first bowl vividly.
"It was Winter, I was tired and hungry after working alongside my mother and the hotpot soup was the ultimate comfort food. That meal to me became more than a meal - it became a warm, cherished memory with my mother, one that I carry with me to this day.”
So, next time you sit down to a hotpot, remember the rules. Don’t cross the broth streams. Don’t hog the Wagyu. Don’t double-dip your chopsticks. Do get wild with the sauces. Above all, remember why hotpot has lasted two millennia and counting: because eating together is better than eating alone.
