Why Small Hotpot Blocks Are Better Than the Big Brick

I was gifted this pack of hotpot soup base by a friend the other day (they know I appreciate hotpot more than flowers or chocolate), and it made me realize how much I like these smaller hotpot blocks. They replace the traditional solid 400–500-gram brick with individual blocks of 50 grams or less.

Various hotpot-base brands now offer these smaller versions of 50-90 grams. This one is the Haidilao beef-tallow hotpot base (海底捞牛油火锅底料): a spicy, concentrated seasoning base made with beef fat and sold as four 50-gram blocks.

They’re perfect for home hotpot, especially solo hotpot or smaller dinners, because you no longer need to hack a large brick apart with a knife and leave the rest to go stale in the fridge (although you can freeze it to keep it fresh for longer).

Reasons to buy small blocks rather than big ones, even if they’re slightly more expensive:

• You don’t waste any hotpot base or need to store the remainder. Especially in solo households, large packs often go unused and eventually get thrown out.
• They’re more scalable. One block is perfect for a solo hotpot dinner; for two people or a larger group, you can simply add more.
• They’re also easy to use in other dishes, such as malatang (麻辣烫), stir-fries, instant noodles, and crayfish. I even like using them to make mussels. A small block is much more practical for a single wok dish than a big brick.

In case you want to order some on Chinese e-commerce platforms, the Chinese for hotpot base in small blocks is 小块装火锅底料 (xiǎo kuài zhuāng huǒguō dǐliào), and you'll find plenty of options. Outside of China, the Haidilao ones are regularly sold in Asian supermarkets.

Use one 50-gram packet at a time for about 200 ml of water, depending on how spicy you want it to be.

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