Jiangnan Chrysanthemum Fire Pot (Ju Hua Guo / 菊花锅)

Ingredients

• For the shang tang (superior stock)
• 2 litres clear superior chicken stock (shang tang), must be fully transparent — skimmed and strained until clear as water
• 1 tsp fine salt, to season stock only
• Proteins
• 200 g raw tiger shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 200 g squid, cleaned, scored and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 200 g firm white fish fillet (such as sea bass or sole), sliced paper-thin across the grain
• 300 g soft silken tofu, cut into 2 cm cubes
• The chrysanthemum
• 60 g fresh edible chrysanthemum petals (食用菊), white or yellow variety, petals only, separated from calyx; must be cultivated for eating or sourced as culinary chrysanthemum tea petals — no commercially treated flowers
• Dipping sauce
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp ground white pepper, freshly ground

Method

1. 1
   Prepare the shang tang. The stock must arrive at the table clear as water. Bring the superior chicken stock to a bare simmer over low heat; skim any surface film with a ladle until the surface is entirely still and pellucid. Season with fine salt. This step decides the character of every ingredient that follows: a cloudy or heavily seasoned stock defeats the purpose of the dish entirely.
2. 2
   Arrange the proteins and tofu on separate platters at the table — shrimp, squid, fish slices, and silken tofu cubes. Slice the fish as thinly as possible across the grain so that it will cook in seconds by swirling contact with the broth.
3. 3
   Combine the sesame oil and white pepper in small individual dipping bowls, one per diner. The sauce should be present in barely touched quantities — the chrysanthemum-perfumed broth is the primary flavour.
4. 4
   Transfer the simmering shang tang to a charcoal-fired hot pot set at the centre of the table. Bring it to a gentle, steady simmer — not a rolling boil. Scatter the chrysanthemum petals liberally across the surface of the broth so that they drift and float freely. The petals should perfume the broth without submerging entirely; the visual poetry is as essential as the flavour.
5. 5
   Diners cook each piece individually by swirling it briefly through the simmering broth with chopsticks or a wire skimmer. Shrimp are done when they curl and turn fully opaque; squid when the scored surface just curls; fish slices when the flesh loses all translucency after only a few seconds; tofu when warmed through. Each piece is removed immediately and touched lightly to the dipping sauce before eating.