Due to its engineered induction design, the pot itself will retain heat and continue to cook by itself
This pot doesn’t need power! It’s 100% energy efficient cooking. You’ll need to use the inner pot to cook on a stove to a boil for about 30 minutes before putting it into your thermal pot.
Easy to clean
The inner pot can be used with or without the external thermal base (use it like a normal pot)
They come in a lot of various sizes: 3L, 4L, or 5L is what I’ve seen available
Durable outer base
Safe to use
Where to buy this?
In Hong Kong, there are many Japanese and Chinese brands available, such as Zojirushi, Tiger, and Thermos. I’ve got a Zojirushi at home in HK and I love it!
In Toronto though, I could only find Tiger and Thermos physically in Chinese Appliance and Home Stores (check First Markham Place).
There are also limited options Online that are Tiger, Thermos, and SunPenTown. Amazon is a good place for this as you can also see the reviews.
Having used both Tiger and Zojirushi, they operate quite similarly and produce the same outcomes!
To answer your questions on what equipment I'm using, I've built a section here where you can find and explore what I'm using to make soups. Ingredients are a little harder, but I will do my best as I source them around. However, you can always message me on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or Facebook, and I will reply and try to point you in some direction!
Tea Name: Cooling Snow Pears and Apples in a Chrysanthemum Tea Traditional Chinese Name: 雪梨蘋果菊花清熱茶 (xuě lí píng guǒ jú huā qīng rè chá) Nature: Cooling Taste: Sweet and sour (You can read this article on the impact on your body of different food tastes!) For more...
Sauce Name: Japanese inspired vinaigrette (for beef carpaccio or salads or as an appetizers) Nature: Warm (which is primarily the vinegar) Taste: Sour and bitter and slightly sweet Targets: Liver and stomach For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.Yes! ...
6 PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE IN EVERY DAY LIFE(A TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE PERSPECTIVE)Practicing and living in Traditional Chinese Medicine concepts isn't hard! It's actually all about what you consume, when you consume it, your...
Soup Name: Green radish with carrots & corn in a Chinese Herbal Pork Broth Traditional Chinese Name: 紅青蘿蔔湯 (hóng qing luóbo tang) Nature: Cooling Taste: Sweet and savory For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.My parents came home last night from a cruise...
Soup Name: Korean Kimchi and Tofu Jjigae (Soup) Nature: Cool (although could be warmer depending on how spicy you make it, but this is driven by the cooling white radish and tofu) Taste: Sweet, Salty For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.I know there's a...
Tea Name: Cooling Snow Pears and Apples in a Chrysanthemum Tea Traditional Chinese Name: 雪梨蘋果菊花清熱茶 (xuě lí píng guǒ jú huā qīng rè chá) Nature: Cooling Taste: Sweet and sour (You can read this article on the impact on your body of different food tastes!) For more...
Soup Name: Green radish with carrots & corn in a Chinese Herbal Pork Broth Traditional Chinese Name: 紅青蘿蔔湯 (hóng qing luóbo tang) Nature: Cooling Taste: Sweet and savory For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.My parents came home last night from a cruise...
Soup Name: Korean Kimchi and Tofu Jjigae (Soup) Nature: Cool (although could be warmer depending on how spicy you make it, but this is driven by the cooling white radish and tofu) Taste: Sweet, Salty For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.I know there's a...
Tea Name: Chinese-Styled Cream of Corn and Egg Drop Soup Chinese Name: 玉米湯 (yù mǐ tāng) Nature: Warm Taste: Sweet, Salty For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.There are as many versions of a Chinese-styled corn and egg drop soup as there are likely ABC...
Tea Name: The Salted Orange Traditional Chinese Name: 鹽蒸橙子 (yán zhēng chéngzi) Nature: warm Taste: sweet, salty For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.What? Salted oranges? Let's start by saying that if you see a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor (and even...
A friend informed me of a new mini “food jar” or also known as “Thermal pots” that is very popular in Hong Kong these days. For starters, this jives with me because:
I love thermal pots and their heat saving efficiency
I love anything that can make soups
I love Japanese technology and products
I love to drink the soup that I make in my thermal pots
Go Green!
So, I bought one, or two, or three and gave some away as gifts.
And what made it so special was I also love experiments. So this was the perfect opportunity to play with food and equipment and create something amazing!
Wait wait.. the good part is that this thing isn’t only for making soups – it can make rice, congee, soups, eggs, sauce, spaghetti, noodles, and basically whatever your good, creative imagination can come up with given the constraints of such a tiny jar.
I actually have no association with this product or the company, but it’s nice to share cool finds when I see them. The price ranges from $280 – $350 HKD depending on where you buy it from and it’s super cute in size, is portable and easy to clean.
Here’s what it looks like opened. Simple two-pieces. No brainer – right?
It’s made from stainless steel on the inside and uses the space efficiently. Another love of mine – efficiency.
So my first experiment was to make an egg. Apparently, to make a semi-solid egg, it takes about 30 minutes to “bake” in boiling water.
First, rinse the pot in boiling water and let it sit covered for about 5 minutes (this is the trick to get the insides warm first so you don’t lose valuable cooking heat to the pot).
Put a room temperature egg into the pot – another trick. Don’t use eggs directly from the fridge because again, the temperature difference is too significant.
Cover the egg completely with boiling water – for the purpose of this experiment, I just used 98 degree Celsius water from my hot water dispense (too lazy to boil water)
Put on the lid securely and let it sit for 30 minutes.
And ta-da!
Oops, for mine, I kind of forgot about it and came back about 45 minutes later and found this… still awesomely yummy with a bit of sea salt.
More yummy experiments to come later. I’ve used the thermal pot to keep food warm though, like congee when my daughter was sick and it stayed toasty warm for over 6 hours! Definitely a neat find and will be trying other foods soon! YUM and YEAH for green technology!
Tea Name: Cooling Snow Pears and Apples in a Chrysanthemum Tea Traditional Chinese Name: 雪梨蘋果菊花清熱茶 (xuě lí píng guǒ jú huā qīng rè chá) Nature: Cooling Taste: Sweet and sour (You can read this article on the impact on your body of different food tastes!) For more...
Sauce Name: Japanese inspired vinaigrette (for beef carpaccio or salads or as an appetizers) Nature: Warm (which is primarily the vinegar) Taste: Sour and bitter and slightly sweet Targets: Liver and stomach For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.Yes! ...
6 PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE IN EVERY DAY LIFE(A TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE PERSPECTIVE)Practicing and living in Traditional Chinese Medicine concepts isn't hard! It's actually all about what you consume, when you consume it, your...
Soup Name: Green radish with carrots & corn in a Chinese Herbal Pork Broth Traditional Chinese Name: 紅青蘿蔔湯 (hóng qing luóbo tang) Nature: Cooling Taste: Sweet and savory For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.My parents came home last night from a cruise...
Soup Name: Korean Kimchi and Tofu Jjigae (Soup) Nature: Cool (although could be warmer depending on how spicy you make it, but this is driven by the cooling white radish and tofu) Taste: Sweet, Salty For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.I know there's a...
Tea Name: Cooling Snow Pears and Apples in a Chrysanthemum Tea Traditional Chinese Name: 雪梨蘋果菊花清熱茶 (xuě lí píng guǒ jú huā qīng rè chá) Nature: Cooling Taste: Sweet and sour (You can read this article on the impact on your body of different food tastes!) For more...
Soup Name: Green radish with carrots & corn in a Chinese Herbal Pork Broth Traditional Chinese Name: 紅青蘿蔔湯 (hóng qing luóbo tang) Nature: Cooling Taste: Sweet and savory For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.My parents came home last night from a cruise...
Soup Name: Korean Kimchi and Tofu Jjigae (Soup) Nature: Cool (although could be warmer depending on how spicy you make it, but this is driven by the cooling white radish and tofu) Taste: Sweet, Salty For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.I know there's a...
Tea Name: Chinese-Styled Cream of Corn and Egg Drop Soup Chinese Name: 玉米湯 (yù mǐ tāng) Nature: Warm Taste: Sweet, Salty For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.There are as many versions of a Chinese-styled corn and egg drop soup as there are likely ABC...
Tea Name: The Salted Orange Traditional Chinese Name: 鹽蒸橙子 (yán zhēng chéngzi) Nature: warm Taste: sweet, salty For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.What? Salted oranges? Let's start by saying that if you see a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor (and even...
Simply described, this tool is a small, metal strainer, slightly cupped, made with thin wires which are woven together into a super-fine mesh. The small strainer is attached a to a long handle for easy maneuvering.
As its name indicates, the oil scooper is used to remove excess oil from your soups. The wire mesh has extremely tiny holes which allow only water and/or soup broth to strain through, leaving the oil, fat, and other small particles behind for easy disposal.
Although some fat is good for you and can add flavour and texture to soups, too much fat (especially animal fat) can make soups unpleasant to drink. Even if you blanch the meat before boiling, it is still possible to have too much undesired oil in your soup after it is finished cooking.
How to Use the Oil Scooper
To remove the excess oil, when your soup is finished cooking, open the lid and let the soup sit briefly. In a few minutes, the excess oil will float to the top where it can be easily scooped out with the oil scooper (or a spoon, although using a spoon is more time consuming).
To remove small particles from your soup, when the soup is on full boil, use the scooper to pick up small particles which may be pushed to the surface of your soup by the boiling water. Some small particles can make your soup less pleasant to drink and may include skin (which has come off the meat or tomato skin which easily falls off cooked, sliced tomatoes), seeds, leaves and other herbs.
Click here to see a video of the oil scooper being used.
Buying an Oil Scooper
This tool can be surprisingly difficult to find. I have purchased it for $2.00 CAD at a local dollar store in Toronto. I have also seen a similar tool sold online for $20 on Amazon.com.
Is it really called an “Oil Scooper”?
I’m sure there is an “official” name for this kitchen tool (perhaps strainer or skimmer), but for me, it is exclusively used as an “oil scooper”. In Cantonese, it is used to “peet yao” 撇油 (scoop oil) –hence its name.
As you can see from the photo, this is a well-used and well-loved utensil and I use it for almost every soup I make… and that’s a lot of soups!
This is a mesh polyester bag that is used for boiling soups
It is usually no bigger than a piece of A4 paper in area
The contents to put inside usually disintegrate in the soup and therefore the bag keeps it together (like fish)
It is an efficient separator of soup and ingredients
You can directly dispose of the unedible ingredients in the bag
Do not reuse the bag
How do I prepare it?
As a precaution, boil the bag in a pot of boiling water prior to usage
Where can I buy this?
You can buy this as individual bags from most Asian supermarkets
In Hong Kong, you can purchase this from wet marts
What is the cost?
The bag costs $1.00 CAD / bag
Any substitutes?
The substitute for this to boil the soup with the fish directly in the soup and then strain the soup to ensure there are no bones in the soup. This is especially critical if the soup is going to be given to babies and children.
You can strain the soup with various methods such as with a fine-meshed ladle
