Hot Pot-Style Pork & Vegetables

Wonderful RecipeThis was a really wonderful dish! Neither my boyfriend nor I like turnips so I subsituted Yukon gold potatoes and it worked out beautifully. I also left out the anise. The recommendation to serve over stir fried Napa cabbage was an excellent one, as it added a little more color and crunch. I will definitely make this again!

Wonderful Recipe This was a really wonderful dish! Neither my boyfriend nor I like turnips so I subsituted Yukon gold potatoes and it worked out beautifully. I also left out the anise. The recommendation to serve over stir fried Napa cabbage was an excellent one, as it added a little more color and crunch. I will definitely make this again!

Delicious! I didn't have the scallions or sesame seeds, but even without this was still wonderful. You can definitely taste the anise seed so if you're not a fan of that flavor then reduce the amount it asks for. My kids said it had a little too much heat for them so next time I'll reduce the chili sauce, but all that aside I loved it. I served it over rice which was great, next time I'll try noodles and see how that goes.

A Few Ingredient Alternatives There recipe was good, except there are a few additions you could make to make it more traditional, meaning more ethnic. Instead of turnips, use daikon. Instead of sherry, use Mirin (a traditional asian cooking wine, slightly sweet), and instead of corn starch use Kuzu (Kudzu) root starch which is Japanese and much better for you than regular corn starch. You could also char the ginger a little to give it a little more flavor. Other wise the recipe is great basic starting point for a chinese dish. I served it with rice noodles but any thin, chinese style noodle would be great. Pros: easy, flavorful Cons: not traditional

Meh? Not bad, but not my favorite. When I read this I was really excited to try it, and when I was making it I was really looking forward to it. Even as it cooked I couldn't wait to try it, it smelled so amazing it makes my mouth water. Then as the cooking came close to an end I walked closer to the crock pot and got a big whiff of anise and I was turned off lol. I almost left it out because I dislike anise/licorice flavor so much, but my husband loves them and I rarely get to cook for him, so I wanted to make it the way he would like it. All and all, it wasn't bad, it was slightly spicy and gingery, with a hint of sweetness. I really liked the veggies and the broth was really yummy, flavorful without being to rich, I just can't get past the anise aroma. Don't let this dieter you form making it though if you don't mind anise you will love this, my husband did, and that makes me happy. I didn't use the cornstarch because I wanted it to be more soupy than stewy, and I used anise seed instead of star anise. I also served this over vermicelli rice noodles to make a little meal in a bowl. I will make this again, but I will modify it slightly :-) Pros: Easy, Creative, Smells Amazing. Cons: I don't like anise

This was delicious! I couldn't find turnips at the store so I used a rutabaga instead and it was wonderful, it abosrbed a lot of the flavor from the garlic chili spice. I served this over Udon noodles and it was a hit, full of lots of big flavors.

I was very happy how this came out. I couldn't find star anise so I used a t of chinese five spice powder instead. I really liked the flavor. I put some egg noodles in the crockpot near the end and I thought they went nicely with it. The only thing I didn't like was the broth was pretty fatty, I tried skimming the fat, but you can only do so much with that. I think next time I make this, I will use a leaner meat, like chicken breast.