Aroma Electric Hot Pot Review 2023

And, it’s a great activity for the whole family.

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Food & Wine / Amazon

My parents were set up on a date while living in Tokyo as ex-pats. Given their origin story, Japanese food was a big part of our upbringing. Growing up, they often took us for Shabu-Shabu at restaurants worldwide, including at home in Atlanta, Georgia. As a parent, I also incorporate Shabu-Shabu into our dining routine. During the pandemic, we started making it at home using tabletop burners, pots, and gadgets because, as a minimalist, I try to limit owning single-use items. That was until I saw this Aroma electric hot pot on Amazon. I was sick of using canisters for butane and wanted an easy plug-and-play solution. Aroma Housewares had the answer — as they often do.

Food & Wine / Jennifer Zyman

Amazon

Price at time of publish: $46

Since purchasing the Aroma Hot Pot, we’ve used it at least ten times in just a few months. We often make a hot pot or Shabu-Shabu with our daughters, and I like how secure this feels versus something heavy balancing on a tabletop butane burner. There is no open flame, another plus when dealing with two eleven-year-olds who love putting the items such as sliced beef, soba noodles, and enoki mushrooms into the boiling water. As you can imagine, I want something that can’t be tipped over easily, and the top part, which contains the liquid, securely snaps into place on the heating element and has a knob you can use to adjust the heat. This is helpful so you can reduce it to a simmer once it gets to a rapid boil. The stainless steel construction also looks nice on a table, and the glass lid lets you see the contents clearly to monitor the heat accordingly.

Food & Wine / Jennifer Zyman

Cleanup is easy because you can just put the entire soup and lid part in the dishwasher, which is a key feature in anything that I buy. It’s easy to wipe down the base if there are any splatters, but that doesn’t often happen, given the design. I’m still loving it and don’t have any complaints.

Another feature I like is that the dividers allow you to have two types of broth cooking simultaneously, which is helpful if you want one super spicy but also want an option for less heat-seeking palates. There are various types of hot pots out there with different dividers. This one works for our family, but some households may like a unit with additional features, such as a grill and removable dividers. I could see how having more flexibility with the inserts could be helpful, but I haven’t found this design a hindrance.

No matter how you cut it, this hot pot will make even the most mundane meal fun because do-it-yourself dinners, like Shabu-Shabu and fondue, are always crowd-pleasers.