How to Use the Hot Pot & Shabu-Shabu Portion Calculator
Guessing how much meat, vegetables, and noodles to buy for hot pot or shabu-shabu often means ending up with too much or too little. This calculator just needs a headcount and meal length (quick, standard, or long) to calculate the right amount of meat, vegetables, noodles, and broth for the whole table.
The baseline is 150g of meat, 200g of vegetables, 80g of noodles, and 400ml of broth per adult. For a lighter, quicker meal, choose "Quick" to cut everything by 20%; for a long meal with drinks, choose "Long / hearty" to add 30% more.
Mix a variety of vegetables — napa cabbage, mushrooms, chrysanthemum greens — into the calculated amount, and save udon or knife-cut noodles for the finishing course. Broth tends to reduce or need topping up partway through, so it's worth keeping a bit more on hand than the calculated amount.
Frequently Asked Questions
The default is an average adult portion per person. If kids or light eaters are in the group, reduce the results by 10-20%.
Hot pot and shabu-shabu often need a broth top-up mid-meal, so it's a good idea to keep about 20% extra broth in reserve.