Add the milk, water, and kombu to the pot. Close with a lid and low heat simmer until gentle simmering, about 12-15 minutes.
Season with mushroom powder and dissolve miso paste into the broth.
Add the ingredients with the ones that take the longest time to cook first - daikon, carrots, shiitake, Japanese leek, and bamboo shoots. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
Add the fried and firm tofu, enoki, shimeji mushrooms, and the stems of napa cabbage. Continue to simmer over low heat for another 10 minutes.
Lastly, add the remainder of the ingredients - napa cabbage leaves, tong hao, shirataki noodles, and rice cakes, if using.
Cook each layer as you eat and dip them in my hotpot sauces. Remember to sip the hot broth. It’s absolutely delicious and will keep you warm through all winter.
Notes
Please use low heat to simmer the milk broth. Check periodically so that it doesn’t spill over.
This is a silky milk broth-based hot pot. It needs to use low and gentle heat. The broth should never come to a hot rolling boil.
A slight milk curdle might occur toward the end of your hot pot session. That’s totally normal. It will not affect the flavor.
Size of the pot. I recommend using at least a 4-quarte size large soup pot or Dutch oven so that it gives you enough space to add the ingredients without spilling over.
The order of the ingredients in which you add to the pot matters. In general, vegetables that are more hearty need to be added to the pot first. Aromatics such as leeks and shiitake also need a longer time to simmer to release their flavor.
It’s likely you will have extra hot pot ingredients. You can store them in the fridge and add them to the soup base for a day 2 hot pot experience!
Most of these ingredients, including tools, can be found in local Japanese grocery stores.
If you do use fried tofu, please store the uncooked one in the freezer.
The rehydrated dried kombu is edible. You can eat it if you like.
Store the unused dried kombu in a freezer-friendly ziplock bag in the freezer for future use.