February 02, 2026Inner Qi Circle

Chef, NATASHA PICKOWICZ

Inner Qi circle series #3. Chef NATASHA PICKOWICZ

1. Baking is “easy” for you (not for us!) but Everyone Hot Pot is a spicy plot twist. What new ritual did it spark for 2026?

When I worked full-time in restaurants, I rarely kept a pantry full of all the ingredients and staples I loved. I just wasn’t home enough for grocery shopping to feel like a priority. When I started doing my hot pot pop-up at Honey’s in 2021, I started ordering massive amounts of all of my favorite ingredients—dried jujubes, Chinese spices in bulk, dried shiitakes, kombu—for recipe development. Now that I have everything at my fingertips, it doesn’t feel like such an ordeal to make a complex broth. It’s effortless, like reaching into my bookshelves for a beloved volume. You don’t have to make that investment in all of those ingredients all at once, either, which can feel overwhelming—just pick away at it, a little at a time. I always pick up a few things every time I visit a new-to-me market or shop, it’s how I’ve built my collection to what it is today.

2. If you were a tea dropped straight into a hot pot broth, what flavor combo are we getting?

I absolutely love adding floral teas to a hot pot broth—not only are they incredibly aromatic and delicious, they add spectacular show-stopping beauty to the soup. Hot pot is all about stimulating the senses, from the fragrance wafting off of the broth to the visual bounty of the ingredients waiting to be cooked in the broth. I like to think that my recipes are not only delicious, but look beautiful, too. I think I’d be a chrysanthemum—one of my all time favorite flowers, and beloved in Chinese history as a symbol of longevity, wealth, and vitality. Chrysanthemum petals were known to be scattered over the surface of palatial hot pots. It’s a beautiful visual—a confetti explosion for your hot pot party. The flavor is subtle, cooling, and slightly bitter; I like to pair it with savory and rich ingredients, like dried shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp, and pork bones.

3. You bring vivacious playful energy to the table…what else can we find on that table now that you’ve slid to the savory side?

I’ve always loved decorating layer cakes because it’s such a creative way to express your own aesthetic. I love a sculptural, unexpected, not-too-fussy look with cakes, using natural ingredients and playing around with composition to create movement and balance. I try to bring that to the hot pot table too—my favorite part of getting ready is always arranging the ingredients in different striking ways. The hot pot table can say so much about your own visual style, so I like to bring plenty of joy and play into it. Honestly, decorating the surface of a hot pot broth feels just like decorating a layer cake—a scatter of dried flowers or fresh herbs adds so much visual interest and excitement.

4. Your mom illustrated the book—what part of her art feels like a hug to you?

I treasure every single bit of my mom’s contributions to the book, from her classically Chinese styled calligraphy on the title page to the whimsical black-and-white illustrations that are scattered throughout the pages to the massive two-page stunners that begin each chapter. I think I love it so much precisely because it feels so familiar. I grew up surrounded by not just her museum-worthy paintings and sculptures, but also by the intimate postcards and notes she’d send me in the mail—always punctuated with a few scribbled cartoons. I love them so much. When I was putting together the art direction for the book, I literally just sent her photos of her own mail she sent me, saying “exactly like this please.” I didn’t want to change anything about her style or tell her what to do, outside of needing a few spot illustrations of specific objects (like a mesh basket or a two-chambered hot pot). So some of it felt like a surprise, but mostly it was exactly what I had imagined in my head—but even better.

5. Sesame oil, cilantro, satay… or full-tilt chaos? What’s your dipping sauce remix?

I’m very partial to my mom’s white sesame paste dipping sauce—I watched her very closely leading up to the book because I wanted to make sure the version in my book did her justice! (Though she’d probably say it’s too salty, haha.) She whisks together white sesame paste, shacha sauce, white rice vinegar, sesame oil, fermented tofu, water, and a few other aromatics like minced garlic and ginger. I usually add chili oil or spicy soybean sauce plus finely minced chopped herbs like cilantro stems. This sauce is like the little black dress of my hot pot table—it goes with EVERYTHING.

6. With Everyone Hot Pot! about to take over everyone’s kitchens, in your wildest dreams which person or space would you want to collab with?

I love to fantasize about hosting a hot pot feast in a beautiful garden, surrounded by fragrant flowers and trees bending in the breeze. Here in NYC, I love Wave Hill, the Cloisters, the Queens Botanical Garden, Newtown Creek, Tudor City Gardens. Imagine an al fresco hot pot feast at the Bronx Botanical Garden? It would be my wildest dream. People think of hot pot as an indoor activity but it’s actually so invigorating and incredible outdoors and more people should try it!

7. Will we see an enormous hotpot in this year’s The Great Community Bake Sale in NYC?

That would be a dream come true!!!!! I have definitely daydreamed about how to make hot pot happen on a BIG scale. I think hot pot is exactly the kind of meal that loves to be scaled up (just google “hot pot spa” to see what I mean, haha). Anything is possible—stay tuned!