Detective's hot meal (4)
I believe the answer is:
dish
'meal' is the definition.
(I've seen this in other clues)
'detective's hot' is the wordplay.
'detective's' becomes 'dis' (Detective Inspector).
'hot' becomes 'h' (abbreviation eg on taps).
'dis'+'h'='DISH'
(Other definitions for dish that I've seen before include "Plate and what's served on it" , "someone very attractive" , "One who's fetching" , "Lovely" , "stunner?" .)