SPICY SICHUAN HOT POT
6 to 8 servings
Hot pots are a wonderful, participatory form of eating and well suited to parties (the informal kind, with people you do not mind making a mess with). This broth is quite powerful, an example of ma la, or the numbing-hot sensation found in many Sichuan dishes. The heat comes from dried chiles and Sichuan chili bean paste, and the numbing effect from Sichuan peppercorns. This broth is often served alongside a tamer counterpart, essentially a light pork and chicken stock. If desired, prepare Poultry Stock, Pork or Ham Stock, or use half chicken and half pork bones to make a stock to serve alongside the one below. To make slicing easier, place meats in the freezer for 20 minutes beforehand. Alternatively, thinly sliced meats for hot pot are often available in the freezer section of Asian grocery stores.
Puree in a food processor until smooth:
- 1 cup Sichuan chili bean paste
- ¼ cup fermented black beans
- One 3-inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
Set the paste aside. Heat in a wok or large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat:
- 1 ¼ cups combination of vegetable oil and lard or beef tallow
When the oil shimmers, add and allow to fry until fragrant, about 3 minutes:
- 8 dried Chinese or Thai red chiles or chiles de árbol, stemmed and seeded
Carefully add the paste to the oil along with:
- 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
- 2 whole star anise
- One 3-inch cinnamon stick
- (1 Chinese black cardamom pod, crushed)
- 4 green cardamom pods, crushed
Allow to sizzle in the hot oil until very fragrant and the oil turns bright red, about 1 minute. Add slowly:
- 8 cups Brown Beef Stock, or Beef Broth, Poultry Stock, or Chicken Broth
- ½ cup Shaoxing wine
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Simmer the broth for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Meanwhile, cook:
- 2 cups short-grain white rice
Prepare an array of meats and vegetables to dip in the hot pot:
- 2 pounds mixed raw meats such as very thinly sliced pork, lamb, beef, and/or chicken; bite-sized pieces of Chinese sausages; meatballs or fish balls; large shrimp (16⁄20)
- 1 pound mixed vegetables such as quartered baby bok choy; enoki, shiitake, or button mushrooms; sliced daikon radish or kohlrabi; 1-inch cubes of potato or sweet potato; mature spinach leaves; 3-inch pieces of green onion
- 12 ounces firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes, and/or yuba (tofu skins)
Combine in a small measuring cup:
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup toasted sesame oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
Pour the soy sauce mixture into a small cup or bowl for each guest. Give each guest a bowl of cooked rice. Place the pot of broth on a hot plate in the center of the dining table. Adjust the heat to maintain a low simmer.
To serve, have guests add ingredients of their choosing to the simmering broth in small batches. Allow the items to cook (things like potatoes will take a little while; others, like spinach leaves or very thinly sliced pork, will be done in seconds). When they are done, use a small spider or skimmer to fish them out. Have each guest transfer the cooked ingredients to their bowl of rice where they can dip the items in the dipping sauce and eat.
Since this is a communal meal, don’t get too attached to specific items added to the hot pot. There should be enough of each ingredient to satisfy everyone. At the end of the meal, the bowls of rice will be highly seasoned from the broth and oil that dripped off the items cooked in the hot pot. Eat the rice as the final course of the meal. Because this hot pot is so richly flavored, we like to finish the meal by serving tangerines, or another sweet-tart fruit, although this is our own invention, and not traditional.