Spicy Hotpot Broth (sichuan) -- Hong Tang Lu

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1/4 cup fermented black beans
• 1/3 cup shaoxing wine (substitute ( medium dry sherry)
• 3 inches fresh ginger, unpeeled
• 1/4 cup dried hot red chili pepper (sichuanese preferred)
• 1/2 cup peanut oil (substitute ( vegetable oil, any high smoke point oil)
• 2/3 cup dripping (original recipe (beef or lard)
• 1/2 cup szechuan hot bean sauce
• 3 quarts beef stock
• 1 tablespoon rock sugar
• 1/3 cup sichuanese fermented glutinous rice wine (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (really, to taste)
• 1 teaspoon szechwan pepper, whole

Recipe

• 1 make a paste out of the black beans and 1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine, using either a mortar and pestle or a food processor.
• 2 wash the ginger and cut it into slices about the thickness of a coin.
• 3 using a scissors, snip the chiles into 1 inch sections and remove the seeds.
• 4 heat 3 tbs of the oil in a wok over a medium flame so it's hot but not smoking.
• 5 stir fry the chiles to flavor the oil; you want the oil to sizzle around the chiles, making them crisp and fragrant, but not burning; using a slotted spoon remove them and set aside.
• 6 rinse out and dry the wok, the put on a simmer/low heat.
• 7 add the rest of the oil and the beef drippings.
• 8 once the drippings have melted completely, turn up the heat to medium.
• 9 when the oils just begin to smoke (around 250-300 degreesf), add the chile bean paste and stir fry until the oil is rich and fragrant (60-90 seconds).
• 10 the paste should not burn; if necessary either move the wok off the heat or turn the heat down to let the paste sizzle in the oil.
• 11 when the oil has reddened, add the black bean mash and the ginger.
• 12 stir fry until they also are fragrant.
• 13 add about 1 1/2 quarts of the beef stock and bring to a boil.
• 14 when the liquid reaches a boil, add the rock sugar, the rest of the shaoxing wine, and (optional) the glutinous rice wine.
• 15 salt to taste.
• 16 add the chiles and the sichuan pepper (adjust the quantity depending on how "hot and numbing" you want it) leave the broth to simmer for 15-20 minutes.
• 17 you are now ready to use this to dip ingredients to cook.
• 18 =============== note ================.
• 19 you will add the rest of the chicken stock to top up the hotpot as the meal progresses.