How to Make Beef Tallow Hot Pot Base

Chongqing hot pot, also known as tripe hot pot or spicy hot pot, is one of China's traditional dining styles.

It originated on the banks of the Jialing River in Chongqing during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. This dish was also a rough dining style for the dockworkers and boat trackers at ports like Chaotianmen.

Its main ingredients include beef tripe, pig aorta, duck intestines, and duck blood curd.

Beginners can generally complete it in about 1 hour.

Estimated cooking difficulty: ★★★☆☆

Essential Ingredients and Tools

Ingredients

Beef tallow: 4500 g
(Salad oil or rapeseed oil): 1000 ml
Pure lard: 500 g
Doubanjiang (Pixian): 1000 g
Chili paste (Ciba chili): 3000 g
Old ginger (sliced): 250 g
Green onion (cut into segments): 100 g
Onion (julienned): 100 g
Garlic (sliced): 200 g
Fermented black beans (minced) (Yongchuan): 10 g
Fermented black soybeans (Douzhi): 140 g
Red Sichuan peppercorns: 150 g
Old oil ? Granular spices: 100 g : Whole spices: 150 g
Malt powder (meat flavor): 12.5 g
Baijiu (52% VOL): 150 ml
Old oil ?? Dried chili powder: 15 g

Spices

Sand ginger (Shanai): 5 g
Star anise: 10 g
Tsaoko (Caoguo): 10 g
Cinnamon: 10 g
Clove: 5 g
Fennel: 10 g
Angelica dahurica (Baizhi): 10 g
Long pepper (Bibo): 5 g
Vanilla: 10 g
Sweet flag (Xiangguo): 10 g
Hawthorn: 10 g
Dried tangerine peel (Chenpi): 5 g
Lemongrass: 10 g
Amomum (Sharen): 10 g
White cardamom (Baikou): 10 g
Bay leaf: 10 g

Granular Spices

Grind the above ingredients in a blender until they reach approximately 4 mm particles. Set aside.

Whole Spices

Wash the above ingredients and set aside.

Tools

Blender

Calculation

Each batch of ingredients can produce 7.5 kg of hot pot base / hot pot old oil.

Procedure

Place the wok over high heat and add beef tallow. Heat to 80% temperature (240±10°C), then add old ginger, scallions, onions, garlic (100g each). Fry until dry (absorbing all off-flavors, such as the raw beef tallow smell), then remove and discard.
Add salad oil or rapeseed oil, pure lard. Wait until the oil temperature drops to 50% temperature (150±10°C), then add chili paste (ciba chili) and stir-fry continuously for 5-8 minutes.
Add doubanjiang (broad bean paste) and stir-fry to break it up. Reduce heat to medium-low and slowly stir-fry until the residue turns slightly white and begins to "fan sha" (sandy texture, emitting a rustling sound).
When the oil appears cherry-red, add ginger slices (150g), garlic (100g) and stir-fry until fragrant, for about 15 seconds.
Add fermented black beans, douzhi and stir-fry until fragrant. Add red Sichuan peppercorns, fennel seeds and stir-fry until fragrant.
(For old oil) At this point, add the granular spices.
Add malt powder and stir-fry to break it up. Add baijiu (Chinese white liquor) and stir-fry to break it up.

As Base Paste

Remove from heat and transfer to a container. Let it sit in a cool environment (10-20°C) for 5 days before use for best results.

As Old Oil

Remove from heat and transfer to a container. Add dried chili powder, mix well, and let stand for 24 hours to prepare the old oil.
Pour the base paste into the wok, add 3/5 boiling water, and bring to a boil over high heat (Base paste: 2/5, Boiling water: 3/5).
Foam will appear on the surface when boiling. Skim off all the foam.
Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer slowly to extract the flavor (about 25-30 minutes), then strain to remove the residue.
Wait for oil-water separation in the container, then skim off the surface oil (extract the oil) and transfer it to another container.
Pour the extracted oil back into a clean wok, and continue refining until the moisture in the oil is evaporated. Remove from heat and transfer to a container to obtain hot pot old oil.

Additional Content

Warning: Wipe your hands dry before operating! Prevent water from entering the hot oil to avoid explosions and serious burns!

If you encounter any issues or have suggestions for improving the process while following this guide, please submit an Issue or Pull request.