Hot Pot

Sichuan (Chongqing-Style) Hot Pot at Home

A bubbling, fiercely spicy broth scented with Sichuan peppercorns and dried chillies, set at the centre of the table so everyone cooks their own ingredients. This is a social meal - plan on unhurried eating, lots of chatter, and refilling the pot.

Prep

40 min

Cook

20 min

Total

60 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •60 g (½ cup) dried red chillies (Facing Heaven or Thai), rinsed and drained
• •30 g (¼ cup) Sichuan peppercorns, divided
• •2 L (8 cups) chicken or beef stock, low-sodium, or null
• •30 g (¼ cup) doubanjiang (Pixian broad-bean paste)
• •20 g (1 heaped tbsp) fermented black beans (douchi), rinsed and lightly smashed
• •6 g (1 tbsp) whole cloves
• •4 g (2 tsp) whole star anise
• •1 g (1 small piece) cassia bark (or cinnamon stick)
• •30 g (2 tbsp) fresh ginger, sliced
• •6 g (6 cloves) garlic, smashed
• •20 ml (4 tsp) Shaoxing rice wine
• •5 g (1 tsp) rock sugar, or 1 tsp sugar
• •30 ml (2 tbsp) rapeseed or vegetable oil
• •400 g (14 oz) beef sirloin or tenderloin, partially frozen 30 min, sliced paper-thin against the grain
• •300 g firm tofu, cut into 1.5 cm (½ in) slices
• •200 g (7 oz) fresh thin tofu skin (fu zhi), or fried tofu puffs, halved; null
• •200 g (7 oz) shiitake mushrooms, stems trimmed
• •150 g (5 oz) enoki mushrooms, root trimmed, in clumps
• •200 g (7 oz) lotus root, peeled, sliced 3 mm (⅛ in) thick
• •150 g (5 oz) Chinese leaf (napa) cabbage, cut into 4 cm (1½ in) pieces
• •100 g (3½ oz) potato starch noodles (fen si), soaked in warm water 20 min
• •200 g (7 oz) spinach or chrysanthemum greens, trimmed
• •10 g (1 tbsp) goji berries, optional, for the broth
• •6 g (1 tbsp) toasted sesame seeds, for the dip
• •1 bunch fresh coriander, for the dip
• •30 g (¼ cup) Chopped garlic and spring onion (50/50), for the dip
• •60 ml (¼ cup) light soy sauce, for the dip
• •60 ml (¼ cup) Chinese black vinegar (Chinkiang), for the dip
• •15 g (1 tbsp) dried chillies, for the dip

Steps

1. 1 Make the spice oil: soak 20 g (2 tbsp) chillies and 15 g (1 tbsp) Sichuan peppercorns in 200 ml (¾ cup) hot water for 10 minutes; drain and reserve. In a wok or deep pot, heat 30 ml (2 tbsp) oil over medium until shimmering. Add the remaining 15 g (1 tbsp) Sichuan peppercorns, cloves, star anise and cassia; stir 30 seconds until fragrant.
2. 2 Add the doubanjiang, fermented black beans, ginger and garlic; fry 1-2 minutes until the oil turns deep red and smells rich.
3. 3 Pour in the stock, Shaoxing wine and 400 ml (1½ cups) of the chilli-peppercorn soaking liquid (strained). Add the soaked chillies, rock sugar and goji berries if using. Bring to a boil, then lower and simmer 15 minutes. Taste - it should be assertively spicy, numbing, salty and slightly sweet. Adjust with more stock, a pinch of salt or a splash more doubanjiang.
4. 4 Strain the broth into a clay pot, enamel pot, or electric hot pot set on the table (this gives the cleanest result). Keep the aromatics in a small muslin bag inside the pot if you can, so the broth stays clear.
5. 5 While the broth simmers, arrange all the raw ingredients on platters, grouped: meats, tofu and tofu skin, mushrooms, lotus root, leafy greens, noodles. Keep meat on a cold plate. Keep raw meats on their own plates and use separate chopsticks or tongs for raw and cooked food, so nothing raw comes off the same utensil as something you are about to eat.
6. 6 Make the sesame dip: in a dry pan, toast 5 g (1 tsp) remaining Sichuan peppercorns for 30 seconds until fragrant, then grind with 15 g (1 tbsp) dried chillies and 10 g (1 tbsp) sesame seeds. Mix with the garlic-spring onion blend, soy sauce and vinegar; add a splash of hot broth to loosen. Divide into 4 small bowls. Never add raw meat to the dip bowls.
7. 7 Bring the broth to a full boil on the table and keep it visibly bubbling throughout. Cook one or two things at a time, guided by thickness more than the clock: beef slices 10-20 seconds until no longer translucent, 30-45 seconds if any slice is thicker than paper; tofu 1-2 minutes; lotus root 2-3 minutes; mushrooms 2-3 minutes; greens 30-60 seconds; noodles 2-3 minutes.
8. 8 Raw meats stay on their own plates with their own chopsticks; use a second set for cooked food. Paper-thin beef in fully boiling broth is ready once opaque, but for thicker slices, or for anyone pregnant, elderly or immunocompromised, cook until every piece is fully opaque and firm, up to 60 seconds.
9. 9 If you swap in poultry, cook it to at least 74 °C / 165 °F in the broth, until the centre is no longer pink. Refill the pot with hot stock as it reduces, skim any foam, and cook slowly - the meal is meant to last 45-60 minutes.