Mala Hot Pot Broth
5
cups
Main
Course
Print Recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Ingredients
3 c
hot water or stock (homemade or store-bought)
5 tsp
green flower pepper
½ c
Pixian County Bean Paste
4 tsp
star anise
4 tsp
cinnamon
4 tsp
cumin
3 tsp
cardamom
1 tsp
clove
1
bay leaf
4 tsp
cooking wine
½ c
Rapeseed oil
1
bunch of leek, cut into inch-long pieces
1
bunch of scallions, chopped
1
bunch of cilantro, chopped
½
head of garlic, chopped
1
2-inch piece of ginger, sliced into thin slices
Condiments for the Table
Chopped cilantro
Chopped scallions
Chopped garlic
Black vinegar
Sesame oil
There is no correct answer on the Kinsey scale of numb and spicy. When it doubt, it is safer to err on the side of mild. The broth will evolve over the course of the meal as the spices seep and flavor deepens with each fixing that goes into the pot: slices of lamb, pork belly, eye of round, tofu, shrimp, beef tripe, leafy greens, potato or glass noodle, and as many kinds of mushrooms as you can find.
Directions
Chile Pepper Paste
- Soak dried whole chile peppers in cold water for 2-3 hours or hot water for 30 minutes, until chile peppers swell to full size. Mash with a mortar or chop with a mezzaluna. Mix with chopped garlic until mixture becomes a paste.
Broth
- Soak green flower pepper in the cooking wine for 4-6 hours to release the numbing element. Drain and set aside.
- In a sauce pan, heat 1/2 cup rapeseed oil on low. Add pieces of leek, slices of ginger and chopped garlic to infuse the oil. On the brink of burning, remove the aromatics with a slotted spoon.
- Add bean paste and chile pepper paste to the infused oil. Turn heat up to medium for 30 seconds and then turn it back to low to allow the paste to bloom for 15 minutes until extravagantly fragrant. Keep stirring throughout to keep paste from burning or sticking to pan.
- Add 4 teaspoons of green flower pepper and the remaining aromatics. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove and drain all solids. Set aside the solids and the oil separately and let cool.
- To serve: in a pot, bring infused oil and stock or hot water to a boil. Add salt and remaining green flower pepper to taste. Replenish pot with stock or hot water throughout meal as level runs low.