Chongqing Mala Hot Pot

Ingredients

• 400g beef tallow
• 150ml rapeseed oil
• 80g dried erjingtiao chillies, for the chilli paste
• 150g Pixian chilli bean paste, chopped
• 3 tbsp fermented black beans, rinsed and roughly chopped
• 40g whole red Sichuan pepper
• 20g whole green Sichuan pepper
• 60g ginger, sliced
• 1 head garlic, cloves peeled
• 50g rock sugar
• 150ml fermented glutinous rice wine or Shaoxing wine
• 3 black cardamom pods, cracked
• 3 star anise
• 1 piece cassia bark
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• 2 tsp white cardamom pods
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 litres chicken or beef stock
• 600g beef short rib or brisket, very thinly sliced
• 300g honeycomb tripe, cleaned and cut into strips
• 300g duck blood curd, cut into 2cm slabs
• 200g luncheon meat, sliced
• 300g potato, thinly sliced
• 200g lotus root, thinly sliced
• 200g enoki mushrooms
• 200g soy bean sprouts
• 2 sheets dried tofu skin, soaked
• 6 tbsp sesame oil, for dipping
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed, for dipping
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce, for dipping

Before you cook

• Soak the black cardamom, star anise, cassia bark, fennel seeds, white cardamom and bay leaves in warm water for 20 minutes, then drain them.
• Slice all the hot pot ingredients and arrange them on platters, keeping the raw beef separate and chilled.
• Set out six small bowls, each with 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, a crushed garlic clove and a teaspoon of oyster sauce.

Steps

1. Cover the dried erjingtiao chillies with water in a saucepan and boil them for 10 minutes until soft.
2. Drain the chillies well and pound or blitz them to a coarse red paste.
3. Melt the beef tallow with the rapeseed oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat.
4. Add the sliced ginger and peeled garlic cloves and fry them gently for 5 minutes, until pale gold.
5. Scoop out the ginger and garlic and set them aside.
6. Turn the heat to low and stir in the pounded chilli paste.
7. Cook the paste for 30 minutes, stirring often, until the oil above it turns deep red and the spitting stops.
8. Stir in the chilli bean paste and black beans and cook for another 20 minutes.
9. Add the drained whole spices and cook for 15 minutes more, keeping the heat low so nothing catches.
10. Return the ginger and garlic to the pot along with the rock sugar and the rice wine.
11. Add both kinds of Sichuan pepper and cook for a final 10 minutes.
12. Turn off the heat and leave the base to stand for 30 minutes so the flavours settle.
13. Scoop about half the base into a jar for another day and leave the rest in the pot.
14. Pour in the stock and bring the pot to a rolling boil.
15. Carry the pot to a portable burner at the table and keep it bubbling hard.
16. Add the tripe, duck blood and potato first, as they need the longest.
17. Cook each piece of tripe for 15 seconds only, lifting it out the moment it curls.
18. Swish the beef slices through the broth for about 8 seconds each, until they just lose their pinkness.
19. Drop in the mushrooms, bean sprouts, lotus root and tofu skin as you go, fishing them out when tender.
20. Dip everything into the sesame oil bowls, which cool the chilli and carry it into the meat.