These firm tofu pieces are made by steaming soft tofu before freezing them. This process creates frozen tofu with many honeycomb-like air bubbles inside, allowing it to better absorb the hot pot broth and making it exceptionally flavorful.
As for the hot pot base, Meng Zhao prepared two kinds. One is a clear broth base, which is made by simmering pork bones with water to make a milky white broth, and then adding scallions, ginger, shiitake mushrooms, red dates, bay leaves, star anise and an appropriate amount of salt. After boiling, it has a fragrant aroma and is light yet delicious.
Another type of spicy hot pot base with beef tallow is much more complicated. There is no ready-made beef tallow on the market, so you have to buy beef to make it yourself. Fortunately, Meng Zhao had connections and bought a lot of it when preparing for the New Year.
First, wash the beef tallow and cut it into chunks. Pour water into a pot, add the beef tallow, bring it to a boil over high heat, and then simmer over low heat until the water evaporates slowly.
Once the butter is rendered, use a slotted spoon to remove the cracklings. Then, add scallions and ginger slices to the butter and fry until golden brown. Next, pour in some cooking wine and crushed mixed spices. When the aroma is strong, add chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, minced ginger, and fermented bean paste. Finally, sprinkle in a little sugar to enhance the flavor.
When Meng Zhao was cooking the base sauce, the aroma wafted far and wide, attracting many neighbors to come and watch. After the base sauce was cooked and solidified, Meng Zhao cut it into small pieces, wrapped them in oil paper, and distributed some to each of them.
Today, all you need to do is add water to the pot and then pour in the solidified butter.
Because they don't usually eat much, Meng Zhao didn't order a custom-made copper stove with charcoal in the middle. Instead, he found two stoves with two pots on them, one pot for each flavor, and everyone could choose their seats.
Looking at the bubbling hot pot of spicy oil, Wei Jinglan couldn't help but swallow, but still sat down next to the clear broth pot. "I think I'll pass. The pimples that appeared yesterday haven't gone away yet. If I eat spicy food, they'll probably be even harder to get better."
When Meng Zhao had free time, she would spread skincare knowledge everywhere. Now they all knew that eating chili peppers could cause internal heat, which could lead to acne. Meng Jianqiu and He Jianxia were both working at the Treasure Pavilion and were very concerned about their appearance, so they were forced to sit in front of the clear soup pot.
The children couldn't handle spicy food very well, so only Meng Zhao's family of three, Gu Shi, Shen Qinghe, and Fang Muyun, who had come over, were left at the hot pot base.
"One, two... ten, okay, let's eat!" The beef that Meng Zhao prepared was very fresh. If it weren't for the concern about the hygiene of eating raw beef, it would have been fine to cook it for only three to five seconds.
The tender beef, coated in sauce, is juicy, flavorful, spicy, and savory, instantly captivating the taste buds the moment it enters the mouth.
Compared to the potato noodles I'd had before, this spicy hot pot with beef tallow was several levels spicier. When Meng Zhao delivered the broth to her neighbors, she specifically told them not to put in too much, just a little would be enough.
Everyone present today confidently declared they could handle spicy food, so Meng Zhao added a whole block of beef tallow broth. As a result, everyone sitting around the spicy pot had flushed faces, especially Shen Qinghe.
Seeing that his eyes were red from eating, Meng Zhao couldn't help but ask, "Second brother, why don't you sit down and eat over by the clear broth pot over there?"
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