Sichuan Hotpot

Hotpot, the Asian kin to fondue. The Sichuan hotpot is, as you might expect, spicy. Did I mention that it's spicy? It is. Try to catch the Anthony Bourdain show, No Reservations, when he visits Chengdu for some hotpot. It's entertaining to see the bubbling cauldron and the diners continuously wiping sweat from their domes. If seeing that doesn't make you hungry, I don't know what will. Take a gander at these youtubers digging the roiling miasma of the hotpot.

At the core of this concept is the szechuan peppercorn. Once banned in the US (1968-2005) due to concerns that they could be carrying citrus canker, the szechuan peppercorn is a culinary gem. It isn't about the heat, the dried berry husk (not related to black pepper or chili pepper) has a lemony undertone and the stunning ability to numb the mouth. This tingly feeling is what sets the stage for the more spicy onslaught of the chilies.

I grabbed a recipe from iheartbacon.com that was itself derived primarily from the cookbook, Land of Plenty. It can be made in a hotpot, a slow cooker, a fondue pot or a pot over a burner.

The assembled ingredients:

• a load of dried Tien Tsin chili peppers (I used about 20 because I was going for molten hot)
• peanut oil
• lard
• chili bean paste
• black bean garlic sauce
• fresh ginger (peeled and sliced into thin strips)
  
• chicken stock
• granulated sugar
• rice wine (or dry sherry, which I used)
• szechuan peppers
• stuff to cook in the broth
• dipping sauces

I started out by preparing the chili peppers. Cut and shook out the seeds. Then dropped in hot oil to crisp them. Takes just a minute, you'll smell the aroma when they are ready, but you have to watch that they don't burn. When done, put them aside.

For the broth, melt the lard slowly in a pot. Then turn up the heat and add chili paste for a minute or so, then black bean garlic sauce and ginger and stir fry until you get a good aroma (again, not long). Now add the chicken stock. When that boils, add the sugar and rice wine. At this point, I refrigerated the broth for use that night.

When it's go time, reheat the broth (don't be scared of the skin on the refrigerated broth), adding the chilies that were prepared earlier and the peppercorns. Simmer for half an hour.

While waiting, get your dippers ready. Thinly sliced meats, veggies (cabbage, mushroom, etc), noodles (udon, rice) and some dipping sauces. I used a hot chili sauce (hey, I'm scorching this from start to finish), peanut sauce and a soy-mustard sauce.

The platter of various thin-sliced meats.

Shitake mushrooms, various noodles, and very firm tofu.

Triumvirate of sauces.

Sriracha Chili Sauce, don't leave home without it.

The szechuan peppercorns from The Spice House on North Wells.

A view of the liquid gold.

Worked to perfection. The best part is saving a bit of room to ladle some broth in a bowl, add some noodles and savor a nice, spicy soup to finish with. The noodles really take the flavor well. Pretty easy setup and a damn good time. I can still feel the tingle.