Spicy Hot Pot Soup Base Recipe

step 1

• STEP 1.For the dry spice mix, in a grinder jar add 2 bay leaves, 3 star anise, 6 cardamoms, 1 big stick of cinnamon broken into small pieces, 1tsp cloves, 2tbsp Licorice root, 1/3 cup of Sichuan peppercorn and grind them well to make a powder. Add 1 cup fennel seeds, 1 cup cumin seeds and 1/2 cup chili flakes to the ground powder and mix well.

step 2

• STEP 1.For the wet spice mix, in a blender jar add 1 ½ cup chopped medium spicy red chili, ¾ cup garlic, ½ cup ginger, ⅓ cup chopped very spicy red chilies (called face heaven chilies). Bled the ingredients to make a paste. Then in a wok add the paste and the ground powder.

step 3

• STEP 1.Add 1 cup ‘dou ban jiang’ or sichuan chili paste, ⅓ cup of fermented soybean paste (also called spicy black bean sauce).

step 4

• STEP 1.Turn on the heat and stir these spice mixes on low heat till well combined. Add 1 tbsp sugar, 1tbsp salt. Keep stirring to combine well.

step 5

• STEP 1.In a large cooking pot, add 5 cups of canola oil and 1 cup of lard and heat the oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit .

step 6

• STEP 1.Gradually pour the hot oil over the spice mixture in the wok and gently mix to combine.

step 7

• STEP 1.Continue to cook the spice mixture in the wok on low heat, stirring continuously to prevent the spices from sticking to the bottom.

step 8

• STEP 1.When the spice mixture is ready, the oil will turn deep red indicating that it has absorbed the flavour well.

step 9

• STEP 1.At this stage turn off the heat and let the contents of the wok cool down to room temperature.