Hot pot

[tuixiu]

Any hot pot fans out there?

We've got a place near us that does authentic sichuan style hot pot, I love it. You can order lamb or beef slices, noodles, potatoes, various shrimp/fish/chicken balls (the shape not the organ) and of course veggies.

They have mild style too which is fairly flavorful, its cool they have pots that do the yin/yang shape with both but I do love the sichuan half in all its mouth tingling colon wrecking glory.

As in:

Anyone do this at home? I'm thinking can use our rarely used fondue pot to do, be fun with friends and beer.

 

[bld999]

I've tried it, pretty darn good, but I fell into a contest with another diner and ate a little too much [not hot pot's fault]

Don't forget bibs and make sure the beer is cold. I thought italian sausage would be good in it.

In Bejing there is a chain restarant called "Little Sheep" with a cartoon logo of the type that seems to be done so well there...edit: holy cats! there's one in Bellevue, Wa.!

http://www.littlesheephotpot.com/

 

[Ready]

Looks like there are a bunch in California too. One is pretty close to my home, but I've never heard of it. Has anyone tried one of these restaurants in the US? It looks like very authentic Chinese food, like the kind you see in China. I'm not sure I'm that crazy about it, since it's mostly meat, and I'm a vegetarian. But, I'd be willing to try it if anyone else had a good experience with one of the US restaurants.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have not had Sichuan-style hotpot. Looking at all the red peppers floating on the yang side of the pot (that's the "male" or "positive" side, I think), it scares me to think of the damage that it could do.

But, I would at least try one dip, as I tend to like spicy food too.

 

[Moscyn]

I live in Hong Kong and Sichuan is my favorite cuisine. Love the hotpot with all the numbing tingling chili peppers. Just don't eat too much as it is really oily and difficult to digest. If it is too spicy, it can set off an irritable stomach syndrome!

 

[whitestick]

Wow, thanks for the link. It looks like we are getting one in Plano TX shortly. I loved these places in Beijing and in southern CA. One secret, if you really like the spicy stuff, like I do. As the pot cooks longer and longer, the spicy side gets much more spicer due to the peppers giving up more of their flavor. And of course, as in Beijing, you eat the meal over about 2 hours. The food that's been cooking at the end, can really cut through the quenchers that you may have been consuming. It's great. And for the vegetarians, just order the various veggies and don't let the meat eaters use your side, and you will love it.
Think I might go check the place out and see if it's really not open yet.

 

[Moscyn]

If you like the soup that has been boiling for 2 hours, you can add a noodle or bean thread at the end of the meal. The noodle will soak up some of the soup and is very yummy and will fill you up a lot. Some prefer tofu or bean thread which is less filling.

 

[NW-Bound]

If you do not have a restaurant nearby or want to DYI, it looks like it is fairly easy to have this at home. With a tabletop burner or camping stove with the right pot, one can get all the ingredients at an Oriental market.

I will need to do a research on the Sichuan broth. Is there more to it than just hot chili added to beef, pork, or chicken broth?

 

[timeasterday]

Oh man, that looks good!! Hard to find a decent hot pot place around Atlanta. Most are Korean which is not the same at all. We buy the hot pot base sauce at the Asian supermarket and make it ourselves at home. I usually add some Sichuan peppercorns to get that numbing sensation.

 

[NW-Bound]

So, I looked on the Web, and found a few recipes for Sichuan style broth. Most have ingredients that I know like ginger, star anise, peppercorn, cinnamon, fennel seed, and of course dried chili. I need to get black and green cardamon (heard of cardamom but never use it), and Sichuan bean paste.

I would not go yin-yang two-sided broth though, as that is complicated and needs a special pot. Just a more neutral not-so-hot broth should work. This will be fun.

 

[tuixiu]

I will need to do a research on the Sichuan broth. Is there more to it than just hot chili added to beef, pork, or chicken broth?

The easy way = order the base online and add broth, as in: Sichuan hot pot

Ended up picking some of that up, added garlic and green onion then did hot pot on portable burner. Was a good time, beer is a critical element.