Cangzhou Hot Pot Chicken

Cangzhou Hot Pot Chicken

　　Ingredients:

　　Buy one free-range chicken from the market.

　　Seasonings:

　　For one chicken: one bag of Pixian bean paste, scallions, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, Chinese prickly ash, several dried chili peppers, and a few star anise.

　　Method:

　　1. Chop the chicken into pieces and wash them, removing all the yellow fat inside the chicken;

　　2. Blanch the chicken in boiling water, and as soon as it boils, use chopsticks to lift out the pieces one by one and drain them to avoid having bone fragments in the soup;

　　3. Heat a little oil in a wok, stir-fry minced scallions until they turn slightly yellow, then add one bag of Pixian bean paste and stir-fry. After 3–4 minutes when the aroma of the bean paste comes out, add the blanched chicken pieces and a little soy sauce (use sparingly, just enough to suit your taste), then stir-fry for another 3–4 minutes before adding water. Next, add scallions, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, Chinese prickly ash, dried chili peppers, star anise, and salt. Now you’re ready to eat. If you don’t mind using more fuel, stew it in an iron pot without covering the lid for about 30 minutes;

　　4. Prepare dipping vegetables of your choice (I prepared wide rice noodles, vermicelli, yuba, kelp, white tofu, pig’s blood, potatoes, and lettuce);

　　5. Mash garlic into a paste and mix with vinegar to dip the chicken.