Beef Offal Hotpot

Beef Offal Hotpot

　　 Beef offal hotpot, where “offal” is its defining feature.

　　 First, it’s the variety of ingredients that stands out. With the exception of beef slices, intestines, and lungs, other parts such as tripe, heart, tongue, brain, penis, tendons, trotters, and yellow throat are all used in this hotpot. These ingredients are carefully prepared into semi-finished products and served on platters when needed. Diners then select their preferred types and cook them in a pot of boiling broth that is richly spiced, well-seasoned, and bursting with numbing Sichuan pepper heat. In winter, the dining room is heated, and diners sitting around their own personal heating stoves enjoy the meal while warming up. In summer, the scene is quite different—guests dressed lightly sweat profusely from the spicy, numbing, and piping-hot broth, and even air conditioning or fans offer little relief. Diners are thoroughly immersed in the joyous and lively atmosphere, which is why the spicy, numbing, and hot flavors of the hotpot are especially appealing to visitors in the summer. Ingredients cooked in the hotpot typically take about a minute before they’re ready to eat. Different ingredients develop distinct flavors after cooking in the broth—some turn tender and fragrant, others crispy and savory, some firm and aromatic, some soft and glutinous, others powdery and rich… the taste is endless.

　　 Second, it’s the complexity of the seasonings, mainly referring to the ingredients used to make the hotpot broth. The method involves first making a blend of two oils: pour heated vegetable oil into an iron pot until boiling, then mix in an appropriate amount of lard. Once the oil mixture is ready, add pre-prepared fermented chili paste (ciba chili) to the hot oil and stir until the moisture from the chili paste is absorbed. Then pour in water to bring it to a boil, adding at the same time Sichuan peppercorns, black pepper, star anise, sandalwood, cardamom, cloves, basil, dried chilies, monosodium glutamate, ginger, salt, scallions, garlic, and coriander. After 15 minutes, the semi-finished beef offal can be added to the simmering broth and is ready to eat, offering a delicious flavor. This hotpot broth is characterized by being numbing, spicy, hot, and slightly sour. It’s truly the kind of experience where the chili is spicy, the rice is hot, the Sichuan pepper is numbing, the sweat is pouring, the pepper is rich, the flavors are aromatic, and the enjoyment is immense. The longer the broth simmers, the better the flavor—but the beef offal should not be cooked too long, as overcooking can diminish its taste. Mastering the cooking time is essential when enjoying beef offal hotpot.

　　 Third, it’s the complexity of the dipping sauce ingredients. Although the base broth of the beef offal hotpot already contains a full range of seasonings and is flavorful enough, a small bowl of dipping sauce is still served in front of each diner. This adds an extra layer of unique taste, elevating the beef offal hotpot to a state of near perfection. The making of the dipping sauce is also elaborate—not only does it include salt, soy sauce, and chopped scallions mixed into crushed dried chili, but it is also combined with coriander, minced ginger, mashed garlic, locally distinctive fermented tofu with a strong aroma, and specially made herbal powder. Diners pick out the cooked ingredients from the boiling pot, dip them into the sauce, and then enjoy them. This adds boundless layers of flavor to the beef offal hotpot.