There are six kinds of edible oil commonly used in hot pot:
Butter: Butter is an indispensable oil in traditional hot pot. It is made by melting the fat in cattle. Its biggest function is to produce lipidation when heated, thus increasing the flavor of the soup brine. Butter floats on the surface of the soup brine to keep the temperature of the soup brine and the thick soup brine, so that after the food is cooked, it will be oily and shiny, and the smell of butter will be enhanced. If the hot pot does not use butter, it will lose great flavor. Of course, when seasoning, increase or decrease the amount of butter according to the needs of guests.
Tips: when buying butter, it is better to use light yellow, yellow, no sediment at the bottom and fragrant smell. It's best to fry ginger, garlic and onion in the pot before making, so as to increase the flavor and achieve better results.
Lard: Lard is an important raw material of broth hotpot. It can produce lipidation during heating to increase the flavor of soup marinade, and can also be melted in marinade to coordinate with various hotpot condiments to harmonize the taste and weaken the odor. Adding lard to the hot pot of red soup can also suppress the peculiar smell and fishy smell of pig viscera, cattle viscera and aquatic products.
Tips for purchasing: when choosing lard, it is better to use the white and impurity-free pork plate oil. When cooking lard, fry it with ginger, green onions, onions and garlic to increase the flavor, and the effect will be seen by yourself.
Chicken oil: Chicken oil is a high-grade oil recently used in hot pot. It is rich in nutrition and strong in fresh flavor. It is mainly used in the processing method of chicken oil in clear soup hot pot. One is to add ginger slices and refine them with low fire, and the other is to add ginger slices and onions to steam them in a cage. Steamed chicken oil is better, but its flavor is poor. It is better to cook chicken oil with good effect, but its color is poor. Just fry ginger, garlic and onions in the pot to filter off the residue.
Tips for purchase: Frozen chicken oil is generally used, and it is better to be yellowish without impurities and low in water content.
Vegetable oil; Rapeseed oil is made from rapeseed, which is mainly used to stir-fry condiments in Chongqing hot pot to make them taste good.
Tips for purchasing: It is better to taste fragrant and golden in color.
Sesame oil: Sesame oil is made by grinding sesame seeds. It is mainly used to prepare various flavors and make a dipping dish. Although it is not directly cooked, it can play a role in regulating taste, enhancing fragrance and clearing heat.
Tips for purchase: It is better to have golden color, rich fragrance and no impurities.
Salad oil: salad oil is a purified product of vegetable oil and other oils, except for the color of vegetable oil and other oils. It is mainly used for frying chafing dish bottom materials, blending flavorings and saucers, etc. There are four main cooking oils used in hot pot: butter, lard vegetable oil and sesame oil. Butter can increase the flavor in the marinade, keep the temperature of the original soup and increase the color of the materials; Lard can not only increase the flavor of the original soup, but also weaken the fishy smell and peculiar smell of the materials; Vegetable oil is used for stir-frying raw materials and dipping flavor; Sesame oil is less used in soup and more used in flavored dishes. In addition, there are Chili oil, oyster sauce, mixed oil, chicken oil, etc., all of which are to increase the fragrance and flavor of hot pot.
Other materials
Pixian watercress: Pixian watercress is brewed with broad beans, peppers and salt. It is a local specialty of Pixian county in Chengdu. Its color is bright and moist, and its spicy taste is strong. Pixian watercress is the most important seasoning in the hot pot of red soup. It can increase the umami flavor and fragrance when used in the soup brine, so that the soup has a warm and mellow flavor and a thick and bright red color. Tips for purchasing: The watercress produced in Pixian, Sichuan Province must be the first one when purchasing, and the watercress produced in any other place can not meet the characteristics of Pixian watercress. Sichuan "Juancheng" watercress is the best, but the price is high.
Douchi: Douchi is brewed from soybeans, salt and spices. Its smell is mellow, its color is yellow and black, its oil is smooth, its seeds are soft and loose, and its taste is fresh and sweet. Chongqing Yongchuan Douchi is the best. When it is used in soup brine, it can increase the salty and mellow taste.
Tips for purchasing: Chongqing Yongchuan Douchi is the best.
Dried Chili: It is pungent and warm, can dispel cold and strengthen stomach, and its color is bright red, with strong spicy taste. There are many kinds of dried Chili, including big gold bars, two gold bars, five-leaf pepper, morning pepper, seven-star pepper, Dahongpao and millet pepper. Adding dried Chili to hot pot soup pot (pot bottom) can remove fishy smell, relieve boredom and suppress peculiar smell, and increase spicy taste and color. Tips for purchasing: use deep red color. Color is very important when choosing peppers. First, it is necessary to ensure good color. Second, it is necessary to choose spicy and non-spicy peppers according to local tastes.
Zanthoxylum bungeanum: Zanthoxylum bungeanum, which is pungent, warm and spicy, can warm the middle and dispel cold, and has the function of dehumidification and pain relief. Shaanxi pepper is the variety of Zanthoxylum bungeanum; Sichuan Maowen pepper. Qingxi pepper is the best. Zanthoxylum bungeanum is an important seasoning for hot pot. When used in soup, it can suppress the fishy smell and remove the foreign flavor, and enhance the fresh flavor.
Tips for purchasing: Shaanxi pepper; Sichuan Maowen pepper and Qingxi pepper are superior, with ruddy color and large and fragrant particles.
Ginger: Ginger is pungent and wet. It contains volatile oil gingerol. It has a special spicy flavor. Ginger can be used in red soup and clear soup brine, which can effectively remove fishy smell and suppress odor. It can enhance fragrance and flavor.
Tips for purchasing: the "yellow mouth" ginger with large size and strong smell is better, while other ginger is a little worse.
Garlic: Garlic is spicy and fragrant. It contains volatile oil and second-rate compounds. Garlic is mainly used for flavoring and enhancing fragrance, suppressing fishy smell and removing peculiar smell.
Tips for purchase: It is better to have a strong garlic fragrance, which is dry and mildew-free.
Fermented grains: Fermented grains are made from glutinous rice. The rice grains are soft and not rotten, and the wine juice is mellow. It is sweet and delicious, thick but not mixed, but not sticky. Adding fermented grains to the prepared hot pot soup brine (base material) can increase freshness, suppress fishy smell and make the soup brine sweet again.
Tips for purchasing: Pure and sweet taste, good color and rich wine aroma are preferred.
Salt: the scientific name of salt is sodium chloride, which is a kind of small crystalline particles. It has salty taste, can detoxify and cool blood, moisten dryness and stop oxygen. Salt plays a role in determining taste, seasoning, refreshing, relieving boredom and removing fishy smell in hot pot.
Tips for purchasing: there is generally no regulation.
Rock sugar: Rock sugar makes the replica sucrose, which is sweet and flat for crystallization, benefiting qi, moistening dryness and clearing heat. When boiling hot pot soup, adding rock sugar grams can make the soup mellow and sweet, which has the effect of relieving spicy stimulation.
Tips for purchasing: Blocks and small particles are acceptable, but the color must be transparent and free of impurities.
Cooking wine: Cooking wine is brewed with glutinous rice as the main raw material, which has a soft wine taste and special aroma. The main functions of cooking wine in hot pot soup are to enhance fragrance, enhance color, remove fishy smell and odor.
Tips for purchase: it is better to have good color, no impurities and sweet wine.
Monosodium glutamate: monosodium glutamate is extracted from soybean, wheat, kelp and other substances containing protein. It tastes delicious and plays a role in refreshing, enhancing fragrance and flavor in hot pot.
Tips for purchasing: crystal monosodium glutamate is better to avoid sticking to the pot.
Chicken essence: Chicken essence is a powerful fresh-keeping product which has been widely used in recent years. It is refined from chicken eggs and sodium bran. The umami taste of chicken essence comes from amino acids decomposed by protein, an animal and plant. The function of chicken essence is to enhance freshness and taste.
Tips for purchasing: It is better to contain less "wheat aphid dextrin" and "starch" and have a fresh flavor.
Pepper: Pepper. It is pungent and has a strong aromatic smell in temperate zone. It has the effects of warming the middle warmer, dispelling cold, invigorating the stomach and smoothing qi. It is used in broth chafing dish to remove fishy smell, enhance fragrance and improve taste.
Function and dosage of chafing dish spices.
Tips for purchase: spicy, no impurities, pure taste is better.
Spice knowledge and its characteristics
Siraitia grosvenorii: it is fragrant, cool, sweet, fragrant, sweet and mellow, and has the effects of clearing away lung-heat, relieving cough, moistening intestines and relaxing bowels.
Ganzi: A kind of fluffy, dark brown root spice, which Chengdu people call vanilla and Chongqing people call it Xiangzi. Actually, it should be called Ganzi, also known as Ganzi Xiang. Sweet fermented grains have a pungent smell, which is similar to strong turpentine smell. They have the functions of regulating qi, relieving pain, relieving depression and invigorating spleen. They are blindly used as traditional Chinese medicines to treat chest and abdomen pain, stomach pain, vomiting, loss of appetite and indigestion.
Clove: also known as clove and clove, it is the bud of clove. It is often used as a dry product in cooking. It has a strong fragrance and a tingling tongue. Its taste is pungent and warm, and it has the functions of warming the stomach, stopping hiccups, expelling wind and relieving pain. The dosage in cooking should be within1~ 2 grams, and never use it more.
Illicium verum: It should be called Illicium verum, also known as anise, aniseed and August pearl, which is a familiar spice. It is characterized by its fragrant smell and slightly sweet taste. It is pungent and warm in nature, and has the functions of warming the middle warmer to stimulate appetite, dispelling cold and treating hernia. Whether it is hot pot, braise in soy sauce or brine, it can be used in cooking. The appropriate dosage is 5 ~10g.
Foeniculum vulgare: also known as fennel, shredded vegetables, fragrant flowers and wild fennel. Its mature fruit is like small grains of rice or cumin, and it has a special aroma. As a spice, it is widely used in braised pork, bittern and spicy hot pot. In hot pot, the dosage can be appropriately increased, such as10 ~ 20g or more. In medicine, it is pungent and warm, and has the functions of promoting qi circulation, relieving pain, invigorating stomach and dispelling cold.
Tsaoko: The fruit of Tsaoko, a ginger plant, tastes strange and unpleasant. Its medicinal properties are warm and pungent, and it has the functions of eliminating dampness, strengthening spleen, eliminating phlegm, warming middle warmer, expelling cold and resisting malaria. It can be broken or used whole in cooking. As a spice, it is burned or marinated with beef, and its flavor is especially good. Amomum tsaoko should not be used in spicy hot pot and brine, and it is more appropriate to put 3 ~ 5 pieces.
Amomum villosum: Also known as Amomum villosum and Amomum villosum, it is a mature fruit of Amomum villosum. It tastes astringent, smells fragrant, and has warm medicinal properties and pungent taste. It has the functions of promoting qi circulation, invigorating stomach and promoting digestion. The medicine is used for abdominal distension and pain, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, enteritis, dysentery, and fetal movement. It should not be used too much in hot pot and braised dishes, and it should be less than 3 grams.
Sannai: Also known as Alpinia officinarum and Shanla, it is a rhizome. Grocery stores and Chinese medicine stores sell dried slices, which are fragrant. The medicine is mild in nature and pungent in taste, and can warm and eliminate dampness, promote qi circulation and relieve pain. It is mainly used for treating acute gastroenteritis, dyspepsia, abdominal pain and diarrhea, stomach cold pain, toothache, rheumatoid arthritis, traumatic injury, etc. In cooking, it is mostly used for burning, marinating and spicy hot pot, and the dosage is mostly between 5 ~10g.
Lingcao: also known as Lingcao, also known as Linglingxiang, has a strong aroma and a sweet taste. Used in spicy hot pot, the general dosage is not more than 5g. There is another kind of Lingcao in the market, named Basil, which can replace the above one, but it belongs to Labiatae, also called Linglingxiang, and its taste is pungent and warm. In terms of medicine, it is pungent and warm, and has the functions of treating cold, cold and headache.
Grass-row: Grass-row is also called fragrant grass-row, fragrant grass-row, fragrant sheep, and LYSIMACHIA pilosa. It also belongs to Primulaceae, and its nature and taste are sweet and flat. It can be used for treating common cold, cough, rheumatism and irregular menstruation. The dosage in spicy hot pot should not be too much, just 3 ~ 5 grams, and it can also be used in brine. Some people say that in spicy hot pot and brine, "Lingcao enhances fragrance, weeding and antiseptic", in fact, many spicy spices have antibacterial and antiseptic effects to varying degrees.
Cardamom: also known as round cardamom, it is written as "Bai Kou" and "Kouren" in the market or pharmacies. The taste is astringent, because its medicinal properties are pungent and warm, so it has the functions of promoting qi and regulating qi, warming the stomach and promoting digestion, eliminating dampness and stopping vomiting, and relieving alcoholism. Add 3 ~ 5g to the spicy hot pot. Because of its good fragrance, the dosage is small.
Nutmeg: alias Yuguo. In recent years, it has been widely used in hot pot, but its taste is also unpleasant. Its medicinal properties are pungent and warm, and it has the functions of warming the spleen and stomach, astringing the intestines and lowering the qi. You can't use more than one thing, just two or three.
Cinnamon: Also known as cinnamon. Sweet and hot in nature, it has the effects of nourishing Yuanyang, warming spleen and stomach, removing accumulated cold and dredging blood vessels. Indications: kidney-yang deficiency, cold pain in the heart, chronic diarrhea, etc. It is oily and has a strong fragrance. The taste is spicy and the aftertaste is slightly sweet. It is widely used in spicy hot pot and braised dishes, and the appropriate dosage is 5 ~10g.
Cumin: Alias, Foeniculum arabicum, rest fennel, the seed of Cumin, which belongs to Umbelliferae, is mainly produced in China's border areas. The fruit shape is oval. The two ends are slender about 5 mm and 3 mm wide, which are similar to fennel. Please pay attention to preservation and try to seal it as much as possible so as not to lose the effect.
Fragrant leaves: rich in fragrance, that is, the leaves of osmanthus trees are gray-green, with no mildew and strong aroma, which can enhance fragrance, remove odor and promote appetite.
Massage: It is fragrant, spicy and has a special aroma. It has the functions of promoting qi circulation, warming the stomach, treating diarrhea and vomiting, relieving alcoholism and stopping dysentery.
Cyperus rotundus: It is fragrant, fragrant, bitter and pungent, and has the function of regulating menstruation, relieving pain and relieving depression.
Radix Angelicae Dahuricae: (Radix Angelicae Dahuricae, Radix Angelicae Dahuricae) has the effects of enhancing fragrance, warming nature, pungent taste, removing rheumatism, promoting blood circulation, expelling pus, promoting granulation and relieving pain.
Arnebia euchroma: Aroma enhancement, (hard Arnebia euchroma, red Arnebia euchroma, big Arnebia euchroma) color enhancement, cold, sweet and salty, with the effects of promoting blood circulation, cooling blood, detoxifying and penetrating rash, sores and eczema.
Hawthorn: Aroma-enhancing, sour and sweet in nature, aroma-enhancing, odor-removing, digestion-promoting, stomach-invigorating, qi-activating, three-stasis, epigastrium fullness, hyperlipidemia and other effects.
Pericarpium Citri Tangerinae: Aroma-enhancing, (red orange, red cannon, Sichuan orange) pressure to wake up, deodorize, invigorate the spleen and eliminate dampness and phlegm, eat less, vomit and diarrhea, cough and phlegm, etc.
Alpinia katsumadai: It is fragrant, warm and pungent in nature, and has the effects of drying dampness and strengthening spleen, warming stomach and stopping vomiting, resisting cold food, not thinking about diet, abdominal distension and so on.
Alpinia officinarum: Aroma (Alpinia officinarum, Alpinia officinarum) enhances fragrance, suppresses fishy smell, has pungent taste, is warm in nature, and has the effects of warming stomach, dispelling cold, promoting qi circulation and relieving pain.
Branches: It is fragrant, pungent, warm in nature, and has the functions of reducing fire, clearing away heat and toxic materials. It is used for toothache, especially for clearing fire in hot pot.
Perilla frutescens: Aroma-enhancing, mild in nature and pungent in taste. It is used for relieving exterior syndrome, dispelling cold, promoting qi circulation and regulating stomach, and for treating colds and fish and crab poisoning.
Citronella: (wild citronella, smelly grass) is warm and pungent, and has a strong aroma. It cannot be used for many purposes. It is mainly used for nourishing the heart and calming the nerves, expelling wind and relieving exterior symptoms.
Radix Aucklandiae: It is fragrant, warm, pungent and bitter, and has the effects of promoting qi circulation and relieving pain, regulating stomach distension and stopping diarrhea.
Tips: When buying spices, you must choose a spice shop with good reputation, low price and good quality. The beauty and attraction of hot pot lies in its taste, and its taste comes from the modulation of the original soup of hot pot, which determines the flavor of hot pot and is also the most critical link in making hot pot. The quality of the original soup is related to the success or failure of the hot pot. There are many kinds of hot pot in Chongqing, and the original soup is also different, but the most basic ones are red soup and clear soup. As long as we master the formula and preparation method of these two kinds of original soups and handle the matters needing attention, we can prepare the first-class original soups. To prepare the original soup, we must first find out what kind of seasoning is needed to prepare the original soup of hot pot. The condiments used must be authentic and of high quality. Condiments that do not meet the requirements cannot be used to prepare the original soup. The main condiments used in hot pot are: watercress (Pixian watercress is the top), fermented soybean, fermented glutinous rice juice, pepper, ginger, garlic, refined salt, monosodium glutamate, chicken essence, cooking wine, butter, water, pickled pepper, sesame oil, pepper, rock sugar and five spices.