Because:

1. The soup base of the hot pot

The soup base is the background of the hot pot. It is said that in the earliest beef hot pot in Shantou, the soup base was made by adding sand tea sauce directly into the pot, which was rich in taste. Later, it was gradually simplified. Now, the soup head at the bottom of Chaoshan hot pot pays attention to the word "Qing". Although there are also heavy medicinal food pots, the clear soup pot is always the most respected. The mainstream Chaoshan beef hot pot has clear water and beef bone broth at the bottom. Sometimes a few white radishes are put at the bottom of the clear water pot, and a few beef ribs are added to the beef bone broth, and sometimes there are beef balls, white radishes and corn. Every pot of beef bone broth comes out, which is full of the natural fragrance and freshness of beef bones. The reason why white radish and corn are put is that they can not only absorb oil and relieve boredom, but also refresh the meat and increase the fragrance of the meat. Serve at the bottom of the pot. After the pot is boiled, first scoop a bowl of clear soup, add some celery powder to the bowl, and drink it while it is hot.

2. Beef

When it leaves the local area, it is difficult to eat the authentic Chaoshan beef pot again. The reason is that the protagonist, Chaoshan beef, is very particular about the word "fresh-cut". Chaoshan people have a high demand for beef. If they want to eat beef slaughtered on the same day, they should also eat beef balls that are freshly beaten and cannot be mixed with minced pork or powder. In addition, the storage time of sliced beef will also affect the taste and taste.

Most of the cattle in Chaoshan Hotpot come from mountain cattle in Guizhou, Sichuan. It takes about 2-year-old cattle to make Hotpot, usually a local yellow cattle. The meat suitable for Hotpot accounts for only about 35%, which can be described as precious. The second beef is made into beef balls, beef tendon balls and beef patties again, and the last one can be made into beef brisket, so the whole body will not be wasted anyway.

Many exquisite stores will also identify the gender of cattle. Bull's meat is tough and suitable for meatballs, while cow's and pickled cattle's meat is softer and more suitable for hotpot. Many hot pot restaurants in Shantou are near slaughterhouses and even have their own cattle farms, in order to ensure that they can provide diners with freshly slaughtered beef.

besides fresh meat, knife work is also indispensable. The master must cut the beef by hand, and never use a machine. This is a technical job. If it is not cut well, the taste of the beef will be rough or even hard to bite.

3. Break down different parts of beef

There are dozens of different parts of beef and viscera to choose from in Chaoshan Hotpot Restaurant, and the names of local people for different parts of beef are also very distinctive, which often makes foreign diners confused: neck kernel, hanging dragon, spoon kernel, spoon handle, five-flowered toe ...... different parts, different tastes, which can be called Chaoshan version of "skilled in handling cattle".

4. Side dishes

To eat Chaoshan beef hotpot, it is best to rinse beef from fat to thin before serving side dishes. Unlike Chongqing hot pot, Chaoshan locals don't rinse too many side dishes, but two or three are common, so as not to usurp the host's role.

fried bean curd

Chaoshan people don't often eat it in beef hot pot. After the golden crispy fried bean curd sticks are boiled, they will fully absorb the mellow flavor of the soup base and taste delicious.

Chaoshan kway teow

looks like rice noodles and is a common local food. Rinse in a pot, pour some soup into a bowl, add celery powder and cooked kway teow soup to eat; You can also put some meat and pour some sand tea sauce to eat.

don't forget white radish and corn. After a long time of cooking, they are quite tasty.

5. Dip in the sauce

How can you get a dip in a hearty beef hotpot?

sand tea sauce

Chaoshan is the birthplace of sand tea sauce, which is made by mixing fish, dried sea rice, peanuts, white sesame seeds, shredded coconut, onion, ginger, garlic, pepper, mustard, clove, pepper, dried tangerine peel and vanilla. The taste is salty, sweet and spicy, and it complements the taste of beef, and it also makes beef taste a little sea. People who like spicy food will also add a little Chaoshan Chili sauce.

Puning bean paste

Chaoshan people sometimes choose to dip in Puning bean paste when eating seafood, and now it is also used to dip in beef. Many local people will ferment fresh soybeans themselves to make this salty and slightly sweet dipping sauce.

in addition, some stores will provide fried garlic oil as sauce.

beef is hot, so many shops have prepared homemade herbal tea, and the formula is mostly made from local traditional secret recipes: black beans, rehmannia root and prepared rehmannia root, so beef hot pot with herbal tea is also a good choice.

when you go to Chaoshan to eat hot pot, you must not go to the scenic spots. The taste is indescribable, and it is very expensive. Just go to some ordinary shops on the roadside to eat. I don't know if it's safe to ask the locals which hot pot is delicious.