HOW TO MAKE SICHUAN MA-LA HOT POT ON THANKSGIVING

Do you know that the Chinese applies an ancient wisdom originated along the Yellow River, to an age-old question that has long plagued the minds of all mankind?  It’s the monthly family gathering next weekend…  It’s the awkward dinner with newly-made friends/colleagues…  It’s the unavoidable meal with the in-laws…  Hell, It’s the freaking birthday of Confucious!  No matter what the occasions really, we all found ourselves asking:  What should we eat for that?  True, it’s no easy question but the ancient wisdom has answers.  Yes.  Yes, we have an answer to that.  All of that.  As a matter of fact, it’s a one single answer, a last minute answer if need be, a one-pot-fix-all solution to any gatherings large or small, where no one, truly, wants to bear the responsibility of putting the foods on the table.  To that we say…

Let’s do hot pot!

But the thing is, whether you are an experienced veteran of this tradition or an enthusiastic new comer, sooner or later, you are gonna find out an inconvenient truth about the progression of hot-potism, and that is, it’s a life-long addiction with several easy and friendly-looking gateway soup-base.  First, as we were little, we started with the most benign soup-base with plain stock., mildly flavoured with onions and whatnots… you know, the happy meal of hot pots.  Then later on in life, perhaps a little curious experiments with more exotically flavoured base like miso or curry, just to test the boundaries a bit.  But as we edged on into adulthood, getting bolder and the tolerance running higher, we all at one point standing in front of a sensory-attacking pot of boiling red, and realizing that every miss-step made was to lead to this final destination where there’s no turning back from.

We, the pot-heads, eventually all started doing this – the radioactive… face-melting… the un-quitable, sichuan ma-la (numbing and spicy) hot pot.

If there’s rehab for food-addictions, this, is what it should be built for.

TURKEY AND PORK STOCK:

• The bones, neck and inners of a 8 lbs/4 kg turkey
• 1 pig trotter, cut into 4 chunks
• 4~5 large slices of ginger and scallion for blanching (for removing unwanted smells/tastes from the bones)
• 1 large onions, cut into quarters
• 10 cups (2.3 liter) water

For more details on stock.

Add all the bones, neck and inners, and the pig trotter into a large pot with slices of ginger and scallions.  Fill the pot with water until the ingredients are fully covered, then bring to a boil and let cook for 1 min.  Remove the all the bones/neck and trotters, then rinse under water to clean off any scums and impurity.  Discard the pot of blanching water, and wash the pot clean.  Return the bones/neck and trotter back to the pot, with 1 large cut onion and 10 cups of water.

If you’re using pressure-cooker like I did, cook the stock according to the manufacture’s instruction, for 1 hour.  Then after the pressure’s released, open the pot and dismantle/crush the bones/neck/meats/trotters as good as you can with a tongs (to release maximum flavour), and continue to cook over medium heat (the stock should be actively boiling) for another hour until the stock turns opaque.  You can add more water along the way to keep the stock at around 9~10 cups.  When done, strain the stock and discard the bones/meats.

If not using pressure-cooker, cook the stock partially covered over medium to medium-low heat (to keep the stock actively boiling) for 3 hours, until the stock turns opaque.  During half-way when the bones/trotters are soft enough, dismantle/crush the bones/neck/meats/trotters as good as you can with a tongs (to release maximum flavour).  You can add more water along the way to keep the stock at around 9~10 cups.  When done, strain the stock and discard the bones/meats.

INGREDIENTS TO GO INTO THE HOT POT:

• Turkey meatballs:
  • 22 oz (620 grams) boneless turkey legs and thigh with skin, ground or minced
  • 1/2 cup finely diced celery
  • 1/2 cup finely diced scallions
  • 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp ground white pepper

Have your butcher grind the turkey legs/thigh for you, or flash-freeze them for 1 hour until firm, then run in a food-processor until finely minced.  Mix the ground turkey evenly with finely diced celery, scallions, cornstarch, fish sauce and ground white pepper.  Shape into meatballs and set aside.  Drop them into the hot pot to serve.

• Sliced turkey breast:

Trim skinless turkey breast into an uniformly shaped chunk, then slice it as thinly as you can with a sharp knife.  To serve, poach them in the hot pot only for a min until just cooked.

• Other recommended store-bought ingredients:
  • Sliced beef short-ribs, or lambs for hot pot (purchasable in the meat-freezer section of Asian supermarkets)
  • Hot pot fish balls, or squid balls made from ground fish and squid.
  • SLICED PUMPKINS! because it’s Thanksgiving…
  • Medium-firm tofu, cut into large cubes
  • Frozen tofu, cut into large cubes
  • Duck blood-cake, cut into large cubes
  • Vegetables such as cauliflowers, mushrooms, and etc
  • Chinese fried dough/savoury churro, you-tiao
  • Noodles that doesn’t thicken the soups: such as glass noodles, Japanese udon, and etc

CONDIMENTS FOR DIPPING:

• Toasted sesame paste
• Toasted sesame oil
• White rice vinegar
• Light soy sauce
• Finely diced Chinese leeks, scallions, cilantro, garlic and ginger