Big Stir Fry

SICHUAN XIANGLA DRY POT

Base:

This base will yield enough for two dry pots. Scale up or down accordingly!

* Oil, preferably caiziyou 1/2 cup

* Aromatics: onion, 1/4, sliced; garlic, 4 cloves, smashed; ginger, ~1 inch, smashed; cilantro, ~2 sprigs

* Spices: cinnamon stick, 1/2; star anise 2; fennel seed 1/2 tsp; Sichuan peppercorns 1/2 tbsp

* Lao Gan Ma 'pickled' chilis -or- Hunan 'chopped' chilis 4 tbsp, minced then drained; -or- ciba chilis (reconstituted then pounded dried chilis)

* Lard -or- tallow -or- any other oil, 2 tbsp

* Chili bean paste 1.5 tbsp, minced

* Lao Gan Ma black bean chili 1 tbsp, roughly chopped

* Red, fragrant chili powder, e.g. kashmiri or gochugaru or , 1 tbsp

* Spicy chili powder, e.g. cayenne pepper or 1 tsp

* Oyster sauce 1/2 tbsp

* Seasoning: Sichuan pepper powder 1/2 tsp; sugar, 1 tsp; MSG 1/2 tsp; 13 spice or- 5 spice powder, 1 tsp

Over a medium flame, fry the aromatics in the oil for about three minutes, then add in the spices. Continue to fry until the onions are golden brown, then strain. Add the oil back to the pot.

Add the minced chilis back to the wok and swap the flame to low/medium-low. Slowly fry until much of the moisture has bubbled away, ~8 minutes. Add the chili bean paste and the Lao Gan Ma back bean chili. Fry for ~2 minutes until the oil is good and stained. Add the chili powders and give it a quick fry. Add the oyster sauce, and optionally the leftover drained liquid from the minced chilis. Quick mix, seasoning in, another quick mix. Reserve.

Sichuan Dry Pot:

The components are ultimately up to you. The rule of thumb here is: 1kg of ingredients = 6 tbsp of base. We used:

* Lotus root 350g, peeled and sliced

* Tofu puffs 75g, sliced in half

* Sataw beans – we only used these to illustrate to use what you wanted, but… 100g

* Napa cabbage 120g

* Boiled quail eggs 250g

* Pork belly 300g

* Marinade for the pork belly: salt, ½ tsp; white pepper powder ¼ tsp; soy sauce ½ tsp; liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine ½ tsp; oil to coat, ~1 tsp

Blanch the lotus root for ~3 minutes; the tofu puffs, ~3 minutes; napa cabbage, ~1 minute. Once cool to the touch, squeeze the liquid out of the tofu puffs and the napa.

Slice the pork belly into ~3mm slices and marinate. We also separated the fatty parts of the pork belly and rendered those til crisp, but that was because we had a fatty pork belly.

Then, to make the pot:

* Oil to fry, ~2 tbsp (we used the rendered lard from the belly)

* Aromatics: garlic, 4 cloves, smashed; ginger ½ inch, smashed

* Sichuan peppercorns 1 tsp

* Hot, spicy dried chilis, e.g. Thai birds eye, 4, cut into sections

* Sichuan dry pot base from above, 6 tbsp

* Baijiu or- Liaojiu/Shaoxing wine ~1 tbsp

* Seasoning: salt, ¼ tsp; MSG ¼ tsp

* Toasted sesame seeds 1 tbsp

* Onion, ~1/2, cut into chunks

* Cilantro and Chinese celery ~1 sprig each chopped into ~1 inch sections

On a separate burner, heat up your dry pot over a low flame.

To your wok, over a high flame fry the pork belly until it’s done and lightly golden, ~2 minutes. Scooch up the side of the wok. Add the aromatics, fry til fragrant, ~30 seconds. Add the chilis & Sichuan peppercorns, fry til fragrant, ~30 seconds. Add in the dry pot base. Fry for ~30 seconds, then swirl in the alcohol. Quick mix.

Add in all of your pre-cooked components, mix well. Add in the seasoning and the toasted sesame seeds, mix, heat off. Add the onion, cilantro, and celery.

Your dry pot should be something like ~160C at this point. Layer everything on.

WESTERN SUPERMARKET DRY POT

Base:

This base will yield enough for one dry pot. Scale up or down accordingly!

* Peanut oil, ~2 tbsp

* Garlic, ~4 cloves, minced

* Unsweetened peanut butter, ~1/2 tbsp

* Hoisin sauce 2.5 tbsp

* Sriracha, 2 tbsp

* Soy sauce 1 tbsp

* Seasoning: 5 spice powder, 1 tsp; salt, ½ tsp; sugar, ½ tsp; chicken bouillon powder (鸡粉), ½ tsp; white pepper powder, 1 tsp

Over a medium flame, quickly fry the garlic in the oil until fragrant, ~30 seconds. Add the peanut butter and mix. Fry until foamy and *slightly* darkened, ~6-7 minutes. Add the hoisin, quick mix to combine. Add the Sriracha, quick mix to combine. Add the soy sauce, cook for 1-2 minutes to expel some moisture. Add in the seasoning, quick fry.

For the ingredients/process for the western supermarket pot, refer to 11:24 because I’m running out of space here.