Chinese Dry Pot (香辣干锅/酱香干锅)
The big stir fry you've always wanted.
Sichuan Xiangla Dry Pot Base
This base will yield enough for two dry pots. Scale up or down accordingly!
Aromatics:
Onion, ¼. Sliced.
Garlic, 4 cloves. Smashed.
Ginger, ~1 inch. Smashed.
Cilantro, ~2 sprigs.
Lao Gan Ma 'pickled' chilis (风味糟辣剁椒), -or- Hunan 'chopped' chilis (剁椒), 4 tbsp, minced then drained; -or- ciba chilis (i.e., reconstituted-then-pounded dried chilis)
Sichuan chili bean paste (郫县豆瓣酱), 1.5 tbsp. Minced
Lao Gan Ma black bean chili (老干妈豆豉风味), 1 tbsp. Roughly chopped.
Oil, preferably caiziyou 菜籽油, ½ cup
Spices:
Cinnamon stick, ½
Star anise (八角), 2
Fennel seed (小茴香), ½ tsp
Sichuan peppercorns (花椒), ½ tbsp
Lard -or- tallow -or- any other oil, 2 tbsp
Red, fragrant chili powder, e.g. kashmiri -or- gochugaru -or- Shaanxi Qinjiao (陕西秦椒), 1 tbsp
Spicy chili powder, e.g. cayenne pepper -or- general Chinese chili powder (辣椒面), 1 tsp
Oyster sauce (蚝油), ½ tbsp
Seasoning:
Sichuan pepper powder (花椒面), ½ tsp
Sugar, 1 tsp
MSG (味精), ½ tsp;
13 spice (十三香) -or- Chinese five spice powder, 1 tsp
Process:
Slice a quarter of an onion, smash four cloves of garlic and one inch of ginger.
Mince four tbsp of Lao Gan Ma ‘pickled’ chili (or Hunan ‘chopped’ chilis), and drain out any excess liquid. Mince 1.5 tbsp of Sichuan chili bean paste and set aside. Roughly chop 1 tbsp of Lao Gan Ma Black Bean chili and set aside.
Over a medium flame, fry the onion, garlic, ginger and cilantro in ½ cup of oil for about three minutes, then add in a half a cinnamon stick, two star anise, ½ tsp fennel seed, and a ½ tbsp of Sichuan peppercorn. Continue to fry until the onions are golden brown, then strain. Add the oil back to the pot.
Add the minced Lao Gan Ma ‘Pickled’ Chili 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 1 tbsp of red, fragrant chili powder and 1 tsp of spicy chili powder and give it a quick fry. Add ½ tbsp of oyster sauce, and optionally the leftover drained liquid from the minced ‘pickled’ chilis. Quick mix, seasoning in - ½ tsp Sichuan pepper powder, 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp MSG, a one teaspoon Chinese 5 or 13 spice.
Mix and reserve.
Sichuan Dry Pot, an Example
The components are ultimately up to you. The rule of thumb here is: 1kg of ingredients = 6 tbsp of base. We used:
Lotus root (莲藕), 350g. Peeled and sliced.
Tofu puffs (油豆腐), 75g. Sliced in half.
Sataw beans, 100g. Note that we only used these to illustrate that you can use what you wanted - definitely skip this unless you live in Thailand or Malaysia.
Napa cabbage (娃娃菜), 120g
Boiled quail eggs (鹌鹑蛋), 250g
Pork belly (五花肉), 300g
Marinade for the pork belly:
Salt, ½ tsp
White pepper powder (白胡椒粉), ¼ tsp
Soy sauce (生抽), ½ tsp
Liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ½ tsp
Oil to coat, ~1 tsp
Again, swap the above to whatever you’re feeling. For the actual pot:
Oil to fry, ~2 tbsp. In the video, we used the rendered lard from the pork belly, which is always a good idea.
Aromatics:
Garlic, 4 cloves. Smashed.
Ginger (姜), ½ inch. Smashed.
Sichuan peppercorns (花椒), 1 tsp
Hot, spicy dried chilis, e.g. Chinese ‘Millet’ Chilis or Thai birds eye, 4. Cut into sections.
Sichuan dry pot base from above, 6 tbsp
Baijiu (白酒) -or- Liaojiu/Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ~1 tbsp
Seasoning:
Salt, ¼ tsp
MSG (味精), ¼ tsp
Toasted sesame seeds (熟芝麻), 1 tbsp
Onion, ~1/2. Cut into chunks
Cilantro, ~1 sprig. Chopped into ~1 inch sections.
Chinese celery (芹菜), ~1 sprig. Chopped into ~1 inch sections.
Process:
To prep the components:
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 300g of pork belly into ~3mm slices and marinate with ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp white pepper, ½ tsp soy sauce, ½ tsp Shaoxing wine, and 1 tsp of oil to coat.
To prep the dry pot:
Smash four cloves of garlic and a half inch of ginger. Slice four spicy chilis into ~1cm sections. Cut half an onion into rough chunks. Chop one sprig of cilantro into ~1 inch sections. Chop one sprig of Chinese celery into ~1 inch sections.
To make the dry pot:
On a separate burner, heat up your dry pot (e.g. a clay pot or a cast iron) over a low flame.
To your wok, over a high flame fry the marinated pork belly until it’s done and lightly golden, ~2 minutes. Scooch up the side of the wok. Add the garlic and the ginger, fry til fragrant, ~30 seconds. Add in spicy chilis and 1 tsp of Sichuan peppercorns, fry until fragrant, ~30 seconds. Add in six tablespoons of the dry pot base. Fry for ~30 seconds, then swirl in one tablespoon of Baijiu or Shaoxing wine. Quick mix.
Add in all of your pre-cooked components, mix well. Season with ¼ tsp each salt and MSG, or to taste. Sprinkle in one tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds, mix, and heat off. Add the onion, cilantro, and celery.
Your dry pot should be something like ~160C at this point. Layer everything on and serve.
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, ~½ tbsp
Hoisin sauce (海鲜酱), 2.5 tbsp
Sriracha chili sauce, 2 tbsp
Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tbsp
Seasoning:
Five spice powder, 1 tsp
Salt, ½ tsp
Sugar, ½ tsp
Chicken bouillon powder (鸡粉), ½ tsp
White pepper powder, 1 tsp
Mince four cloves of garlic.
In a non-stick over a medium flame, quickly fry the minced garlic in two tablespoons of peanut oil until fragrant, ~30 seconds. Add ½ tbsp of peanut butter and mix. Fry until foamy and slightly darkened, ~6-7 minutes. Add in 2.5 tbsp of hoisin, quick mix to combine. Add two tablespoons of Sriracha, quick mix to combine. Add one tablespoons of soy sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes to expel some moisture. Add in the seasoning - one teaspoon five spice, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar, ½ tsp chicken bouillon powder, and one teaspoon white pepper powder.
Mix well and reserve.
Western Supermarket Dry Pot, an Example
Again, the components are ultimately up to you. The rule of thumb here is: 1kg of ingredients = 6 tbsp of base. We used:
Broccoli, 300g
King oyster mushroom, 100g
Corn (玉米), 200g. Quartered.
Potato, 200g. Sliced into 3mm sheets.
Chicken wings, 350g.
Marinade for chicken wings:
Salt, ½ tsp
White pepper powder (白胡椒粉), ¼ tsp
Liaojiu, a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ¼ tsp
Soy sauce (生抽), 1/4 tsp
Cornstarch (生粉), 1 tsp. Plus another ½ tbsp to add right before frying.
Spam, 150g.
Oil for frying, enough for ~1cm depth
Again, swap the above to whatever you’re feeling. For the actual pot:
Garlic, 2 cloves. Finely minced.
Onion, ½. Cut into rough chunks.
Cilantro, 1 sprig. Cut into ~1 inch sections.
Oil for stir-frying, 2 tbsp
Dry pot base from above, 6 tbsp
Seasoning:
Salt, 1/4 tsp
MSG (味精), 1/4 tsp
To prep the components:
Blanch 300g of broccoli and 100 grams of king oyster mushroom for one minute. Blanch 200g of quartered corn for three minutes. Drain well.
Slice 200g of potato inch 3mm sheets. Rinse well to remove the surface starch and pat dry.
In a pan with ~1cm of oil, heat the oil up over a medium-high flame until the oil can bubble around a pair of chopsticks. Fry the potato slices for two to three minutes until cooked through (you may need to work in two batches).
Marinate 350g of chicken wings with a half teaspoon salt, quarter teaspoon white pepper powder, quarter teaspoon Shaoxing wine (or white wine or dry sherry), a quarter teaspoon soy sauce, and one teaspoon of cornstarch.
Heat the same ~1cm of oil up over a medium high flame until it can bubble around a pair of chopsticks. Right before frying, quickly mix another ½ tbsp of cornstarch in with the wings to ensure that they’re dry. Fry the wings over a medium high flame until browned and cooked, about eight minutes.
In the same oil, fry 150g of spam for two minutes, or until lightly blistered.
Dip out all the oil from the pan except the two tablespoons needed for frying.
To prep the dry pot:
Mince two cloves of garlic. Chop a half an onion into rough chunks. Chop one sprig of cilantro into 1 inch sections.
To make the dry pot:
On a separate burner, heat up your dry pot (e.g. a clay pot or a cast iron) over a low flame.
In your pan with that two tablespoons oil, add in the minced garlic over a high flame together with six tablespoons of the dry pot base from above. Fry it for about two minutes, or until the base is starting to foam up a touch.
Add in all the previously blanched/fried components and thoroughly mix.
Season with a ¼ tsp each salt and MSG, or to taste. Mix well, then sprinkle over the onion and the cilantro.
Mix, then pour it into your sizzling cast iron skillet.