The fiery, numbing, deeply aromatic broth that is the heart of Sichuan hotpot — built on a massive quantity of fried doubanjiang, dried chillies, Sichuan pepper, and spices in a beef tallow base, diluted with stock. Huo guo (literally 'fire pot') is not a single dish but a cooking method — the broth simmers communally at the table while a wide variety of raw ingredients (sliced beef, pork, tofu, glass noodles, leafy vegetables, offal) are cooked briefly in the broth and eaten with a dipping sauce (typically sesame paste with oyster sauce, fermented tofu, and chilli). The broth is the preparation that requires the most skill; the raw ingredients are simply procured and sliced.
**The tallow base:** Sichuan hotpot is made in a beef tallow base — the rendered fat of beef suet provides both the cooking medium and a specific flavour that cannot be replicated with vegetable oil. The tallow's flavour, combined with the doubanjiang and dried chillies, is the specific Chongqing hotpot character. **The quantity of doubanjiang:** Sichuan hotpot uses doubanjiang in far greater quantity than any stir-fry preparation — 200–300g of Pixian doubanjiang per large pot of broth. This large quantity is what produces the deep, complex, fermented character of the broth. **The preparation:** 1. Heat 200g beef tallow in a large, heavy pot until melted and hot. 2. Add doubanjiang. Fry on medium heat for 15–20 minutes — a much longer frying stage than for stir-fry preparations. The extended frying develops the doubanjiang's compounds into a deep, complex base. 3. Add whole dried chillies (20–30), Sichuan pepper (2 tablespoons), whole spices (star anise, cassia, cloves, cardamom, bay), garlic (10 cloves, whole), ginger (large piece, sliced). 4. Continue frying for 5 minutes. 5. Add stock (chicken, pork, or beef — 2 litres). Bring to a simmer. 6. Simmer 30 minutes. 7. Season with soy sauce and salt. **At the table:** The broth simmers in the pot throughout the meal. Ingredients are added in batches — thin-sliced meats require only 15–30 seconds; tofu 2–3 minutes; leafy vegetables 30 seconds. The dipping sauce is served in individual bowls. Decisive moment: The 15–20 minute frying of the doubanjiang in the tallow — the extended frying that is unique to hotpot broth preparation. In a stir-fry, 3–5 minutes of doubanjiang frying is correct. In hotpot broth: 15–20 minutes is the minimum for the full aromatic development of the quantity of doubanjiang used.
Fuchsia Dunlop, *Land of Plenty* (2001); *Every Grain of Rice* (2012); *Land of Fish and Rice* (2016); *The Food of Sichuan* (2019)