Adding peanut butter makes the aroma more balanced, while sesa paste carries a hint of sweetness.
In earlier years, due to material shortages, sesa paste, which was popular in Beijing, was in short supply, so state-owned sauce factories would mix peanut butter into sesa paste as a substitute.
This sauce was called peanut sauce.
Compared to the slightly bitter pure sesa paste, peanut sauce had the sweetness of peanuts, making it more appealing to children, and it beca an unforgettable taste in many people’s mories.
Actually, with the current abundance of materials, there’s no need to add peanut butter to sesa paste anymore.
But Lin Xu likes the sweet richness of peanut butter, so he adds so.
Besides peanut butter, to improve the texture of sesa paste, you can add Sprite to thin it.
Sprite has sweetness and is rich in carbonation, which can create lots of dense small bubbles in the sesa paste. These bubbles give a strong feeling of satisfaction when eaten.
It’s like eating half a jar of sesa paste in one bite.
In fact, when the foam is removed, there’s not much paste left.
You can also add powdered sugar for a similar sweet and rich taste.
After adding peanut butter, Lin Xu scoops several pieces of fernted tofu, crushes the tofu with a small spoon, mixes it with the juice from the fernted tofu, and pours it into the bowl.
Then he adds a ladle of chive flower sauce, a ladle of marinated shrimp oil, two ladles of Sichuan peppercorn oil, two big ladles of sesa oil, and a pinch of powdered sugar to enhance the flavor.
After adding everything, he starts stirring with chopsticks.
First, mix these ingredients evenly, then slowly drizzle in the marinade brewed from Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, and fennel.
This marinade is also used to enhance the aroma.
However, when using it, be sure to cool it down before adding it.
Otherwise, if the sesa paste gets heated, it will release oil, significantly affecting the taste and aroma.
Slowly adding the marinade and diluting it until the sesa paste reaches a creamy consistency, lifting the chopsticks to form a line—this is the best way to enjoy sesa paste.
Once the sesa paste is ready, Dundun starts serving it into the dipping sauce bowls.
Lin Xu then starts frying chili segnts.
These are essential ingredients for eating hot pot lamb.
Cut dried chili into segnts in a bowl, you can add so coarse chili powder if you like it spicy, then pour half-heated peanut oil over it, and the chili segnts are done.
If you’re worried about them burning, you can soak the dried chili in warm water first. This way, they won’t burn even at higher oil temperatures, and the chili segnts will be very crispy.
With the sesa paste and fried chili segnts ready, other ingredients are pretty much optional.
Chop a bowl of scallion, a bowl of cilantro segnts, prepare a bowl of garlic paste, another of chive flower sauce, and serve a few pieces of fernted tofu... these individual small ingredients are additional.
Add them if you want, don’t add them if you don’t.
With the dipping sauce ready, you can start enjoying hot pot lamb.
Dundun curiously asks:
"Boss, what ingredients are in the pot base?"
"Just chop so scallion and ginger, and throw in a handful of dried shrimp for a fresh taste."
The hot pot lamb base is super simple; strictly speaking, you don’t add anything—just boil with plain water. But to make it tastier, you can add a few small ingredients.
For the pot base ingredients, prioritize shellfish seafood.
These inconspicuous little shrimp and crabs, when boiled, can instantly diffuse a fresh taste.
This fresh taste, coupled with lamb, makes it absolutely delicious.
Once everything is prepared, it’s ti to eat.
When Lin Xu cos downstairs to call everyone for dinner, he notices that the snow outside is getting heavier, and the ground is already covered with a thin layer of snow.
Dundun is still outside, but she’s already off the car roof. She’s now being held by Han Shuzhen, who ca for hot pot lamb, watching the snow.
"Her little paws are icy cold; what if she catches a cold later?"
Shen Guofu, Cui Qingyuan, Geng Lishan, Geng Lele, along with Chen Yuejin and his wife, Ren Chongmo and his wife, and Old Sun and his wife have all arrived.
Everyone is admiring the snow scenery while chatting casually.
The first snow of winter is so heavy, maybe next year will be a bountiful year.
Lin Xu says to everyone:
"Everything’s ready upstairs, let’s go up and enjoy the hot pot while watching the snow."
Upon hearing that the hot pot lamb is ready, everyone brushes off the snow and stomps their feet, following the elders inside.
Seeing everyone going in, Dundun is just about to jump down from Han Shuzhen’s arms to continue playing in the snow, but she’s caught by Han Shuzhen:
"Little rascal, don’t think you can escape Grandma’s grasp... Co, let’s eat hot pot lamb with Grandma, and later I’ll let you taste the delicacy most suitable for snowy days."
The hot pot lamb soup base is water, so Dundun can eat the lamb taken out too.
But the dipping sauce is different; the seasonings inside are not suitable for little cats.
Upstairs in the banquet hall, Dundun has already added the soup base, and the two waiters are covering the copper pot lid, adding charcoal through the chimney on top.
This compressed fruitwood charcoal is quite burn-resistant, adding it once can last till the end.
To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, the windows on both sides are slightly opened to allow air to circulate, but not so much that people are shivering from the cold.
Shen Guofu stands by the window and glances at the snow outside, smiling:
"Eating hot pot now is so fitting, Mr. Lishan, Brother-in-law, Professor Ren, Professor Cui, Brother Sun, let’s share so drinks later."
Ren Chongmo nods:
"Having hot pot lamb on a snowy day, how can we not have a drink? Let’s have so Erguotou, it’s a must for old Yanjing people when eating hot pot."
Originally, Shen Guofu wanted to open two bottles of Wuliangye.
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