Chengdu Hotpot Base Kit

The essence of Chengdu hotpot lies in its base. A good beef-tallow hotpot base uses more than twenty spices and ingredients, including beef tallow, Pixian chili bean paste, Hanyuan Sichuan pepper, Erjingtiao chilies, and Yongchuan fermented black beans, simmered gently for more than six hours. Our base is hand-fried by cooks from the long-established Chengdu hotpot restaurant Chuanxi Bazi. Each block goes through three stages: fermentation, frying, and maturation.

The kit contains 2 × 500g blocks of beef-tallow base (enough for 4-6 people on two occasions) and 6 small dipping-sauce packs (3 sesame oil and garlic packs plus 3 dry-dip packs). The base becomes more fragrant as it simmers: use the first pot for tripe and aorta, the second for vegetables and tofu, and the third for noodles—a pot to enjoy from beginning to end.

Ingredients