How to Make Perfect Sichuan Hotpot Seasoning at Home

Do you like zesty and flavourful meals? Well, if so then Sichuan hotpot seasoning is for you! It is one of the most widely used flavors in Sichuanese cuisine, which has strong and spicy flavors. Sichuan hotpot is loved by many, and you may have also tasted it in a restaurant before. But did you know that you can create this tasty seasoning yourself at home? Today we share this easy homemade Sichuan hotpot spice recipe with common kitchen ingredients (if you already have in your kitchen). 

How to Make Sichuan Hotpot Seasoning: 3 Tips 

Before moving on to the recipe, let me give you some good tips that will help your Sichuan cooking turn out even better. First: Sichuan cooking is all about pairing contrasting flavors. It consists of spicy, salty, sweet, sour and a fifth flavor — umami — which is a savory flavor. Having the right balance of flavours is vital in making the food extremely scrumptious. 

Second, the unique ingredient of this cuisine is sichuan peppercorn. Its tongue-tingling or numbing taste sensation that can provide a coolness to your dish and amplify taste. It’s a fun and quirky ingredient you don’t see in many other styles of cooking. Finally, it’s very important to have good-quality ingredients. Good ingredients will give you good flavors in your dish. 

Bring Some Excitement to Your Meals Santiago Hotpot Seasoning 

So let’s begin with the recipe for the Sichuan hotpot seasoning. Compression seasoning made from spices and herbs, you can change the amounts of each ingredient according to your preference. What You Will Need to Have on Hand: 

1/2 cup of Sichuan peppercorn 

1/2 cup of dried chili pepper 

1/4 cup of minced garlic 

1/4 cup of minced ginger 

1/4 cup of minced green onion 

1 tablespoon of sesame oil 

1 tablespoon of soy sauce 

1 tablespoon of sugar 

1 tablespoon of salt 

To begin use a pan and heat it on medium flame. Place Sichuan peppercorn and dry chili pepper into the pan. They then need to be cooked for a couple of minutes until fragrant, but not burnt. (Burn the spices and they taste bitter, and nobody wants that!) Once they are fragrant you will want to grind them up into a powder. You can use your spice grinder for this or a mortar and pestle if you don’t have one. 

Then in the same pan, add sesame oil together with the minced garlic, ginger, and green onion. Sauté until fragrant and just starting to brown. This step enhances their flavors and makes your seasoning more delicious. When they are, you stir into the pan the crushed Sichuan peppercorn and the chili pepper powder, and mix everything together really well. Finally, stir in the soy sauce, sugar and salt. Stir and mix all the ingredients well. Congratulations! And now your Sichuan hotpot seasoning is ready to go. 

Have Hotpot with Your Own Sichuan Seasoning 

The fun part: you have to prepare some fun ingredients that you want to cook in the hot broth. These include sliced meat, tofu, vegetables, and noodles are popular ones. Any viral ingredient is up to your discretion to put in there, but something fun that most do is use: 

Thinly sliced beef or lamb 

Fish fillet or other seafood 

Firm or extra-firm tofu 

Head of Chinese cabbage or bok choy, or a cluster of spinach 

Shiitake or enoki mushrooms 

Glass noodle or wheat noodle 

First, you take a pot and you boil some broth, chicken or beef broth. Keep it hot and simmering in your pan. To Prepare the Broth: Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, add the hotpot seasoning. That way, everyone can season to their taste at the table. 

After the broth is ready you can get cooking. You cook the raw ingredients by dipping them in the hot broth. You can eat the ingredients plain, or you can dip them in a flavorful linear of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and chili oil. This will give you even more flavor in your meal. The seasoning for the sichuan hotpot will add all kinds of delicious heat to whatever you decide to boil.