Joe's Farming

The authentic beef hotpot base must contain bean paste.

However, the people in this place only have condiments similar to fermented black beans, and the fermented black beans grown at home have to wait until spring to mature.

So Qiao Yu simply used the chili sauce that he had fried earlier instead.

First boil out the beef fat.

Qiao Yu left this step entirely to Bai Lan and Su Qing.

As for Da Zhuang, he was sent by Qiao Yu to call Xiao Bai and Wen Ge'er to eat hot pot. When he came back, he had plenty of work to do.

When boiling butter, everyone gets to work, some peeling onions, some peeling garlic, some pounding chili peppers.

Gu Feng went to the vegetable field and picked vegetables according to Qiao Yu's instructions. The green vegetables had large leaves, which were covered by snow, with only a few leaves on the edges showing. The leeks were also buried in the snow, but they were not frozen.

Qiao Yu asked Gu Feng to pick green vegetables, leeks and celery.

Green leafy vegetables absorb oil, so the red soup made from green vegetables and leeks will definitely be spicy.

Qiao Yu planned to use most of the beef that Xu Yuan brought to make beef balls, and then use the beef bones to make clear soup.

It's delicious to have vegetables in clear soup and meat in red soup!

If you want the beef balls to be chewy, of course you need a man to make them by hand.

Then Qiao Yu handed this glorious task to Gu Feng.

First, remove the fascia that affects the taste of the beef. This part of the work is relatively delicate, but it is not difficult for hunters who often collect prey.

The second step is to chop the beef into puree.

The beef balls were too lean and not tasty, so Qiao Yu asked Su Qing to go to the cellar to get some pork fat, chop it into paste, and add it to the beef paste.

Finally, add the ice water soaked with ginger, some sweet potato starch and salt, and stir in one direction.

This step is very important. If you stop before it gets too intense, the meatballs will not be chewy.

Seeing that Gu Feng was sweating profusely while stirring, Qiao Yu wiped him with a handkerchief: "Stop for a moment and let me take a look."

Qiao Yu stirred it with chopsticks, and had to use a lot of force to stir it.

"That's good. Bai Lan, boil a pot of water, and Qing Ge, prepare a basin of ice water."

"it is good."

At this time, Da Zhuang also came back with his men, and the four of them took the initiative to look for work to do.

Those who wash vegetables wash vegetables, and those who cut vegetables cut vegetables.

Qiao Yu was afraid that everyone would be hungry if they only ate hotpot, so he asked Bai Lan to steam another pot of corn cakes.

Wen Ge'er and Wang Jie brought bean sprouts, tofu, and bean curd skin, which are all delicious ingredients for hot pot.

Next it was Qiao Yu's turn to perform. She started to squeeze the meatballs out using her thumb and index finger. Then she used her other hand to scoop out the meatballs with a wooden spoon and put them into a pot of boiling water.

When putting the meatballs in, it is best to put the spoon into the water to dip it in water so that the meat paste will not stick to the spoon.

Xu Ning watched from the side and decided to give it a try.

Qiao Yu found him a wooden spoon.

Soon, the cooked beef balls floated up, and Qiao Yu had people fish them out quickly and put them in ice water to cool them down. When they were almost chilled, they drained all the water and hung them to dry.

"In this weather, these meatballs can be kept for a long time. If you can't finish them later, just put them away." Qiao Yu said.

Bai Lan: "Okay."

This was because Qiao Yu underestimated everyone's strength, and in the end Maru was the first to be eliminated.

Li Xin peeled garlic with the children, but he was very slow, even slower than Gu Xiaoyan, and his self-esteem was hurt.

Qiao Yu passed by and saw it, so she suggested: "Why don't you help wash the vegetables?"

Li Xin showed his frostbitten hands which had not yet fully recovered: "Brother, please spare me."

"Then find a way to speed it up! We'll need it soon!"

"Hey! Got it!"

Qiao Yu walked around like a supervisor, collected all the raw materials for making the hot pot base, and then began to prepare for cooking.

Qiao Yu asked Bai Lan to scoop the beef dregs into a large bowl, sprinkle some salt on it and set it aside. They could then be boiled until soft and eaten later, or used to stir-fry vegetables or rice.

Heat the butter and stir-fry the spices first. Remove the scallions that are easy to get burnt in advance. Then add the chili sauce and stir-fry until fragrant. Then add the chopped dried chilies and peppercorns, and finally the chili powder and salt.

Butter itself has a strong flavor, and it becomes even more powerful after being fried with chili peppers.

Qiao Yu choked halfway through cooking, so Wen Ge'er took over.

Anyway, the method of making the base of skewers is very similar.

After frying, Qiao Yu specially prepared square pieces of wax paper and wrapped them up after they cooled down slightly.

At this time, the corn cakes in the steamer were ready, and Da Zhuang hurriedly carried them to the main room.

Butter will solidify when it cools, which makes it easy to store. You can open a pack for each meal, and more importantly, it is easy to carry.

Qiao Yu planned to give two packs to Xu Yuan to take back, since he paid the most. Then he would give two packs to Wen Ge'er and ask him to take one pack each to his parents-in-law and his parents.

In the end, twelve packets were packed out, and Qiao Yu left one packet for the village chief and the county magistrate.

The rest is eaten by the family.

Since he had eaten mutton offal hotpot in the main hall before, Qiao Yu didn’t have to worry about anything else.

There were a few people this time, but luckily their new house is quite spacious.

There were two stoves burning in the main room.

A clear beef bone soup without any chili, and a red beef oil hotpot base.

Everyone moved the table to one side and placed two pots in the center.

Everyone just sat on the stools and sat together.

Everyone had a dipping sauce prepared by Qiao Yu and Bai Lan in their hands.

There were prepared dishes on the table, including pork, beef, beef balls, lamb and fish.

The fish meat was still in the big water tank that Gu Feng had kept before, and it was very fresh.

The vegetarian dishes include green vegetables, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, tofu, bean curd skin, kelp, and sweet potato noodles.

Qiao Yu first poured half of the meatballs into the pot, and then added the other meat dishes.

Soon, the meatballs are ready.

"Alright, alright. Everyone, hurry up and grab the dishes you want to eat. If you want something, ask the nearest person to put it in the pot."

"Okay, Boss, I've already started."

"Brother Qiao, this meatball is so chewy."

"Little Daddy, this beef hotpot is so fragrant and spicy, sizzling."

Some people even choked and coughed.

"Everyone, eat slowly. Don't get burned. If it's too spicy, you can have the soup instead."

Qiao Yu said quickly.

Qiao Yu picked up a meatball for Gu Feng: "Here, the great contributor to hand-made beef balls, let me give you one to try first."

Gu Feng took it into his bowl and took a bite.

I took a sip of the soup inside.

"Qiao'er, it's a little hot, be careful when you eat it."

Qiao Yu smiled and nodded: "Okay, tell me if it tastes good or not first."

Gu Feng also smiled: "It's delicious, but a little spicy."

It seems that I did put too much chili when frying today.

Seeing that everyone was sweating while eating, Qiao Yu asked for everyone's opinions.

Is clear soup better or red soup?

"Red soup!"

Almost everyone said so. Except for the old man who smiled and said, "I am old now, and I think clear soup tastes good too."

Qiao Yu smiled and nodded, then asked, "Does it feel numb?"

The three children and Xiaobai nodded frantically.

Li Xin: "I think the spiciness is just right, brother, you are amazing. This is the best hot pot I have ever eaten."