Hot Pepper Soup (traditional technique)

By Chinese Cooking Demystified · 300 min

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Put the beef bone and beef shin in 4 L of water, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and skim. Add the ginger, star anise, Sichuan peppercorns and fennel seed, cover and cook for about 6 hours.
2. At the 90-minute mark, remove the beef shin. Slice off about 40 g for the soup and freeze the rest.
3. After 6 hours, strain the stock. Set aside 1 L for the soup and freeze the remainder.
4. Grind all the 13 spice ingredients together, sift through a fine mesh sieve, regrind the coarse bits and sift again.
5. If grinding your own white pepper, do it the same way as the 13 spice, or crush it in a mortar for a small amount.
6. Mix the flour, salt and 75 g water thoroughly with a chopstick, then rest for 20 minutes. Fold the dough for 1–2 minutes, rest for 20 minutes, and repeat two more times.
7. Fold the dough under 1 cup of water for 3–4 minutes until soft and the water is milky. Strain, reserve the liquid, and return any caught gluten to the dough. Repeat with another cup of water for 1–2 minutes, reserving that water too.
8. Fold the dough under a final cup of water for 1–2 minutes and discard that water. Move the seitan to a bowl of cool water and soak until needed.
9. Soak the peanuts, dried day lily and wood ear for at least 4 hours (up to overnight), the kelp for at least 30 minutes, and the glass noodles for at least 2 hours.
10. Cut the day lily into 2.5 cm pieces, the wood ear into strips, the kelp into 5 mm strips then chop them crosswise a couple of times, and the glass noodles into about 4 cm sections.
11. Bring the 1 L of stock to a boil, reduce to medium, add the peanuts, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add the other add-ins and cook for about 3 minutes more.
12. Stretch the seitan slightly, snap it into the soup and cook for about 1 minute, until it floats. Add the seasoning.
13. Slowly drizzle in the reserved starch water, a couple of tablespoons at a time, until thickened to your liking. Then stir in the vinegar and sesame oil.

Summarized from Chinese Cooking Demystified's video. Watch it for the details.

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