What to Eat: Chaoshan Beef Hot Pot

What to Eat: Chaoshan Beef Hot Pot
Winter is coming and you need not look further than a bowl of hot pot to warm you up. As a Chaoshan-born girl, I’d like to recommend my favorite hot pot——Chaoshan beef hot pot. Beef hot pot focuses on the ingredients themselves: the beef is fresh and of high quality. The pot broth is beef bone combined with just a few slices of radish, celery and water. The sauce is simple but memorable,   a  fantastic combination of shacha and chili sauces. Chaoshan people have  the great demand for beef quality: yellow beef must be slaughter and eaten in the same day. In addition, the time between slicing the beef  in plates can't last too long, otherwise it will negatively affect the taste. Though the high quality of beef is a must, slicing techniques are also indispensable. The chef must be a master of cutting beef by hand and never use a machine. Chaoshan city is the birthplace of shacha sauce. It mixes a multitude of ingredients like fish, dried shrimps, peanuts, white sesame, shredded coconut, onion, ginger, garlic, and much more. The flavor of beef complements the shacha sauce with a faint flavor of the sea. Those who like a spicier flavor will add a little hot pepper. Chaoshan Beef balls enjoy the   great popularity in China and overseas Chinese communities. Beef used for making beef balls is all pounded by hand with two steel bars weighing 3 kilograms each, until beef paste is formed. Other pounded meat such as fish and pork can be the ingredients of other meat balls. 
So, how to get a ball shape? Well, scoop the beef paste onto your wet hand. Push the paste through your thumb and index finger by making a fist. Use a wet spoon to scoop it and drop it into the hot water. Chaoshan beef balls are totally different in texture from, say, Western beef balls. Western beef balls are mostly loose, soft and a little coarse to the tongue while Chaoshan beef balls are dense, smooth, and bouncy. Bouncy is the key characteristic of Chaoshan beef balls. Whether it is a fish, pork, or beef ball, if it doesn't give a springy bite, it is considered a failure. So if you want to eat the real-flavored beef balls, welcome to Chaoshan!