Is lard suitable for hot pot? Why doesn't lard be used in hot pot?

We all know that hot pot is a popular delicacy in winter. It has many flavors, rich ingredients, and tastes spicy and delicious. It is loved by people. Many people will make hot pot at home. There are certain requirements for making hot pot. So is lard suitable for making hot pot? Let's take a closer look!

Is lard suitable for hot pot?

Lard is not suitable for hot pot.

1. Lard is too greasy for hot pot. If you add too much lard, the soup base will become thick, giving people an unclear feeling and it is not easy to preserve.

2. Old oil is required for hot pot, but lard is not suitable as it will go bad easily after being left for a long time and its shelf life is not long.

3. Lard has a high fat content and eating too much is not good for the human body. Eating hot pot made with lard for a long time and drinking cold drinks will be bad for the stomach.

4. The general hot pot soup base is made of beef bones simmered over a long fire. The soup is fragrant and long-lasting, rich in nutrition and high in calcium. If lard is added, it will only destroy the nutrients.

5. Lard has a slightly fishy smell, and the Hui people do not eat lard.

Why doesn't hot pot use lard?

1. Different melting points

The melting point of lard has a wide range, with a difference of 20 degrees, which is very unstable. Moreover, if lard is heated for a long time, it will have a burnt and bitter taste, without the aroma of oil. But everyone knows that it usually takes a long time to heat and simmer for several hours on low heat to achieve a satisfactory effect. Lard has its inherent shortcomings in this regard. In this regard, beef tallow does not have these problems.

2. Habits of hot pot ingredients

Everyone knows that Sichuan's spicy hot pot requires beef tripe and tripe. This is also inseparable from the fact that Sichuan people raise many cattle and like to eat beef. Sichuan people don't like the smell of mutton, so they rarely eat mutton. When eating hot pot, they rarely eat pork, except for pig kidneys. And the hot pot ingredients that like to eat parts of the cow are not suitable for frying with lard. It is better to eat beef hot pot smoothly and more appetizing. And beef tallow will also absorb the aroma of all the seasonings in the bottom of the pot. Let the hot pot taste not as spicy as imagined, but fragrant, spicy but not dry, numb but not strong, and endless aftertaste. So that when eating meat, it is not greasy, and when boiling vegetarian ingredients, it will not feel bland.

3. Lard is picky about ambient temperature

Lard will solidify after being refined and cooled. If it is below room temperature, it will solidify into blocks. If the temperature is high, it will easily deteriorate and become sour. This is commonly known as the "rancid smell". Sichuan is a basin with a humid and hot climate, so using lard to stir-fry hot pot base will cause many inconveniences.

Moreover, compared with beef oil, lard tastes more stuffy, greasy, and has a slightly smelly smell. Therefore, based on the above points, the hot pot base in Sichuan is usually beef oil hot pot or clear oil hot pot made with vegetable oil. You will never see hot pot base fried with lard.

What oil is used for hot pot?

Usually our hot pot base is made of vegetable oil and butter. Vegetable oil is fragrant but not greasy, while butter is fragrant and has a strong flavor but is not as greasy as lard, and it will not cover the taste and texture of other ingredients when cooking hot pot.

Therefore, in order to prevent lard from affecting the taste and flavor of other ingredients when cooking hot pot, few people use lard to make hot pot base. It is okay to cook a dish occasionally to satisfy your craving, but lard contains too much fat, and eating too much will cause high cholesterol, so it is not recommended to eat it frequently!

Why is butter used in hot pot?

1. Butter can be absorbed on the surface of food, so when we eat hot pot dishes, we can feel the real aroma of fat, instead of the greasy smell of pork or mutton;

2. Butter can be boiled repeatedly without changing color. In the process of continuous boiling, it can fully blend with the fragrance of spices such as pepper and sesame pepper. In other words, the base oil can be refined repeatedly to enhance the flavor! This was an unmatched advantage of other oils in the era of material scarcity! Of course, with the improvement of hygiene standards, conscientious hot pot restaurants use oil once, so this advantage no longer exists, but this status has been passed down;

3. Pure butter will become very hard after cooling, which is easy to shape. Lard is softer

4. Beef tallow and hot pot base can be mixed together, but lard has obvious stratification after solidification, and the flavor is far from that of beef tallow!

5. Another point is that butter is widely used and can be eaten by people of all ethnic groups, unlike lard, which Muslim friends cannot eat! This also improves the convenience of its promotion!