Is lard suitable for hot pot? Why is lard not used in hot pot?

We all know that hot pot is a popular delicacy in winter. It has more flavors, rich ingredients, spicy and delicious taste, and is very popular among people. Many people will make hot pot at home. There are certain things to pay attention to when making hot pot, so is lard suitable for making hot pot? Let’s take a closer look below!

Is lard suitable for hot pot?

Lard is not suitable for hot pot.

1. Lard is too greasy to make hot pot. If you add too much, the soup base will become thicker, giving people an unclear feeling, and it is difficult to store.

2. Hot pot must use old oil, but lard is not suitable. It will break easily if left for a long time and has a short shelf life.

3. Lard has 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 and intestines.

4. The bottom of the general hot pot pot is made of beef bones that are simmered over a slow fire for a long time. The soup is fragrant and long-lasting, rich in nutrients and high in calcium. If you add lard, it will only destroy the nutrients.

5. Lard has a slight odor, and the Hui people do not eat lard.

Why not use lard in hot pot?

1. Difference in melting point

The melting point of lard spans a very wide range, with a gap of 20 degrees up and down, and is very unstable. Moreover, if lard is heated for a long time, it will have a pasty and bitter taste without the oily aroma it contains. But as we all know, boiling hot pot base usually requires long-term heating and slow simmering over low heat for several hours to achieve satisfactory results. Lard has its inherent shortcomings in this regard. In this regard, butter does not have these problems.

2. Habits of hot pot ingredients

Everyone knows that in Sichuan spicy hot pot, the ingredients that need to be boiled must include beef tripe and louver. This is also inseparable from the lifestyle habits of Sichuan people who raise a lot of cattle and like to eat beef. Sichuan people don’t like the smell of mutton, so they rarely eat mutton. I rarely eat pork when eating hot pot, except for pig kidneys. However, the hot pot ingredients that like to eat beef parts are fried in lard. After all, the taste does not match. It is better to eat butter hot pot, which is smoother and more appetizing. And the butter will absorb the aroma of all the spices 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. This ensures that meat and meat dishes are not greasy, and vegetarian ingredients are not bland when boiled.

3. Lard is picky about the ambient temperature

Lard will solidify after being refined and allowed to cool. If it is lower than room temperature, it will solidify into lumps. If the temperature is high, it will easily deteriorate and have a sour taste. It is commonly known as "Hara flavor". Sichuan is a basin with a humid and hot climate, so using lard to fry hot pot base will cause a lot of inconvenience.

Compared with butter, lard tastes more stuffy, greasy, and has a slight odor. Therefore, based on the above points, when making hot pot base in Sichuan, it is usually butter hot pot or clear oil hot pot made with vegetable oil. There is no hot pot base fried in lard.

What oil is used to make hot pot?

Usually our hot pot base is made with vegetable oil and butter. The characteristic of vegetable oil is that it is fragrant but not greasy, while the characteristic of butter is that it is fragrant and has a strong flavor but is not as greasy compared to lard, and it will not cover up the taste and texture of other ingredients when making hot pot.

Therefore, in order to prevent lard from affecting the texture and taste of other ingredients when making hot pot, few people use lard to cook hot pot base. It’s okay to make a dish to satisfy your cravings occasionally, but lard contains too much fat, and if you eat too much, your cholesterol will be high, so it’s not recommended for you to eat it regularly!

Why butter is used in hot pot?

1. Butter can be absorbed on the surface of ingredients. When we eat hot-pot dishes, we can feel the real aroma of oil, rather than the greasy smell of pork or the smell of mutton oil; In the previous era of scarcity, this became an unrivaled advantage of other oil types! Of course, with the improvement of health standards now, conscientious hot pot restaurants only use oil once. This advantage no longer exists, but this status has been passed down;

3. Pure butter will be very hard after cooling, making it easier to shape. Lard is relatively soft

4. Butter and hot pot base ingredients can be mixed together, but lard is obviously layered after solidification, and it is far different from butter in terms of flavor integration!

5. Another point: butter is widely used and can be eaten by people of all ethnic groups. Unlike lard, Muslim friends cannot eat it! This also improves the convenience of his promotion!