Suet/Tallow: Preparing/Rendering, Storing, Using

[liuzhou]

The better fish and chips places in the UK, traditionally fry in beef tallow. 

 

I use it for roast potatoes sometimes. It's a good use, but I prefer goose or duck for them.

 

 

[Shel_B]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

Tallow is the fat of choice in Sichuan hotpots and other dishes. Strictly speaking, tallow is the rendered fat enclosing the kidneys. Unrendered it's suet. Not all beef fat is tallow. Not all tallow is beef. It can come from sheep. too.

How is the fat added to the hotpot liquid?  Just add a dollop or two to the liquid when it's hot?

[KennethT]

18 minutes ago, Shel_B said:

How is the fat added to the hotpot liquid?  Just add a dollop or two to the liquid when it's hot?

The hotpot spices are fried in the tallow to make a base, and then stock or water is added to that base to make the hotpot liquid.  Somewhere here, @liuzhou posted a YouTube video that shows the industrial process of making the base which is packaged.

[KennethT]

20 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

The better fish and chips places in the UK, traditionally fry in beef tallow. 

 

I use it for roast potatoes sometimes. It's a good use, but I prefer goose or duck for them.

 

 

Not only would it taste better than vegetable oil, but you could make a case for the fact that it could be healthier than frying in veg oil.  This is because saturated fats don't degrade as quickly when constantly being cooked at 375degF until the shop changed the fry oil.  Unsaturated fats form free radicals over time when constantly heated.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I use jarred tallow, similar to Local Butcher’s, for some pastries, like Cornish pasties and pot pie.     Lovely flakiness.

[liuzhou]

52 minutes ago, Shel_B said:

How is the fat added to the hotpot liquid?  Just add a dollop or two to the liquid when it's hot?

 

33 minutes ago, KennethT said:

The hotpot spices are fried in the tallow to make a base, and then stock or water is added to that base to make the hotpot liquid. 

 

33 minutes ago, KennethT said:

The hotpot spices are fried in the tallow to make a base, and then stock or water is added to that base to make the hotpot liquid.

 

I'd just add that extremely few home cooks make their hopt pot base from scratch. It takes a formidable list of ingredients (many of which you'd possibly struggle to find in the US). In 28 years, I've only made it twice and each time it took two full days. Instead people use the industrial hotpot bases @KennethT mentions. These are available in every supermarket, market and street corner stores. The Mala Market in the US carries bases. Asian markets in the US should also have.

 

Most, but not all, are made using tallow, but you can check by looking for 牛油 on the packaging as here.

 

 

 

I'll add to this tomorrow and try to list the ingredients used, but it's almost 2 am here. Bed is calling.

 

 

Edited May 21 by liuzhou (log)

[KennethT]

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

 

 

I'd just add that extremely few home cooks make their hopt pot base from scratch. It takes a formidable list of ingredients (many of which you'd possibly struggle to find in the US). In 28 years, I've only made it twice and each time it took two full days. Instead people use the industrial hotpot bases @KennethT mentions. These are available in every supermarket, market and street corner stores. The Mala Market in the US carries bases. Asian markets in the US should also have.

 

Most, but not all, are made using tallow, but you can check by looking for 牛油 on the packaging as here.

 

 

 

I'll add to this tomorrow and try to list the ingredients used, but it's almost 2 am here. Bed is calling.

 

 

Yes, I'm aware that most people don't make their own base.  I see many different versions and brands at my local HMart.  But I was trying to answer the question about how tallow is used in hot pot.  But unfortunately, it doesn't really help the OP for what to do with his... sorry about that.

[Shel_B]

2 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Yes, I'm aware that most people don't make their own base.  I see many different versions and brands at my local HMart.  But I was trying to answer the question about how tallow is used in hot pot.  But unfortunately, it doesn't really help the OP for what to do with his... sorry about that.

Your response was very helpful.  Don't sell yourself short.

[liuzhou]

@KennethT

 

Yes, I knew you knew that. We've discussed it before. My mentioning it was more for @Shel_B's benefit.

 

The video you mentioned of the hotpot base factory is in this post.

 

 

[AAQuesada]

Would tallow work in place of oil in making chili crisp? I imagine it would work for popovers. I believe there are a few recipes in Calum Franklin's excellent book The Pie Room that use tallow, I'll have to double check when I get home 

Edited May 22 by AAQuesada (log)

[liuzhou]

There is a full explanation of tallow using hot pot base with recipe here. I think she overstates the need to dilute the beef fat with vegetable oil, though.

[liuzhou]

Just now, AAQuesada said:

Would tallow work in place of oil in making chili crisp? I imagine it would work for popovers. 

 

It would work, I'm sure. It's just fat but a rich one. It can be used for any purpose any other fat is used.

 

 

[Shel_B]

While poking around to find out more about cooking beef and using tallow, I discovered that some pitmasters in Texas who cook beef pour hot tallow over their meat after it's done cooking and has rested a bit before being cut and served. Smokey tallow over smokey beef ... 👍