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Have a steamy affair at city’s hot pot restaurants
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One national dish that shows Chinese people really know how to eat is something that does not even need a cook — the hot pot (in Chinese, huo guo 火锅).
To have hot pot, you must begin with a bowl of soup — the starter. Then comes vegetables, meat and seafood — the main courses. Finally, you can finish things off with a bowl of noodles or rice vermicelli.
Plus, diners have all the decision-making power over taste, depending on which soup, sauces and spices are ordered.
The classical dish is represented by different varieties in different parts of the country — in north China meat slices are viewed as the soul of hot pot; in south China it’s seafood — in whole pieces or mashed; and in central China, spices and sauces are emphasized.
In east China, where hot pot has grown popular only in recent decades, restaurants typically make Sichuan, Cantonese or Beijing hot pot, or provide a mixture.
It’s also important to pick a hot pot restaurant that uses no MSG or additives. Today Shanghai Daily introduces four hot pot restaurants in Hangzhou that serve authentic hot pot food without additives.
For the best steamy and savory huo guo, no matter which kind, here are some tips for foreigners.
• First, don’t put food into the pot until the soup has begun to bubble. Hot temperatures guarantee the food is cooked instantly, which maintains its original taste.
• Second, watch the time. Do not boil your food for too long or it won’t taste fresh.
Different foods require different time and techniques. For rolled mutton and beef (rolled thin slices shaved from frozen meat), several seconds are enough, so never drop them in the soup and search for them minutes later.
The correct way is to pick one up, put it in the boiling broth, hold it there for a few seconds and take it out when the entire slice has turned gray. Then instantly dip it into the sauce to lower the temperature and add flavor to make sure that you enjoy just the tenderness and taste at right temperature.
This is called “scald mutton,” a synonym of hot pot in north China.
Fish and other seafood usually take a little longer because the pieces are thicker than shaved meat. Take them out after several seconds when the color changes — fish and squid tentacles turn white, shrimp and crab turn pink.
Meat balls need a longer time, usually several minutes.
For leafy vegetables, half minute to a minute in the boiling soup usually will do. Mushrooms may need a couple of minutes while potatoes and taro need to be boiled until soft.
• Third, don’t put all the food in the pot together. To maintain the freshness of chilled food, cook it first, including rolled meat slices and mashed seafood. Then, for balance, add vegetables. Lastly, boil the noodles or vermicelli.
Hai Di Lao
This franchise has a nationwide reputation for five-star service.
Stories told about the eatery include: A customer sneezed and soon was given a free bowl of ginger soup (believed to remove cold); when a customer’s requested food was sold out, he got a free pie with characters on top saying “we are sorry;” when a car blocked the parking lot, waiters didn’t annoy the customers to move it, but instead a dozen pushed it out of the way.
While such cases may be a bit exaggerating, any visitor can actually experience such nice touches as hand cream, toothbrushes and paste, and even cosmetics. Long-haired ladies get a string to bind their hair while those who wear glasses get a cloth to keep their peepers clear.
Nail polish, hand care and Internet service are available at the waiting area, all free.
Then comes the food. It matches the service. Raw food is fresh. Try tomato soup, rich and thick, seafood soup or the mushroom soup, clear and mild.
Beef and mutton rolls are classified into nine kinds — the top beef is Australian Snowflake Beef and the top mutton is from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The prices are a bit more expensive than those of its competitors, but one can order half of a dish.
Address: 5/F, Yong Jin Plaza, 135 Yan’an Rd
Tel: (0571) 8708-8050
Yuanyiguo Goat Spine Restaurant
Chinese people love mutton in winter because it is believed to warm the body and strengthen energy. Boiled goat spine is considered a delicacy because the bone is rich in calcium and the meat is lean. Stewing the goat spine for a long time helps the broth absorb nutrients and makes the soup taste better.
The goat spine hot pot is the restaurant’s signature. They add ginger, scallions and pepper to the broth to tone down the strong goat meat odor.
The restaurant also sells barbecued food such as goat spine, goat hoof, goat shank and goat rib, all salted and peppered. Other foods for the pot are customary ones.
Address: 10 Baijingfang Lane
Tel: (0571) 8517-7977
Qing Lao Fang
The most important thing in creating tasty hot pot are the soup and the fresh ingredients. Mindful of this, Qing Lao Fang prepares soup fresh daily.
A huge pot of soup, with stock made from pork bones, herbs and seasoning, but without MSG, is made fresh every morning. The stock can then be flavored with options such as tomato and curry, and ladled into a small pot.
Address: 52 Xiaohezhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8601-2007
Jianshazui Macau Hot Pot
This Cantonese-style hot pot restaurant offers many kinds of fish and seafood, including king crab, sea cucumber and abalone.
It prides itself on providing really fresh food, from fresh-from-the-tank fish to tender cabbage leaves and firm mushrooms.
To accompany all this fresh fare are 20 kinds of sauces (there are five spicy ones alone), plus the option to devise your own.
Accident-prone diners will be pleased to hear that all the hot pots are embedded in the table to reduce the chance of scalding.
Address: 213 Chaohui Rd
Tel: (0571) 8538-1111
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