This chain is one made famous in China, Singapore and other parts of Asia. In Malaysia, I remember this was called ‘steamboat’ but most other parts of the world it’s called ‘hotpot.’ Hotpot essentially is a big bowl of boiling liquid where raw things that need to be cooked are placed inside one at a time or altogether. I was invited by Chopsticks Fest,Vancouver’s First Chinese Cuisine Festival is inspired by the different regions of China. The festival will be the first of its kind and will be hosted in Greater Vancouver from October 15-30, 2016. Think of Dine Out in Vancouver but with an Asian twist!
From fresh prawns, supreme beef, lamb, handmade fish balls, filet sole, luncheon meat, shrimp paste to tofu, bamboo shoots, taro root and other vegetables, we ate it all. Some of my favourite dishes were the handmade fish balls and shrimp paste, both hard to made as it requires a lot of patience and hard work.
Out of the very few times I have had Chongqing style in Vancouver, I really enjoyed this one. The broth is made up of Sichuan spices including peppercorns and chilies to give it that red color and often numbing effect on the tongue. But if one can endure the spice level (which you can get as mild, medium or go all out), then there is real flavours to be experienced. As much as I appreciated the wide selection of sauces they had (even had a big container of MSG!), the food was well seasoned and flavoured when dipped into this broth. For those that simply cannot take spice, this place offers three types of non-spicy broth, we chose the more popular one with mushroom.
I really dislike the flavour and smell of lamb, that ‘gaminess’ really does not go well on my palate. But I was pleasantly surprised when what I thought was pork was actually lamb that I was eating. There was no such gaminess to it and it didn’t season the broth with its gaminess either, maybe thanks to the spicy broth?
Overall, a delightful meal shared with some familiar faces and met some new foodies as well!
[This post was originally published on Jacqueline’s blog, porkninjas. You can read the original post here.]
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