After all the typhoons and rain, autumn has finally arrived and winter isn’t far behind. For most people in Hong Kong, this also means hotpot season. Family and friends gather around a pot of boiling stock, put in their favourite ingredients, simmer them immediately on the table and enjoy the unique favours of the pot made with the various ingredients cooking inside. For those who want to enjoy a warm boiling meal but something more than the usual Cantonese hotpots, we have selected the top five international hot pots for you.
Cheese Fondue from Chesa
Who would resist a pot of boiling cheese to keep them warm during the cold winter days? The cheese fondue is one of the most famous dishes from Switzerland, with grated or cut-up cheese melted with wine, just waiting for hunks of bread to be dipped in.
Read our previous article on hot cheese here.
Chesa, located at the Peninsula in Tsim Sha Tsui, offers one of the best cheese fondues in Hong Kong. The cheese fondue at Chesa is prepared by two different kinds of cheese – Gruyere and Emmental, and other ingredients such as garlic, white wine and cherry kirsch are added into the pot to give it more flavour. The pot of completely melted cheese is served at around 70 to 80 degrees Celsius and diners can dip in ingredients such as baguette, potatoes, steamed broccoli and carrots and enjoy them as they are completely covered in the gooey cheese. The baguettes in Chesa are prepared one night in advance so that the bread is hard to enough to absorb the melted cheese more easily and allows the favours of the cheese and wine sink in.
The Peninsula Hong Kong, Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tel: +852 2315-3169.
Mutton Hotpot at Dong Lai Shun
Known for its warming properties in Chinese culture, mutton hotpot or shuan yang rou is a famous and historical dish from the northern parts of China, where families huddle together to savour this strongly flavoured meat as the cold winds blow down from Mongolia. To prepare the dish, the mutton is cut into paper-thin slices, placed into boiling soup, where it quickly becomes cooked and tender.
Dong Lai Shun in the Royal Garden Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui brings the most authentic shuan yang rou from Beijing. Using 12 to 18 months-old black-headed white male sheep, Dong Lai Shun serves the hot pot with its specialty condiments that blend different ingredients to form five different flavours of seasoning, which are sweet (sesame butter and peanut butter), salty (soy sauce and chilli bean curd), sour (homemade sweet and sour large six-clove garlic), bitter (leek flower and cooking wine) and spicy (chilli sauce).
B2, The Royal Garden, 69 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tel: +852 2733-2020
Nabe from Kira
Sharing a similar culture with the Chinese, Japanese are also very fond of hot pots, or what they call nabe. Outside of Japan, the two most famous types of nabe are shabu-shabu and sukiyaki. Many people might mix up the two as they both use thinly sliced meat (usually beef) that are cooked at the table in a shallow iron pot alongside vegetables and other ingredients. However, for sukiyaki, the sauce is usually a sweet soy sauce, while in shabu shabu, the protein is dipped into plain boiling water, or at most, a dashi broth. Kira in Altria Macau in Macau serves both sukiyaki and shabu-shabu. In the renowned Japanese restaurant, diners can choose from a selection of pork, US beef, Australian wagyu and Japanese wagyu for their hot pots. In addition to sukiyaki and shabu shabu, Kira also serves other hot pots such as a tofu nabe with dashi stock; kaki yasai nabe, an oyster and vegetables hot pot with soya bean soup base; and a seafood nabe with kimchi and miso.
10/F Altira Macau, Avenida de Kwong Tung, Taipa. Tel: +853 8803-6633.
Taraba Crab Shabu Shabu from Kanizen
Located in Wan Chai, Kanizen, is the perfect hot pot place for seafood lovers. Kani in Japanese means “crab” and without a doubt, crabs are its specialities. The owner of Kanizen, former entertainment news anchor Kenny Wong, also operates two shabu-shabu restaurants in Causeway Bay and Tai Hang, and by combining crabs and shabu-shabu, Kanizen’s taraba crab shabu-shabu is a real treat for seafood lovers.
Using clear seaweed soup as its soup base, assorted vegetables are placed in the shabu-shabu. Then the body and legs of the huge Hokkaido taraba crab are added in to cook for two to three minutes. After the ingredients in the hot pot are consumed, the remaining soup is used for cooking crab congee by adding in the crab roe. The taraba crabs used in Kanizen are freshly flown in from Japan three times a week. Cooking the crab in such a simple method allows the fresh and sweet taste of this premium product to simply shine.
G/F 3 Thompson Road, Wan Chai. Tel: +852 2866-1618.
Seafood and homemade noodle hot pot from Sorabol
An alternative to your usual meat feast at Korean restaurants is this seafood and homemade noodle pot from Sorabol, located in both the Miramar shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui and Lee Theatre in Causeway Bay. Unlike the usual spicy dishes you get in Korean restaurants, this hotpot is full of seafood taste and is gentler on the stomach. The homemade noodles are freshly made and have a unique and slightly rough texture to match with its broth. With ingredients such as mussels, fish and shrimps, the hotpot is also made with organic vegetables to make it even healthier.
17/F, Lee Theatre Plaza, 99 Percival Street, Causeway Bay. Tel: +852 2881 6823. (This branch is closed for renovation until October 20.)
Shop 4B, 4/F, Miramar Shopping Centre, 132 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tel: +852 2375-2882.
