Not For the Weak of Stomach

There are many cultures that have some form of cook-your-own food at the table. In Japan you have shabu-shabu, in Korea you have barbeque, in France you have fondue, and in China you have hot pot. Two different regions of China are particularly famous for their hot pots, Hunan and Sichuan. In the United States, we often see something called “hot pot” in Chinese restaurants, but it bears little resemblance to the boiling cauldrons of delicious goodness that is hot pot (火锅).

In China, hot pot restaurants are often on the second floor of buildings, in big halls, with tons and tons of tables. When you sit down you are presented with an unintelligible menu (unless you are fluent in reading Chinese that is) of often hundreds of items. But it all starts with the selection of soup. My personal favorite choice is the dual bowl, which looks like a Yin Yang. On one side there is a white soup, usually made with ginger, mushrooms, tons of garlic, and a chicken broth; and on the other side there is the red soup, made with the same chicken broth as the white soup, but with the noted addition of tons and tons and tons of red chilis, oil, more garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, various spices, and lots more red chilis and oil:

From my experience, each individual hotpot restaurant has slightly different flavors. Some are hotter, some have more Sichuan peppercorns (which have an intensive nutty flavor and a numbing quality), and some have more cumin or other spices. Today I had an excellent specimen which was wonderfully sweat-inducing spicy, but also had tons of spice, and more garlic than I’ve seen in a long time. There was a balance to the hotpot at this place that made you want to keep eating forever, even when your stomach is so full you want to keel over.

After you choose your broth, you choose a selection of meats, vegetables, and noodles that are brought to your table in massive quantities as the delicious hell-broth boils at your table. Today I had a combination of lamb, spinach, Napa cabbage, black mushroom, tofu, sliced white yams, and finished it all with handmade fresh noodles.

Someday I hope I can find a hotpot restaurant in the United States, but until then I will have to indulge my obsession only when in China…

Feasting at 小王府 (Xiao Wang Fu’s), Beijing, China

I arrived in Beijing, China yesterday, for what is probably my 20^th trip here over the years. Whenever I come to Beijing, I regularly make it a point to take a trip to 小王府 (Xiao Wang Fu), particularly the lovely version in日坛公园 (Ritan Park). This park is a great little place in the center of the old Embassy district, and though the Xiao Wang Fu’s restaurant is much more expensive than a basic Chinese restaurant, it is worth it for the consistent quality and the relaxing atmosphere.

As with all really good Chinese meals, there should always be a huge variety of dishes, with a significant number of flavor profiles. It is traditional that one person orders for the entire party, and in this instance I cannot take credit for the lovely meal that resulted. I arrived late to the party, a dinner with ex-colleagues and good friends, due to the jetlag, and ordering was well underway. In all, between six of us, we had nine dishes, a typical ratio in China. Unlike American culture, it is inappropriate to “clean your plate” as it were, as that would indicate the host has not adequately provided for your hunger. The spicy, sweet, tangy, rich, and smoky dishes we all shared were wonderful as usual, and what I have come to expect of Xiao Wang Fu’s.

Dishes included Gong Bao Ji Ding (typically known in America as Kung Pao Chicken…though the Chinese version bears little resemblance to what you find in the U.S.), Yu Xiang Rou Si (a spicy, sweet, and tangy pork and shredded vegetable), Pork Ribs in Black Bean Sauce, Spicy Peanut Turnips (a cold appetizer), Twice-Fried Green Beans with Pork, Stir Fried Spinach with Garlic, Fresh Shrimp with Chestnuts and Celery, and two “main dishes” (a.k.a., noodles): Old Beijing Noodles and Stir-Fried Noodles. And of course it was accompanied by the ever-present Yanjing Beer!

Mmmmm.....Italian.....

Very often the best food is the simplest. You can spend hours cooking complicated crazy food, and in the end it is just that....complicated. Sometimes I find that the best way to have a really great meal is to take simple ingredients and throw them together with whatever I happen to have in the fridge. The best part is, in these days of pesticides, hidden ingredients, and weird preservatives, the more you can do from scratch the better it is for your health.

Recently, my husband has started teaching himself to bake bread from scratch. Now I may be able to cook, but baking bread is not something I enjoy...mainly because I love to play with my food. A fringe benefit to this new motivation to bake (other than the wonderful smell that pervades the house), is that I have fresh bread to use in dinners. Last week it went into the stuffing for the poussin, and this week it was used in a little bruschetta.


The chicken and zucchini were simply broiled with olive oil, salt, and pepper. The sauce for the chicken was olive oil, lemon, parsley, garlic, mustard, and honey. Add a little balsamic vinegar to the zucchini, and serve with Doug's pain complet topped with tomatoes, shallots, parsley, and olive oil. All in all a easy, tasty, dinner in which I attempted to pay homage to the simplicity of Italian cuisine.

(mea culpa: this Italian meal was paired with a white Portuguese table wine...but its citrus and honey notes paired perfectly with the garlic and lemon flavors of the meal.)