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2009-04-28
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I believe that having hotpot (打边炉) is a good way to tell how adventurous a person is when it comes to food. Where else can you choose from all kinds of offals, such as pig’s livers and goose intestines, as well as seafood and various cut sof beef, meat, and dumplings all on the same “menu”? For instance, when I was at 谦记 the other day for hotpot, we ordered pig’s lungs(猪肺)and chicken testicles (鸡子,aka chicken fries in the US) as they were not always available in other hotpot places. 谦记had 猪肺
I believe that having hotpot (打边炉) is a good way to tell how adventurous a person is when it comes to food. Where else can you choose from all kinds of offals, such as pig’s livers and goose intestines, as well as seafood and various cut sof beef, meat, and dumplings all on the same “menu”? For instance, when I was at 谦记 the other day for hotpot, we ordered pig’s lungs(猪肺)and chicken testicles (鸡子,aka chicken fries in the US) as they were not always available in other hotpot places. 谦记had 猪肺pre-cooked adequately so they only required little time in the broth. It was simply an enchanting textural symphony in your mouth when you chewed on the tender lung meat (软稔的猪肺肉) with the crunchy soft “tubes”(爽脆非常的小管). When you bite into the transparent thin skin of the tiny fresh 鸡子, the sweet “juice” burst inside your mouth with the creamy innards coating your tongue. Every time I had 鸡子 I wondered why people were so afraid to try them? Was it the look? The texture? Or was it just because it didn't appear "civilized" to eat 鸡子? Regardless, do you know that even some Americans like them? To be exact, they prefer the larger duck or turkey testicles(aka duck / turkey fries) as size does matter in the US . Of course, duck fries or turkey fries are prepared quite differently there, such as sautéed with bacon (see last picture) or deep fried*. Now for those who still haven’t had chicken fries before, will you be more willing to try them now?
While beef dishes were supposed to be the strength of 谦记, I was quite disappointed by the thin slices of 牛颈脊 as I was expecting more intense beef flavor. 牛脷 were slightly better as they had the natural beefiness to start with, but were somehow very tough and chewy when boiled. Instead of being fluffy and bouncy, the 墨鱼滑 was so dense that it must have been in the fridge for a few days after coming out from the blender. The goose liver flavor in 鹅肝饺 was predictably indiscernible, but rotten taste of the meat was disturbing. Fortunately I was able to cleanse my palate with the lime soda 青柠梳打, which turned out to be surprisingly refreshing and tasty .
Service was good but then honestly for hotpot, how much service did we really need?
I suppose I may come back to 谦记 if I can’t find any replacement to get more adventure hotpot ingredients. However, knowing how creative hotpot restaurants are these days in their offerings, I doubt that will happen.
* If you know any places that serve 鸡子 in a creative way, please let me know!
张贴
