A real Chinese meal

Last Friday evening we visited a very traditional Chinese restaurant for a very traditional Chinese meal called a 'hot pot'. The evening was organised by Billy who works in the airport office and is one of the nicest guys you could ever wish to meet. Billy has gone out of his way to make me feel at home in Hong Kong and I knew his suggestion to try a traditional hot pot would be a good night out. Khamma made her way to the airport where we met Billy, Surria and Phil and eventually caught the high speed train into Central Hong Kong. After a short taxi ride I believe we arrived in an area on the west side of Hong Kong Island between Sai Ying Pun and Kennedy Town. The area was unfamiliar and we seemed to move from a highway to a road to a street to an alley in the space of a hundred yards. It felt closer to an old Chinese world than the bright Johnny Foreigner lights and noise and bling of the Soho area in Central. I was the only white person in sight as we walked down a brightly lit alley way with the light rain adding to the atmosphere. I was certain that George Smiley was hiding in the shadows and we were being led to an opium den in a twist of fate skillfully crafted by the pen of John Le Carre.

Well our excitement was sharpened in a different way than the adventures of the cold war spies in 1970's Asia as we climbed up the wide stone steps of a former loading bay to a warehouse into the dining area of a Hot Pot restaurant. There was nothing pretentious in the decor and furnishings; the strip lighting and plastic table covered with cling film made sure that if you had any doubt at all, this was going to be a messy meal. Even the yellow and white uniform of the San Miguel beer girl failed to add any glamour or colour to the scene.

We were completely in the hands of Billy and we left ordering the food to him as we settled back into the small hard plastic chairs that had probably been there before the room became a restaurant. The tables were full with local Chinese enjoying the hot pot and volumes of drink ranging from the San Miguel beer supplied by the beer girl to bring your own wine supplied by the guests. The volume of chatter increasing in direct proportion to the consumption of alcohol. This was hard core dining.

In the centre of the table was a large gas ring very similar to one my Grandma had about forty years ago, except considerably larger. It probably was just as dangerous however as my leg caught the gas pipe which snaked underneath the table from a hole in the floor. The idea of the hot pot is put a base stock into a metal pot and boil selected dishes ranging from pig's legs to octopus. It's a bit like a Chinese fondue but more basic and a lot more fun.

The cooking pot with bean curd and the ladle with turnips

We started with bringing the base stock up to boiling point. It had a very thin milky texture with a strong taste of pepper. Billy ordered pig's leg bones and dumped them into the pot to strengthen the stock and add flavour and warm up the meat. Meanwhile we mixed raw and lightly toasted garlic and chillies with soy sauce to make a dip for the forthcoming delicacies.

The service provided by the staff was excellent and I would say much more attentive than the average downtown restaurant where the waiters work as if they were doing you a favour. Here in deep, deep Hong Kong eating is a passion and the customer is much more demanding so the service has to match or the restaurant will die. A clever idea is to turn the tea pot lid upside down when a top up is required. This is easily spotted and the teapot whisked away to be replenished in a jiffy. The same attention is lavished by the beer girl, but I suspect she was motivated by the commission on selling as many San Miguels as possible.

Thinly cut strips of beef and Chinese mushrooms

Anyway the next 'course' arrived which was thinly cut strips of dark beef cut from the shoulder which apparently is the most succulent part of the cow. The strips were folded into a personal ladle, about the size of a golf ball, and placed into the boiling pot and after a minute or two it was ready to eat. Next to arrive was Chinese mushrooms followed by a sticky guey fish paste, octopus, dried fish skin coated with breadcrumbs, strips of bean curd, vegetable dumplings, pork dumplings, turnips and various salad leaves. Oh and of course steamed rice. You selected which ingredient you wanted to eat and added it to the pot and simply took it out when it was cooked to your liking. As the stock was reduced the waiter added a little more. It seemed like an endless feast, and it was.

From the back left side; dumplings, octopus, fish paste, dried fish skins, San Miguel

Dumplings

I was a little concerned for the welfare of my stomach and other vital organs but I need not have worried, everything was working fine on Saturday. The whole meal and several beers only came to 700HK$ which is about 60GBP for 5 people. That is good value anywhere, and the added experience was very special. Thanks to local knowledge from Billy.

Billy holding a pig leg

As we left to catch the last tram home I caught a glimpse of a figure scurrying in a dark corner. He was carrying several smoker's pipes and heat lamps and he opened a small metal studded door which led into a dimly lit room occupied by several well dressed people reclining on sofas. The room was decorated with tobacco tinted embossed wallpaper with four or five badly hung paintings of harbour scenes from 1850's Shanghai. A thin smoke with an odour of intoxicating sweet herbs drifted into the alley. As he closed the door he turned and stared menacingly directly at me with his roving glass eye. The ghost of the opium den vanished as the misty humid rain began to fall harder and we left the old China world and returned to the new China on the Gold Coast.