Hou Hotpot 后火锅 @ Shanghai

This is a Mala hotpot franchise from Chongqing. The main difference? 烧菜火锅 – They have some cooked dishes that are used as ingredients in the hotpot.

Hou Hotpot 后火锅 combines authentic Chongqing cuisine with hot pot. The colour scheme of the restaurant is mainly red; even the stairs are red, which is very suitable for Instagram. Ordering, like many other restaurants in Shanghai these days, is through the WeChat mini-app; everyone on the same table scan the QR code on the table and add whatever each one fancies. The list is updated in real time.

After you are done ordering, you then proceed to make the bowl(s) of condiments to dip your cooked ingredients in. During the pandemic, this ritual was stopped for hygiene purpose. I was glad it came back.

跷脚牛肉味锅 “Cross-legged” Beef Broth Hotpot Base

“Cross-legged” Beef Broth Hotpot Base is a specialty of Leshan. The legend went like this: there was a Chinese physician that took the offals of beef and pork that the rich families discarded and boiled them with Chinese medicinal herbs to provide a nutritious soup for the local poor people. As many of these were not educated folks, they would eat the stew sitting cross-legged 跷脚. Hence the moniker for this soup/stew was burned.

重庆麻辣锅 Chongqing Spicy Hotpot Base 

The Chongqing style hotpot base is a spicy red chilli oil base that is made with beef fat and very little in terms of spices. The aroma and flavour mostly come from the animal fat and chilli peppers. The finished broth is usually oilier, spicier, and heavier than the Chengdu style.

The best way to enjoy the hoop was to order a Yuanyang pot 鸳鸯锅, i.e a pot with two types of soup. Then you can enjoy the spicy Chongqing stock and flavourful Leshan beef soup.

There a lot of varieties of different ingredients for the hotpot, but mainly around lamb, pork and beef. Besides the different cuts of meat, their offals – properly cleaned and processed – are also very good eats with the hotpot. And because the popularity and improved logistics, fresh seafood and shellfish are now also a staple for Sichuan hotpot.

I mistook this for enoki, but it is actually a type of bamboo shoot from Mt Emei in Sichuan. 龙须笋 “dragon’s whisker bamboo shoot”, also called 雪花笋 “snowflake bamboo shoot”, is a native flora from the mountain area. This bamboo shoot has the effect of improving the appetite, strengthening the spleen, aiding digestion, dissolving phlegm, relieving cough, and enhancing immunity. And it tastes like enoki.

I have to give them full marks for presentation of the ingredients. Like this humble goose intestine, it was wrapped around a cone of ice to resemble a burning mountain and blended into the red colour scheme of the restaurant. The presentation did not enhance the crunchiness or taste of the intestines, but it did made a good visual.

Unlike the usual presentation of the blood jelly in chocolate-coloured cubes, this duck blood jelly looked like a bowl of strawberry jello – the texture and the colour were similar too. But the taste was just like the usual blood jelly, and once cooked it returned to the chocolate-coloured stuff I was used to.

The pork kidney was skilfully butterflied and mixed with a spice mix when served. You just need to blanch the kidney quickly in the hotpot to make a crunchy, smooth eat. Thankfully there was none of that odour associated with the particular organ.

After the heat from the numb and spicy hotpot, the tub of iced watermelon fruit tea with boba was really welcomed. It’s cold and cool, and it’s so instagrammable.

I love a hotpot, especially shared with friends and family. The feeling of eating and cooking together around a boiling cauldron evokes memories of campfires, fireplaces and other gatherings with love ones. This hotpot is just one of many that has popped up in recent times, one more gimmicky and extravagant than the other. But taste wise, it has not evolved a bit. Warrant a visit, but maybe not a return.

Hou Hotpot 后火锅 (中山龙之梦店)
890 Changning Road, Metro Town 1st Floor, Shanghai
长安路890号玫瑰坊一楼（长宁龙之梦北门对面）
Tel : +86 (021) 52352818

Visited Dec 2023