Hot Pots in Taiwan 🍲
Personally, I would categorize hotpots in 5 types:
1) AYCE (All You Can Eat) 吃到飽火鍋
2) Solo Pot 小火鍋
3) Ma La 麻辣鍋
4) Taiwan Signatures 台灣在地鍋物
5) Unique 特色火鍋店
How to Hot Pot?
Often times, you sit down with a group of friends, order the based for soups and plates of meats/seafood, you then get up to grab your desired vegetables, tofu/bean products, and other hotpot goodies. Don't forget to mix your choice of dipping sauce too! Then, you dump in whatever takes longer to cook (root vegetables, mushroom, tofu etc), and cook your meat slices one by one when you're ready to eat.
🍲 Soup 🍲
It's quite impossible to name all the soup varieties in the hotpot world, but here are some classics that you cannot go wrong trying:
🍲麻辣 Mala: it's spicy and numbing. It's a must if you enjoy the tingling feeling of chili, szechuan peppercorn.
🍲昆布 Kombu: it's mild with a hint of seaweed essence. Great for someone who prefers a lighter base.
🍲沙茶 Sha-cha: It's the chinese BBQ sauce, it has a strong satay flavor. A Taiwan classic and person favorite.
🍲牛奶 milk/cheese: It's almost a soup version of fondue, super creamy, cheesy and flavorful.
🍲番茄 Tomato: it's tomatoes and vegetables based. Great for those who can't do mala but still want the flavors behind it.
🍲藥膳 Herb: It usually contains goji berries, angelica, ginseng flavors. I love a good herb base soup when it's cold or I'm feeling under weather.
If you have trouble picking just one soup, ask if they provide the option for 鴛鴦 (yuan yang), It's a 2 in 1 style of pot that looks like a yin and yang symbol.
🥄 Sauce 🥄
Soy sauce, oyster sauce, sha cha (沙茶), vineger, sesame paste, sesame oil, chili oil, minced garlic, scallion, mashed radish, raw eggs can usually be found at the mixing station. My go to ratio is 3-2-1 (3 spoons of soy sauce, 2 spoons of vineger, 1 soon of sesame oil) then I'd get a seperate dish for a big scoop of sha cha, scallion and sometimes a raw egg yolk.
AYCE 吃到飽
An All You Can Eat hotpot place is basically a buffet with appetizers, hotpot ingredients (meats, seafood, veggies, and carbs) and dessert (mostly ice cream). Here are some of the spots I'd recommend:
Momo Paradise 💰💰 (30+ locations)
Momo paradise is a japanese style hot pot - shabu shabu. They offer soup base like sukiyaki, miso, pork shio. Their pricing range from lunch $15/1 soup pot to $20/2 soups pot per person and 10% more for dinner.
新馬辣 New Mala Hotpot 💰💰💰 (30+ Locations)
At New Mala Hotpot, pricing differenciate by time of date and combo of meat. It's cheaper to go in for lunch ( $25-$30/pp) than dinner ($30 - $40/pp) They offer wide range of drink, carbs, seafood/meats and dessert options. Including beer, wine, curry rice, haagendazs ice cream.
和牛涮 Wagyu Shabu 💰💰💰💰 (10+ locations)
Known for it's high end meat selection, wagyu shabu offers all you can eat wagyu from $65 to $20 depending on the meat combo you select.
豪饌頂級麻辣火鍋 Hao Rich Hotpot 💰💰💰💰💰 (2 locations)
Hao Rich is the only 24/7 hot pot in Taipei. From its name, you know it's fancy :) They offer A5 and 9+ wagyu, USA Prime beef, lobster, king crab leg, scallop - yes all you can eat! The price ranges from $100/pp for all included to $30/pp with no wagyu/fancy seafood combo.
Solo Pot 小火鍋 🍲
小火鍋 small pot or what i called solo pot is made for those who isn't a fan of eating family style or just wants to enjoy hotpot all to themselves *psst Joey from Friends*. You can get all the lovely expereince of hotpot without breaking a bank. It's fast and simple. Perfect idea for a balanced meal too.
錢都 Chien Tu 💰 (60+ locations)
錢都 is one of the most famous solo pot in Taiwan. Its locations spread all over Taiwan. They have over 40+ types of meat to choose from with your pot. You get a free vegetables plate that comes with your pot. Average cost ranges from $10 - $15 per person.
12 MINI 快煮鍋 💰 (40+ locations)
12 MINI is a sub brand of 王品 (Wow Prime). Here, you have a selection of 12 different types of soup! Some of them are unique like: 剝皮辣椒 peeled green pepper, 大漠孜然 Cumin, 綠咖哩 Green Curry. Your pot will cost you between $5- $15.
22:02 火鍋樂活 💰💰 (4 locations)
22:02 presents hotpot in a healthy approach. They offer special sweet potato rice, vetable noodles, and Non GMO tofu products. Soup base is $5/pot and you order a la carte for all other ingredient.
Mala 麻辣鍋🌶
Ma 麻 means numbing and La 辣 means spicy. Mala flavor is the most popular kind of hot pot for how warm it makes you feel and addicting it is. The numbing comes from pepper corn and spicy flavor comes from stir fry chili and star anise. I'd highly recommend order Yuan Yang when you eat mala hot pot, so you have the option to take a slight break between the spices :)
詹記 Chan Chi 💰💰💰 ( 2 locations)
Don't be surprise if you can't walk in to 詹記 as it is often fully booked even on hot summer days! They are traditional Taiwanes hotpot that only serves mala soup (clear broth can be add on). You can select the desired level of spicy from 大, 中, 小 to 微辣 (extra, mid, bit, tiny spicy) Their famous spicy tofu and duck blood come with every order. Their hotpot goodies are freshly made and highly recommend ordering 花枝蝦漿 (calamri and shrimp paste). Average cost is $25 per person depending on how many ppl you go with.
青花驕 Chin Hua Jiao 💰💰💰 (10 locations)
青花驕 Chin Hua Jiao is also a sub bran of 王品 (Wow Prime). They only offer 3 types of soups base: mala, spicy and sour cabbage and spicy green pepper. Orders are a la carte and averge costs ranges around $25 - $40 pp.
辛殿 Xin Dian 💰💰 (3 locations)
辛殿 translate to spicy temple. They are AYCE style hot pot that are frequent by students and families for the affordability. They offer Red and White yuan yang. Price ranges from $25 - $30 depending on the time of day you go.
Taiwan Signatures 台灣經典鍋物
臭臭鍋 Stinky Tofu Pot 💰 (20+ locations)
If you have heared about Taiwanese food, you've probably heard about stinky tofu. It's an acquired taste for foreigners but definitely not for Taiwanese. We love it so much - we put it in our hot pot! Please don't let them name stinky sacres you off - it's the smell of fermentation tofu. 三媽 is the face of stinky pot with over 20+ locations in Taiwan. If you worry that you won't be able to finish a whole pot of it, they also offer multiple different type of personal pot.
薑母鴨 Ginger Duck Pot 💰💰 (100+ locations)
薑母鴨 is a winter staple. The stew pot are boiled by coals on the table. You cannot miss the smell of stir-fried old ginger, sesame oil, rice wine and chinese herbs when you pass by a 薑母鴨 place. When it's chilly out, this will for sure warm you up from inside out. Different from regualr hotpot, you order the side dishes (duck parts, mushrooms, tofu and veggies) , while they only provide one classic soup. Don't forget to order 麵線 sesami oil noodle on the side when you go
羊肉爐 Lamb Pot 💰💰
羊肉爐 is also a winter delicacy. Instead of duck, you get mutton as a the main protein. The dark broth is made from hours of simmering from ingredients like lamb bones, vegetables and plenty of Chinese herbs. Most places serve the minimun of 2 people.
Unique Pots 特色火鍋
海底撈 HaiDiLao 💰💰💰 (15+ locations)
海底撈 is a chinese brand of hot pot. Here, you can choose up to 4 types of soup in one square pot, a noodle show and perhaps the most unique selection of ingredients (beef tripe, pork brain, pork aorta, goose intestine and more). At 海底撈, you can also get your dress shoes polished, get gel manicure and watch peking opera for FREE.
肉多多 Rododo 💰💰 (40+ locations)
肉多多 translate to Meat Much Much. Yes they are known for big platter of meat slices at a competitive price. For $40 you can get 32 oz of aged beef slices. They serve solo pots as well as family style pots. They also offer a meat cake for birthday members!
橘色 Orange Shabu💰💰💰💰💰 (5 locations)
橘色 is known to be the Hermes of Hotpot. They use copper pot for faster and more evenly distribution of heat. They offer the the most luxurious service including a personal shabu chef who will cook each slice of beef, peel shrimp and crab for you. At the end of the meal, they use the flavorful broth to make a gloden congee for the table. The price also reflects on the quality and attention they provide. Average cost is $150 - $250/pp
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