A HOT AND STEAMY AFFAIR AT XIAO LONG KAN

Chinese hot pot is all the rage now. From major shopping malls to suburbia, provincial Chinese hot pot in all shapes and guides have stealthily conquered the local food scene. Now, Chengdu’s famed Xiao Long Kan Hot Pot restaurant has also jumped onto the bandwagon with the opening of its maiden outlet in Bukit Bintang.

Established in 2014, Xiao Long Kan (XLK) holds true to its guiding principles of providing ‘flavours from the soul, quality with integrity’. This Chengdu hot pot restaurant chain commands long queues of customers who seek to experience its signature hot pot with a wide selection of meat, fresh vegetables, handmade meatballs, innards and offal in assorted broths prepared using an age-old traditional recipe.

 

Sited within the bustling retail strip of Bukit Bintang, XLK occupies a multiple-storey block with a cosy waiting area on the ground floor. Decorated with ornate Chinese doors, a majestic dragon wall sculpture and a pair of faux antique chairs, it leads into a charmingly decorated dining space that won’t look out of place in a Chinese martial arts movie.

More seating and private rooms are available upstairs but be prepared to burn some calories as you ascend stairs. Rustic wood-trimmed semi private dining pavilions inspired by the Qing Dynasty, dramatic wall murals and modern Chinese lanterns form a theatrical, immersive backdrop that ‘transports’ you to ancient Chengdu.

In our quest to sample the best of XLK’s signature broths, we opted for the 3-flavour Hot Pot comprising Mala(Spicy)/Mushroom/Tomato (RM48) soup bases. While waiting for the hot pot to come to a boil, we amused ourselves by whipping up the simple dip: open up the mini can of oil provided and mix it up with some oyster sauce, vinegar, chopped garlic and fresh coriander.

Notable appetisers to stave off hunger pangs during the wait include Fried Crispy Meat (RM16) – yummylicious tender, lightly battered fried pork strips with a dusting of fiery hot chilli flakes on the side and sausage-shape rolls of Brown Sugar Rice Cakes (RM13) that are toasty crisp on the outside and delightfully chewy inside, with muted sweetness.

Once the hot pot is bubbling away, we had a field day dunking in the assorted items into the different soup bases. Spice fiends looking for an adrenalin rush will revel in the trademark tongue-numbing, sensorial-stimulating broth. Our dining party aren’t made of such stern stuff so our preference geared towards the savoury tomato and more delicate mushroom stocks. The overall taste improved progressively as more ingredients made their way into the hot pot.

 

Among the distinctive specialities worth savouring are the hand-made Rose Meat Balls (RM26), the robustly marinated XLK Spicy Chilli Beef (RM48), Shrimp Paste (RM38), Australia A5 Beef (RM90) and Ling Long Rolls (RM20) – crispy deep-fried beancurd sheet rolls.

 

Offal and innards are highly sought-after among XLK clientele especially the paper-thin Sliced Kidney (RM16), cubes of Pork Blood (RM10) and a rarity in hot pot menu: Duck Intestines (RM28).

Crowd-pleasing choices such as Pork Neck (RM20), Luncheon Meat (RM17) and Quail Eggs (RM12) are also available alongside premium servings of White Prawns (RM52) and Bluefin Leatherjacket (RM22).

Textural interest and extra nutrients can be gleaned from plates of Shiitake (RM8), Enoki (RM8) and seasonal greens like Spinach (RM8).

 

We found the XLK service team admirably on the ball despite the restaurant’s early days. Soup and drink refills, extra orders, clearing of soiled and empty tableware, etc are dealt with swiftly. A block-long queue already formed outside the door on the first day so it looks likely Xiao Long Kan will go full steam ahead in repeating its hot streak of success in Kuala Lumpur.

At this moment, Xiao Long Kan Hot Pot Restaurant only accept walk-in customers. Address: Lot 03, Block D, 179 Fahrenheit88, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. Open daily 11am to 2am.

I ATE 60 MOONCAKES AND SURVIVED TO TELL THE TALE

There’s always a first time for everything, including sampling close to 60 different mooncakes in one session last week. As one of the external judging panel members invited by The Star along with veteran food writer Marian Eu Hooi Khaw, I had the chance to taste the Mid-Autumn Festival creations submitted by participating hotels and restaurants for The Star Mooncake Awards 2019.

Kudos to Metro Deputy News Editor Esther Chandran (centre) and the Star team who worked hard to co-ordinate and organise the event. The judging room was nicely set-up with participating hotels invited to showcase their own creativity in presenting their Mid-Autumn treats and packaging.

 

Competition between the various entries was stiff. As judges Marian and I had a hard time trying to cram in all that mooncakes so we had to resort to sampling a tiny piece of each; just enough to ascertain the taste and texture for scoring purpose.

We also rinsed our mouths with Chinese tea and water when the going got too cloying. A few of the newer variants caught our imagination whilst others were too over the top in the inventiveness stake.

 

Nice packaging is increasingly the name of the Mid-Autumn Festival gifting game as well. From pretty and practical tiffin carrier to fashionable designer tote, the sky’s no longer the limit for mooncake boxes now.

Red and orange hues seem to dominate possibly because the perceived auspicious symbolism evoked by these colours. Reusable packaging is also increasingly popular.

 

The Star should be lauded for holding this friendly competition as it shows Malaysian hoteliers and restaurateurs continue to raise their mooncake-making and marketing game yearly. It’s also good to know traditional baked variants still have a place in the marketplace without any compromise on quality and taste.

Read the full story in The Star here:

https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/eat-and-drink/2019/08/30/crowning-delights-of-mid-autumnfestival?fbclid=IwAR0eO3bJ0vjbQjvMDpznYMdVWB8BOOSnG2gKZsoSyoTQak4v_toeWEocqFA