Last night, dinner with an old friend and her mother.
We went to a restaurant I'd never been in before. A hotpot restaurant with a difference. In fact, we needed the wait staff to explain the "concept".
We ordered what would have seemed to be the normal stuff for a hotpot, but then it went a bit strange. The waitress arrived with a pan and a lot of ingredients, some we had specifically ordered; some which come no matter what you order. She arranged these in layers into the dry pot.
First she placed a layer of mixed vegetables - carrot, garlic, leek, onion, daikon radish - on the bottom. (This is the standard base.) On top of that she placed the stuff we had ordered. Fish slices, beef, de-boned ducks' feet. Then she produced a bowl of dark brown paste and started beating the daylights out of it, like some dominatrix on steroids. I didn't know whether to get excited, run or both. Finally she slathered this thoroughly disciplined paste all over the top of the other stuff, turned on the induction heater set into the table and told us to wait ten minutes (or we'd be next for whipping.) We did ask what the paste was, but she sternly informed us it was a state secret. (Some sort of soy bean paste with some something)
My friend and her mother sipped rose petal tea as we waited. I, more sensibly had a beer. Before the ten minutes were up, Ms Whiplash came back and added the shrimp we had ordered, reminded us to wait and left. I was watching my watch. Bang on time she came back and gave us permission to eat (but to mind our table manners or else!)
We were a bit confused that there was no broth in the pot, as is usual with hot pots, all the more so when this arrived.
Ms Whiplash's colleague, Sister Stern passed our table, so we asked about that. "When you eat the stuff in the pan, I'll bring you some broth, then you can eat your greenery!"
Yes ma'am.
It was utterly delicious. In the ten minutes we had we had waited, the brown paste had melted into a thick sauce coating every mouthful.
As promised, either Ms. Whiplash or Sister Stern (by this point I couldn't tell them apart) came back and filled our pan with a broth, so we then cooked our greenery.
At some point, my friend topped up my beer with the rose tea. I didn't notice her doing so, but was surprised to find my glass hot when I went for my next sip. Nothing to do but get another bottle.
A lovely meal. I'll go back. And the wait staff were friendly and helpful, really
