Spicing things up

Guests at a Beijing Haidilaou Hotpot restaurant for a tasting event. The chain has announced new menu offerings that aim to achieve a balance between taste and nutrition.

The yu yang xian, literally "fish, mutton, umami", is a mixture of raw catfish meat and cooked mutton, and tasted very "umani" and chewy.

The boar meat contains little fat but has collagen. The belly meat was more tender than the leg meat, while skin on the leg meat maintained its firm texture, even after being boiled in the soup for a few minutes. Both dishes were very savory, having a distinctive flavor from other breeds of pigs.

Goose intestines are a classic hotpot dish in Sichuan province, but are less common in Beijing than duck intestines. When boiled a few seconds (Haidilao suggests eight to 15 seconds), goose intestines will be crunchy; if boiled longer, they get chewy.

Among the desserts, my favorite was fried shredded taro, which was beautifully presented and very delicious.

The two new soups were the fish-flavor spicy soup and the soup of three chili flavors. The new choices are designed for people who want a change, since the soup is the most important ingredient in a hotpot restaurant - the foundation for the flavors of a hotpot.

The restaurant chain has also launched a program to allow customers with membership of its branches to order personalized hotpot soups with their favorite flavors.