Szechuan Steamboat @ Jin Shan Cheng

A few weeks ago, KY suddenly MSNed me and asked me to try out the Sichuan steamboat or also known as hot pot at Dataran Mentari in Sunway. Knowing that I'm getting free food and also getting my cherry popped for a Sichuan-style hot pot, I agreed even though I am not an avid fan of hot and spicy food. But the hot pot still remained as one of my favourites. Ask me out on a hot pot date and I seldom turn it down.

There were many types of hot pot styles in the market. One of the most famous variations is the Sichuan or Szechuan "má là" (numb and spicy) hot pot, to which a special spice known as “hua jiao” (flower pepper or Sichuan Pepper) is added. Sichuan pepper has a unique aroma and flavour that is not hot or pungent like black or white pepper, or chili peppers, but has slight lemony overtones and creates in the mouth a kind of tingly numbness (caused by its 3% of hydroxy-alpha-sanshool) that sets the stage for these hot spices.

The boss asked me to try one of the peppers and it does create the numbness to my tastebuds.

So having no what-so-ever expectations of how a Sichuan hot pot will look like, I was rather excited on how the food experience will turn out. KY arrived a little earlier than me (yes, just a little and I'm maybe 5mins late) and we were seated at a table which is big enough for 6 person. After waited for sometime, say 15minutes, the waitress came and take our order but it's a food review and usually the boss determines the food selection. So KY walked up to the cashier counter and do what he was supposed to (asking where's the boss and all) and to our surprise, the boss were already seated beside our table with two of his friends. We were told to join them. The food finally came and it never ends.

The dishes

We started with the signature dishes such as the hot and spicy fish fillet, frog legs, black pepper beef and God-knows-how-many-more-dishes before we adjourn to the Sichuan hot pot. I liked frog legs the best. The boss, Mr.Low asked me to select the dishes for the Sichuan hot pot and the only thing I ticked was the fishballs! LOL... I was shy to tick the abalones, scallops and everything expensive so I leave the ticking job back to him. So he ticked a variety of dishes from vegetables, seafood to beef.

This is me trying to demonstrate on how to eat the scallop (not the shell) and also a picture of me with the fishball I ordered. The hot pot is separated into spicy soup and a clear soup.

The clear history of mala sauce is still unknown, but it is widely believed that people in Sichuan province, one of the poorest provinces in Chinese history, invented strong-tasting mala sauce to cover up rotten meats. Mala has quickly become the main characteristic of Sichuan cuisine and has an important role in Chinese cuisine.

The chinese believes that everything must be in balance like "yin and yang" and thus maybe the concept of the hot pot with spicy and non spicy soup is derived from that philosophy. That is why we never have hot pots in the hot days. We will also not eat fried food on hot days for the fear of getting "heated up". Therefore, when we were having the Sichuan hot pot, we were served cold lemonade to counter the spiciness and the fat from the oil. The oil in the sauce is actually BUTTER (according to the boss)!

My cherry popped for the Sichuan hot pot with KY. You can read more from KY's review here. The food was good considering my little knowledge and interest in whatever that is spicy. My tongue is untrained for spicy taste because I was told from young not to take anything spicy to prevent from having pimples which I think there is no relevance at all.

Just one more advice when having hot pot:
A few things should be kept in mind to prevent E.Coli or Salmonella poisoning. After handling raw meat with chopsticks, dip the chopsticks in the boiling broth to kill any microbes. If a raw egg is used, use only the freshest possible. Another alternative is to use separate chopsticks for the hotpot.

Jin Shan Cheng is located at (a few shops away from Dominos):

No. 42A-2, Jalan PJS 8/2
Dataran Mentari, Bandar Sunway,
56301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Tel: 03-5631 8220
Web: www.jscmsb.com

*Thanks KY for the food and pictures*