Kagen HotPot

 We always go to different restaurants for good food experience.  And since our “Papa Smurf” Alan is the owner of Hatsune Restaurant group we usually make choice towards his places.  Not that we get any special benefits or anything. It’s just that I personally trust his food quality and service. Plus two restaurants are just around the cornerJ So today I want to talk about Kagen HotPot.  It’s spring in town and by the summer time we might abandon this branch for outside places. HotPot is just too hot for warm weather.

  HotPot is traditional Chinese style fondue. The main point is the soup in the pot cooking right in front of you.  You simply choose the broth you like and raw food for farther cooking. In Kagen there are few different styles of broth: Chicken, Mushroom, Kimchi and Sukiyaki. Usually we choose either Mushroom or Sukiyaki.  Mushroom soup is more salty and less fatty and Sukiyaki is traditional Japanese souse-soup base, it’s a little bit sweet and sour at the same time and quiet buttery.  This time we took Mushroom broth.

Then after all the ingredients are chosen for cooking you make yourself some sauce for dipping. My personal choice is Madian (sesame cream sauce) with sesame seeds (love sesames), some garlic and a LOT of coriander. You can also add ouster souse, Kimchi spice souse or XO souse mix it with other cold adds such as reddish and chilies.

 Now comes the food. As you can see I just cant live without Edamame. Any Japanese restaurants I go these soya beans are my must haves. I can eat like 4 portions by myself. And all the stuff at Alan’s places know that. Then another “xiaochi” (appetizers in Chinese) are fired ginkgo nuts. Even thou it is told that it’s not recommended to eat more than 10-12 a day, it never stopped me to eat way more than that.

  For vegetables this time we took Doufu skins, greens and mushrooms. Enoki mushrooms are the must, since I alone eat at least 2 portions..  Now it’s time to put all this to the pot. It wont take much time to get it all ready so then the food fight begins. Get what you can out of the pot, dip it in the souse and enjoy.

  But don’t get that relaxed because next is meet! And hello to Strip loins, Rib-eyes and WogYu beef! If you eat with Alan and you were not exited about veggies its time to wake up and EAT! Take a piece of meat and dip it 3 time in boiling soup for medium well and 5 times for well done. Don’t hold it for long, otherwise it will be rubber as Gordon Ramsey would say. J

  Now it’s time to put some noodles in. we love Udun noodles (udun mian), Konyaki Strips (moyusi) and glass noodles (fensi).  Don’t forget to dip everything in the souse!

  It would be boring to eat everything only from hot pot so we mixed it with some other appitizers and  Yakitori – Japanese grilled food.

  On the top left its Vegetable Gyoza potstiks
(fried dumplings) and to it’s right Deep fried pork with Shiso leaf. On the bottom left – Yakitori beef with onions and to the right – Chicken-skin wrapped shrimps. The last is one of my very favorites! The wrap is so crispy and salty that you even forget that its skin!

  It wouldn’t be a La Familia dinner without our young star – Mason! He is the most adorable baby boy I ever seen! He is 2 and a half and he is extremely smart
J Just check out his bike and outfit! Little Fashionista!

  Now about meJ Since it was a 8 pm dinner I had time not just for quick change from work but also some photo shootJ But that was in the previous postJ