Asian Experiences Food Rotterdam

Rotterdam | Hot & Hot Hotpot, Chinese cuisine with Sichuan specialties

Rotterdam | Hot & Hot Hotpot, Chinese cuisine with Sichuan specialties

Watch my VLOG video here: Rotterdam | Hot & Hot Hotpot, Chinese cuisine with Sichuan specialties


Do you like it HOT or NOT? At Hot & Hot you can enjoy the hottest Sichuan hot pot from the most spicy Chinese cuisine with different kind of Sichuan specialties. You can experience the original Chinese dining culture with the taste of authentic Sichuan flavor. For my friends who don’t eat spicy food (like me), no worries. You can also enjoy a delicious hot pot without any spicy peppers added to it.

The story of Hot & Hot:

” Do you know there’s a saying regarding the origin of Hotpot? In the period of the Three Kingdoms in China a vessel called ‘wǔ shú fǔ’ appeared. The inner part of the bronze pot was divided into five sections in which a variety of raw food could be cooked in different boiling soup bases. Hence, the bronze tripod may be the earliest prototypes of the hot pot. ”


Locations

Hot & Hot has three locations: two in Amsterdam and one in Rotterdam. A new location soon will be opened in Utrecht. We visited Hot & Hot in Rotterdam at the Goudsesingel 340A in The Netherlands.

On December 11, 2018, Ms. Mo and Mr. Zhong founded Hot & Hot Rotterdam, the first branch to be opened. They both had the same idea: Chinese living in the Netherlands can come to this place with authentic Chinese flavors to satisfy their hunger and locals can discover this amazing Chinese cuisine.

Deluxe Hotpot Set

We have the Deluxe Hotpot Set. Normally the Fried Wagyu Beef Short-Ribs is in it with the Sliced Wagyu Beef, but because they don’t have it, we’ll have a replacement for those two. For the Sliced Wagyu Beef we now have a large portion of Beef Roll and a large portion of Lamb Roll. For the Fried Wagyu Beef Short-Ribs we have Pumpkin Cakes.

We will also have: Fresh Tiger Prawns, a small portion of Tender Beef, Fried Tofu Skin Rolls, Vegetable Mix, Mushroom Mix and Japanese Ramen Noodles.

Soup Base Flavors

There are different kind of bouillon flavors we can choose from, that are based on different soup bases. The spicy soup base has three different levels: mild, medium and super. These are the flavors we can choose from:
Two spicy flavors; the Spicy Soup Base and the Green Pepper Soup Base.
Two flavors that are a little less spicy; the Spicy Tomato Soup Base and the Pickled Cabbage Soup.
Two flavors that are not spicy at all; the Mushroom Soup Base and the Tomato Soup Base.

We can choose two different flavors. The hot pot is divided in two parts, so the flavors don’t touch each other at all.
What they usually recommend is half-half, so half spicy and half more spicy.

My friend chooses the mild spicy flavor and I choose the Tomato Soup Base that is not spicy at all.

Dipping Sauce

There is a separate corner where you can put together your own dipping sauce. Next to the dips you will find a recipe card, the Classic Dipping Sauce Recipe with photos, which states how many spoons of ingredients you can use, but you can of course combine the flavors to your own taste.

My Dipping Sauce Receipe:
1 Spoon Garlic
3 Spoons Sesame Sauce
1 Spoon Coriander
1 Spoon Spring Onion
A little bit of Sesame Oil
1 Spoon Soy Sauce

You can mix these with the chopsticks and then you can dip the vegetables or meat in it. It gives your hot pot food some extra goodness and adds flavor to it.

Tea&Tea

For drinks we can choose different kind of delicious tea. These are the most popular ones:

Boba Tea
The Milk Tea Boba, the Matcha Boba Milk Tea and the Cheese Foam Boba Milk Tea.
The most adorable is the Potted Plant Boba Milk Tea with the fresh mint on it. Very cute.

Fruit Tea
The Passionfruit & Lime Tea.

Soft Drink
The Ice Grape and the Melon Perfection.

Smoothies with icecream
The Cheese Foam Mango and the Ice-Cream Matcha.

We take the Ice-Cream Matcha, the Cheese Foam Mango, the Potted Plant Boba and the Passionfruit.

Our HOTPOT dining experience

Before we start, we get an apron so that no hot pot gets on our clothes. In the table is a square hole in which our hot pot is placed. The waitress is showing us the two different soup bases: the tomato broth and the mild spicy broth.

My friend gets a little bit scared when she sees her mild spicy broth. She asks the waitress why it is called mild spicy, because in her eyes it looks very spicy. We all have to laugh about it. The waitress tells her that this broth is indeed mild spicy. My friend is still flabbergasted and says that there are a lot of peppers in it.
The waitress is shaking a little plastic bag with red liquid in it. She tells us that she is going to put spicy oil in the mild spicy broth. My friend asks her to wait a little bit and asks again what it is. It’s indeed spicy oil. The waitress is putting a little bit of spicy oil in the broth, but my friend thinks it is already a lot.

The waitress puts all the delicious looking Chinese specialties on our table.
Nice hot steam comes out of the hot pot and later more water is added as everything evaporates quickly.
If you don’t know how long you should cook something, you can grab a card that says how long you should cook something. The Fried Tofu Skin Roll for example only takes eight seconds in the broth, if you put them in too long, the tofu will be completely flat.


My friend enjoys the hot pot, but the mild spicy broth is too hot for her. The longer you cook the peppers in the broth, the spicier it will be. The waitress asks if she should remove all the peppers and my friend happily says yes. The waitress takes the golden spoon and removes all the peppers from the broth. After that, she adds more water to it, to make it even less spicy.
My friend still thinks that it tastes too spicy, so the waitress asks if she wants her soup base to be replaced for another one, like the non spicy Mushroom Soup Base or the Tomato Soup Base. My friend answers to replace her soup base and she chooses the Tomato Soup Base, the same as the one I have. Now everything tastes perfect!

It’s fun and relaxing to cook your own ingredients in the hot pot, a happy meal that you should share with your friends and family.

According to the waitress, there are people who take the most spicy soup base, added with a maximum of hot oil and still find it not hot enough. Are you that person?
Then come to Hot & Hot and challenge your taste buds!

You can see my video of our visit to Hot & Hot here: Rotterdam | Hot & Hot Hotpot, Chinese cuisine


Hot & Hot
Address:
Goudsesingel 340A
3011 KL Rotterdam
The Netherlands


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