Today, I'm reviewing the Shoo Loong Kan Hotpot instant noodle bowl. What did I get myself into? I should have known from looking at the lid of the bowl which showed a mass of chili peppers floating on top of the soup. Chinese hotpot is basically a big pot of spicy and savoury broth in which diners cook various vegetables, noodles, and cuts of meat at the centre of the table.
Shoo Loong Kan Hotpot is a chain of hotpot restaurants from China that provides customers with authentic and genuine hot pot soup bases. They have a trendy brand image and provide a range of dishes in their restaurants. In fact, they opened a restaurant here in Edmonton's West Edmonton Mall recently and I still have to get there to try it out one day. This chain has origins in Sichuan and has expanded internationally. They have various broths like Tomato Broth, Pork Broth, Mushroom Broth, etc.
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| 3/4 view of the bowl. It is an attractive paper bowl with a paper lid - not a peel off lid. |
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| The front of the bowl showing the stylized Shoo Loong Kan characters. It is a simple, yet, attractive design. The nice white characters show up well on a bright orange background with a hotpot underneath displaying the noodles. |
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| Lid of the bowl. Look at all the chili peppers floating on top! |
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| Closeup of the noodle picture on the front. You can see the red broth with toppings and the flat noodles shown via the chopsticks. |
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| Ingredients, manufacturing info. Made in Henan Province. |
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| There are some medals which I think are there for emphasis rather than awards. The top says "Spicy Beef Oil, Hotpot Top Brand" and the other says "200 million citizens Feel Good." There is a URL and nutritional information. |
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| To prepare the noodles, put in the oil, toppings, dry and the konjac, put in boiling water to the fill line. Wait 5 minutes or more and then stir and serve. |
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| The contents of the bowl. A big sachet of soup base that is packed full of spice and flavour, a green sachet of dried veggies and bean curd, and a silver foil packet of vegetarian tripe. |
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| The dry ingredients include bean curd, green stem vegetable, cabbage, sesame, coriander, and onion. A package of grey, shrimp flavoured, vegetarian tripe - mainly konjac was also included. You can see the flat, air-dried wheat noodles too. |
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| I only added in half of the soup base based on a family members recommendation. It is spicy! |
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| The finished soup looks oily, flavourful, and smelled great. |
The broth for this hotpot noodle doesn't disappoint. It is aromatic with rich herbal and spice smells that are spot on for hotpot. There is chili oil floating on top and the broth has a deep reddish brown colour, speckled with floating bits of veggie and bean curd. This is all from adding only half of the soup base which meant the soup would taste milder and a bit thinner, but it was still full of flavour!
The soup is really the star of the show and it was quite spicy even at half-strength. At full strength, it made the spice loving member of our family cry, so it is zippy. The spiciness of the soup hits the back of your throat with a wallop and there is a tingle on your tongue. My lips had that burning sensation after finishing the noodles, too. I did not drink the soup and I wouldn't recommend it, but boy does it make the noodles taste good.
The noodles are firm with a good chew to them, going well with the rich and spicy broth. The heat level builds over time, too. The konjac tripe strips provided another chewy, rubbery dimension of texture that I didn't mind, but it could be offsetting to some people. This noodle bowl tasted like authentic Chinese hotpot and people looking for this will not be disappointed! I'm looking forward to trying out the restaurant now too.
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| Closeup of the noodles and konjac tripe. |
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