We tried out 8-year-old Flavor Food (原石鍋) hotpot restaurant on Burmah Road for lunch yesterday. Very surprised that this nifty, little place was below our radar all these years. Their house signature 𝘊𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘵 (椰子鸡火锅) was amazing - with a tasty chicken broth derived from boiling free-range chicken in fresh coconut water.
We started off with a platter of pretty lychee-shaped prawn balls - the delish spheres were prawn paste, containing whole lychees stuffed with fresh chunky pineapple centers. The spheres were encrusted with crunchy, crimson-tinged rice puffs. Owner-chef, Jason Ng, said it actually took him three years to perfect this dish. Man, those were good.
The other appetizer was a platter of freshly-fried, moist pork-loin which had been marinated in nam yu (red fermented bean curd).
The Coconut Chicken Steamboat (椰子鸡火锅) was quite special: kampung chicken boiled with fresh coconut water, together with strips of coconut flesh, crunchy discs of water-chestnut, and spongey tubes of bamboo fungus. The clear broth was light and subtle, reminiscent of Teochew/Chaozhou-style soups.
Some of the tasty morsels added to the simmering broth included:
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Sui kow dumplings filled with minced pork-prawn-black fungus.
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Mushroom caps stuffed with minced prawns.
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Bamboo fungus stuffed with pork-and-fish paste.
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House special pork-meat balls.
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Thick, meaty slivers of fresh pomfret.
The delicate pomfret bones did not go to waste – they were deep-fried till golden-crisp, and were absolutely delicious.
Two types of rice dishes can be ordered to supplement the steamboat: the house special lap mei fun (claypot-baked rice topped with Cantonese-style waxed pork and sausages), and a flavorsome Hainanese-style chicken rice. One would be hard-pressed to decide between the two, so we had both.
Coconut water hot pot was “the next big thing” in China during the pre-COVID years, and the owner-chef of Flavor Food, Jason Ng, had been going there for business trips during that time, so was inspired to do the same back in Penang. He fashioned stone pots as cooking vessels, ensuring better distribution of heat and also better heat retention.
Covers were woven rattan, to minimise condensation from falling back into the soup.
Address
Flavor Food (原石鍋)
217, Jalan Burmah (Burmah Road), 10050 George Town, Penang, Malaysia.
Tel: +6013-439 1986
Operating hours: 12 noon to 3pm, 5pm to 10pm, Mon, Wed to Sun. Closed on Tuesdays.
