Chuan Po Po Hotpot - Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

My friends love Sichuan spicy hotpot.  This time our challenge of spicy hot pot is at Chuan Po Po.  The one at Prat Avenue.  There are 2 Chuan Po Po restaurants in Tsim Sha Tsui.  Don't know if they are from the same company.  

It's 37 degrees in Hong Kong and just standing outdoor is enough to melt our brains away.  So, it's really quite crazy that we are having spicy hotpot.  We heard of the 9 square spicy hot pot and needed to try it out.  

There are several soup base, but we are here for this spicy one only.  We thought the 9 squares means that each slot would have a different degree of spiciness.  However, when the pot arrived, the compartments aren't fully separated.  So, each slot is the same level of spiciness....By the way, that pot is just "mildly spicy".  They have mild, medium and hot to choose from.  If that's mild, I can't imagine what hot is like.

We didn't ordered much and glad about it.  Turns out we couldn't eat much.  It's way too spicy for me.  Just a few mouthful and my stomach calls it quit.  Totally no appetite for anymore.  Don't get me wrong, the soup base is very yummy, just very spicy.  Everything tastes great, but it's just that my stomach can't handle their level of spiciness.

We ordered ducks blood, not something common in Hong Kong.  Cho and I love ducks' blood.  It's more sturdy and tastier than pigs.

Also had potato noodle, veggie and deep fried soy bean rolls.  

That's their large order of beef.

They have lots of ingredients that we can add to our soy sauce, but it's really not necessary as the soup is flavorful enough.  We didn't really need any dipping sauce.

In the above pics, you can see what the soy bean roll looked like before boiling in the hotpot.....this is what it looks like afterward.  From pale yellow to bright orange!  Completely covered in spicy oil.

Then we realize one of the various reasons for the different slots may be to make different level of chilli oil after boiling.  After the pot starts boiling, the chilli oil will start moving to the slots away from the center.  Some lots will have more chilli oil than other, but basically, all the slots other than the middle one is hot like hell.  So, I only ate from the middle slot....

Address:

G/F, 26-36 Prat Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui

尖沙咀寶勒巷26-36號地舖

Chuan Po Po is at point V in Places Part 2:

Chi