Monday, October 20, 2008

Cauldron of Doom!

On Friday night the Steph and I went to dinner with our peeps Esther and Oliver, or henceforth Est-liver (thank you for din-dins guys!), to the Royal Teppan Steak House in Cupertino for a little Hot Pot. This place is located in small little strip mall complex that sort of makes you feel as though you've landed in Taipei or Hong Kong, without your passport. It's just loaded with so much Asia-rificness. The staff at the restaurant barely spoke English to make it more authentic. But what about the food? Ah yes, Hot Pot is sort of like fondue except that it's China-tastic, and they don't fuck with cheese or chocolate. Hot Pot is also a very sexy thing to say to a girl as there is much innuendo that can be experimented with. Such as, if you are on a date and you can tell you're going to score a good way to seal the deal is lean over the boiling vat of broth and say something like "ahh girl, I'd like to be dipped into your Hot Pot!" Like I said, it's pretty much a closer. Also, Hot Pot is known by it's much more whimsical Japanese name, Shabu Shabu, which is just way, way more fun to say Hot Pot. Although not as sexy on the surface, knowing the term Shabu Shabu, and being able to use it in a conversation with Fobby Japanese girls can get your foot in the door to possible Japanese lady action. For example let's say the next time you're hanging, make that lurking, around the Purikura place in Japantown it would be a step in the right direction if you were to ask that Fruits girl who's caught your eye "hey, where can a guy get some good Shabu Shabu around here?" And with that you're halfway there. One of t he great things about Hot Pot is that it's a perfect meal for peeps from vastly different sides of the spice spectrum. If you ask for a half and half they will bring out a pot that has a partition and in one side will be a spice benign yet flavorful broth full of onions and Napa cabbage. On  the other side will be a lavenous vat of fiery hell! Know it by the color of a fire engine and the chili oil sheen of a tanker spill. I was being told actually I was being dared to try the hottest level possible, but the server sort of balked and insisted I try medium. I like to push my own boundaries and I like some heat in every bite but I still like to taste my food. Suffice it to say the Medium was sufficient and was delicious. Although Oliver, a confessed non spicy and as yet unrated  on the spicy scale peep tried valiantly to give it a go and was dispatched quickly with a spice laden blow to the head. Good try son, good try. We ordered squid, lamb, pork, chicken, beef, kidneys and pork blood. Also it was buy one get one free meat night. We had a veritable slaughter house on our table. But we did get some veggies and noodles too. You can also ask for a raw egg which you mix into your dipping sauce to give it a bit more texture. Delightful! Eventually your broth tends to disappear and the servers come around with a refill. On my side she sort of went to town and the result was anything but medium. It was now an absurdly rougey affair. Amazingly it was also a science experiment as the almost purely water based side was at a nice roiling bubbly boil. My side however just sort of sat there and did nothing as if to say to the flame below (for literary purposes only as it was an induction burner) "Your heat is not needed here for I am alight with chilies bright and igneous." In fact i am fairly certain that my side was actually boiling their side. It was at this point that I'd reached a threshold. The heat had indeed buried the flavor. I could dip a piece of cow or a piece of squid and each would taste the same. The advanced level of  capsaicin permeated cracks in my lips and caused me to wince a little bit.  I am not a proud person. I did find it to be spicy but I wasn't sweating it. Hot Pot yummy, Hot Pot good! 

Yes there were photos taken as well as video and as soon as i get them uploaded I'll post them. They really make a statement. But as per usual I have pilfered some photos from other peeps.
Oh look at me on the right in this picture! Notice how the spicy Hot Pot has put a manly or "mandsome" moustache on my upper lip. 
 

These peeps obviously aren't us but I'd say their enjoyment represents our groups overall enthusiasm for "Hot Pot." I feel like the guy on the right would be cast to play me in the TV movie of my life. 


Yeah, that's pretty much your full blown "Hot Pot" right there. Note the nuclear option on the right. I love it!


The Spice must flow....................Just not from our arses. (And no I did not have to camp out on the toilet the next day. It was all good. The "hot in, hot out" thing is a myth.)

No comments: