The Lijiang potato chicken hotpot, boasts good chicken and amazing potato from Lijiang. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The chicken is the famous "three yellow" fresh fowl from Shunyi district in Beijing. It is quickly boiled and simmered for five minutes for a tasty and tender bird.

There is no salt or water in the soup, but the restaurant provides a home-brewed soy sauce to dip the meat in, accompanied by saucers of ground "sand ginger" or shajiang, a warming spice. Bird's eye chili with a dash of lemon and lime help whet the appetite.

Peng's Restaurant also takes pride in its "three treasures" - zhusun or the bamboo pith fungus, wild sea cucumber, and dried fish maw from the East China Sea.

Diners can ask for pieces of fresh papaya to be added to their hotpot to increase the health quotient. The restaurant also offers quality beef cuts and a freshly minced prawn paste for the hotpot.

Yang Suqing operates the Tianyuan Chicken Hotpot Restaurant, already a 12-year veteran on the dining scene. At Tianyuan, they are proud that all their chickens are free-range, and raised in Beijing's suburban Huairou district. Daily official quality checks ensure that their birds are always up to standard.

While the ingredients that go into the pot are similar to other hotpot restaurants such as mushroom, vegetables, beef and mutton, bean curd skin and Chinese yam, you do get a taste of what is to come even before you start cooking. You get served a steaming bowl of nutritious milky-white soup while you wait, a broth that has been patiently brewed with Chinese herbs.

Tianyuan is currently encouraging diners with a group coupon promotion, where a set meal for two costs 49 yuan ($8), and four people can dine grandly for just 99 yuan. These deals are available at lashou.com and meituan.com.

Yunnan food seems to have gained a very firm foothold in the capital, and Lijiang Tai'an Potato Chicken Hotpot Restaurant is yet another witness to that trend with its namesake specialty.

There are two versions, a dry pot and a soup pot.

The chicken is good, but the potato from Lijiang is amazing. If you like spicy food, you have to try their delicious chicken fried with potato. The spicy fried rice with preserved vegetables is another hot winner that can be washed down with a rather different mango drink.

This little eatery is located inside a hutong, and is decorated in the style of the famous Yunnan tourist destination. It is a friendly place, with an even friendlier Labrador extending a welcome to diners.

 

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