I love steamboats. Or rather, now the fashionable new term is “hotpot” – that sounds more appropriate? Anyway, whether it’s good old-fashioned “steamboat” or funky “hotpot”, I always enjoy it because it’s simple and nutritious and I love soups. So, when I was invited to check out Xiao Lao Wang Hotpot, even though it’s all the way in Sungei Buloh New Village, the journey there was worth it.
Xiao Lao Wang Hotpot is opened by the same people who opened Kissaten in Jaya One and the Lammeeya outlets – does that sound familiar? It’s located in Sungei Buloh at the same premise which used to house LYJ Pun Choy Restaurant. Barely 3 weeks old, the restaurant is packing in the crowds daily.
The first thing that strikes me about the soup here is that it’s milky white. And that comes from a base stock of boiling pork bones, chicken, pig stomach and salmon head. Pamela Jan, the gregarious gracious host, is very proud of their soup stock and obviously many trials had been done to come up with a version that she’s finally happy to serve her customers. We had two pots of soup: one with salmon head and tomatoes and the other one with pig stomach.
Looking through their plastic laminated menu, the selection of ingredients is pretty extensive. There are also Hotpot Sets and platters if you don’t want to bother with individual orders. For example, Small Hotpot Sets for 1-2 pax start as low as RM20.80, Medium Sets (4-6 pax) from RM38.80 and Big Hotpot Sets (6-8 pax) from RM62.80.
From the menu, there’s a wide variety of Fresh Meats, Smoked Meats, Fresh Seafood, Meat Balls & Paste, Innards, Mushrooms, Vegetables, Rice & Noodles and Side Orders. Fresh meats include slices of pork belly, tenderloin, neck, beef sirloin, lamb and kampong chicken. I was quite fascinated that they also serve smoked duck, luncheon meat and bacon!
Pork Neck Slices
Beef Sirloin Slices
Bacon-wrapped Enoki
Smoked Duck
Luncheon Meat
Fresh seafood is aplenty… ranging from mud crabs, Japanese squids, scallops to river prawns, mussels and oysters.
My favourites are their own-made balls and paste. The balls are all freshly made and bouncy… I love their Mushroom Pork Balls, Beef Balls, Celery Pork Balls, Sotong Pork Balls and Sotong Balls. They also have Prawn Paste, Fish Paste with Tobikko and Chicken Paste held in a bamboo casing. If you love innards, you’d go crazy with the pig stomach, liver and kidney slices!
Besides the usual sweet corn and green leafy vegetables, they have some unique ones like lotus roots, pumpkin slices, white radish and hairy gourds. Even for mushrooms, there’s a good selection: shimeiji, eringi, shitake, enoki, white jade or plain abalone mushrooms.
Once you have placed your orders, and while waiting for the soup to boil, it’s time to go to the sauces counter and make your own concoction of dipping sauce. Yes, from the numerous pots containing fermented beancurd sauce, sesame sauce, chilli sauce, black vinegar, mushroom sauce, sweet sauce, chopped garlic, ginger, chillies, coriander leaves and spring onions, you can mix and match to your heart’s content!
If you need some carbs to go, Xiao Lao Wang serves 2 delicious Claypot Rice items – Hong Kong Twin Sausage Rice (RM18.80) and Double Liver & Smoked Duck Rice (RM16.80). Both are equally good, just choose your meat preference! The smoked meats used are of good quality as their aromas and flavours are firmly infused into the rice.
Hong Kong Twin Sausage Rice
Double Liver & Smoked Duck Rice
At the end of the meal, after dunking in all the ingredients, it’s hard not to slurp off the delicious and sweet soup. Not a drop should be wasted.
Xiao Lao Wang Hotpot
PT 11 Jalan Perkhidmatan
Kampung Baru Sg Buloh
Selangor
Tel: 03-61402595
that’s a lot of food.. yum.. best thing about hot pot is also the company! get to yack for ages while waiting for the food to cook:)
Haha..yeah, keep the mouth busy not only with food, but with lots of stories to share!
Time to round up some kaki! Preferably those who can eat spare parts…hahaha =)
I think I will not go back to normal steamboat after trying this 😛
Yep, pretty good benchmark set here!