Trendy hotpot specialist The Drunken Pot is turning back the pages of history for Mother’s Day celebrations this year with a hotpot tribute to China’s ‘Last Empress’.
The brand renowned for modernising Hong Kong’s hot pot tradition has created “The ChrysantheMUM Pot for The QUEEN” reinventing the beloved broth of Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908), arguably the most powerful empress in Chinese history.
Famed for her extravagant imperial lifestyle and obsession with looking beautiful, the legendary Qing dynasty ruler insisted on freshly-picked chrysanthemum petals sprinkled on her hotpot to stay young and pretty – a beauty trick from traditional Chinese medicine, to release toxins, cool the body and nourish skin.
Once considered the pinnacle of Chinese cuisine, this fragrant, healthy floral recipe is now revisited for Mother’s Day so families “can show their love and care for their own Queen,” said The Drunken Pot founder Vivien Shek.
“The ChrysantheMUM Pot for The QUEEN” (HK$288), can be ordered a la carte or in a set from 1 to 31 May at the fashionable sister restaurants in Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay. With smooth egg white topping, the instaworthy pot is sprinkled with edible flowers, for a richer texture and luscious, sheeny glaze resembling an imperial gown.
It features four other broths including two of The Drunken Pot’s best-selling broths, Black Truffle with Assorted Mushroom and Sichuan-Style Numbingly Spicy Broth; and the newly launched Chinese Herbal Broth; and a hotpot-congee fusion of Hong Kong’s two favourite comfort foods, Abalone and Chicken Congee.
Among a vast choice of additional ingredients available a la carte are Chrysanthemum Squid Balls (HK$68 / 4 pcs), made with chrysanthemum and cuttlefish paste.
The ultimate choice is The ChrysantheMUM for the Queen Premium Set (HK$468 per head, for 4 pax or above) featuring the new ChrysantheMUM 5 in 1 Broth with a host of choice ingredients to cook in the pots. These include novel insta-worthy creations such as Piglet Shaped Dumplings, Black Truffle, Shrimp & Crabmeat Dumplings, Foie Gras Minced Pork Balls, Chrysanthemum Squid Balls and more.
Signature favourite specialties also feature Hanging Premium Sliced Angus Beef Short Ribs, Kurobuta Pork Slices, Seafood Platter, Taiwan Duck Maroon Jelly, Sliced Squid Ink Sausages, Freshly Made Egg Noodles, Vegetable Platter, and Deep-Fried Homemade Bean Curd and Seaweed Rolls – along with appetisers of Salted Egg Yolk Fish Crackling and Canada Sea Urchin Sashimi Cap.
A range of appetisers in Asian street-food style such as Chinese Crispy Sticks stuffed with Prawn Paste & Black Truffle Paste (HK$58), Deep-fried Handmade Cheese & Shrimp Balls (HK$58) and Assorted Taiwanese Pot with Stinky Tofu, Fish Maw and Duck Maroon Jelly (HK$138) can also be ordered a la carte as a snack complementing The Drunken Pot’s exotic cocktails – such as Roselle Daiquiri (HK$98), and The Drunken Mule (HK$98).
Since launching in 2015, The Drunken Pot has become a social media phenomenon for its winning concept of ‘new age’ hotpots at The Drunken Pot Tsim Sha Tsui, themed after a rustic fishing market at 2/F, No.8 Observatory Road, and The Drunken Pot Causeway Bay, with breath-taking views over Victoria Harbour from 27/F, V Point, 18 Tang Lung Street.
Both restaurants reinvent the hotpot tradition with premium ingredients and innovative recipes in venues bursting with energy and contemporary style against the backdrop of trendy ‘street art’ and chill-out music with spicy urban grooves.