If you have a food question swirling in your head, who do you ask? Bing!

QUESTION
People love to eat hotpot for Lunar New Year; and it’s an important tradition. We love hotpot, too! Could we get you to share your favourite hotpot venue?

BING’S ANSWER
Hotpot is, indeed, an important tradition for Lunar New Year. It’s a symbol of reunion and unity, of family bonds and harmony, of prosperity and abundance. But I must confess that I love hotpot for any time, not just Lunar New Year!

My favourite hotpot venue is Tong Xin Ru Yi.

Image Credit Bing Blokbergen-Leow

Guests have a choice of over 15 types of soup bases but my favourite soup base there is their Golden Chicken Soup. Guests can also choose to have a Yuan-Yang pot: this presents two different soups.

Flavour is very important to me; everything that I put in my mouth needs to be tasty! Tasting the soup and ingredients is paramount. So I tend to choose soup bases that do not cover the taste of the ingredients, and the ingredients must be really fresh. I find that Tong Xin Ru Yi fulfils both criteria really well every single time I go there. And yes, I’ve gone back many times!

I usually order both cooked and raw food at Tong Xin Ru Yi.

Clockwise from left: BBQ Frog, Fried Mint Leaf, Golden Pumpkin Cakes - Image Credit Bing Blokbergen-Leow

My favourite cooked items are the:

• • Shanghai-style Free-Range Chicken: thickly sliced poached chicken with a spring onion sauce,
  • the Mala Xiao Long Xia – peeled by the team,
  • Beef Black Tripe with Spicy Sauce,
  • Fried Free-Range Chicken Egg,
  • BBQ Frog,
  • Fried Mint Leaf, and
  • Golden Pumpkin Cake 

I have tried other items, and it is good every time.  

L-R: Mala Xiao Long Xia and Shanghai-style Free-range Chicken -- Image Credit Bing Blokbergen-Leow

To clarify, I don’t always order everything. I cherry-pick what I feel like eating each time.

For this Chinese New Year, I was eyeing the

• • Crispy Golden Radish Balls,
  • Lotus Root Fritters, and
  • Mango Pomelo Sago to wash everything down!

It is hard not to salivate when I look at their menu.  God, I am hungry as I type!

Anti-clockwise from top left: Pork Aorta, Tofu and NZ Premium Mutton -- Image Credit Bing Blokbergen-Leow

For raw food, I would recommend different proteins - but that is also because I like variety.  

I usually order:

• • US Premium Beef,
  • Teochew Beef Balls,
  • Japanese Black Pig,
  • Pork Aorta,
  • NZ Premium Mutton, and
  • a variety of vegetables, mushrooms and tofu such as
    • Gracilaria,
    • Crown Daisy,
    • Black Fungus,
    • Tofu and
    • Enoki Mushroom.

L-R: Japanese Black Pig and US Premium Beef -- Image Credit Bing Blokbergen-Leow 

And when it comes to dip – I am boring. Just give me the basic ingredients of

• • Garlic,
  • Chinese Coriander,
  • Fresh Red Chilli – sliced,
  • Soy Sauce,
  • Vinegar, and
  • Sesame Oil.

Just fresh and good quality; I would be a happy girl.

If you book a private room, the sauce comes in a trolley.  But do expect to pay for the sauce. Of course, it’s because you get what you pay for. 一分钱、一分货 (yī fēn qián, yī fēn huò)!