Authentic Sichuan flavors — A legendary mountain-city chef from the mainland guest-chefs at Far Eastern Shanghai Zuiyue Lou in Taipei

▲ Chongqing spicy hotpot. (Photo / Provided by Shangri-La’s Far Eastern International Hotel Taipei, the same below)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

From December 7 to 18, Shanghai Zuiyue Lou at Far Eastern Plaza Hotel Taipei (Shangri-La’s Far Eastern International Hotel) has invited Liu Boping, Chairman of the Chongqing Chapter of the China Culinary Arts Elite Alliance and renowned as the “Mountain-City Chef God,” to guest-chef and serve up the ultimate Sichuan cuisine. Recommended dishes include Chongqing spicy chicken, signature tender beef, chef-style boiled fish and sour soup fish, and the classic must-try Chongqing spicy hotpot. À la carte prices range from NT$180 to NT$2,080, with two Sichuan-flavor set menus available at NT$2,200 and NT$2,800.

The base of the Chongqing spicy hotpot includes duck blood, tofu, Sichuan meatballs, handmade noodles, and handmade dumplings. The broth is rich, numbing, and long-lasting in spiciness. It uses beef tallow as the base, infused with highly aromatic and numbing Sichuan peppercorns sourced locally in Chongqing. These are simmered in a rich stock for one hour. When the pot begins to boil, Chef Liu noted that locals typically cook offal such as tripe, meat slices, and blood sausage in the broth. Unlike Chengdu-style hotpot, which features a more fragrant and spice-heavy broth, Chongqing spicy hotpot emphasizes an oily, richly aromatic, and intensely numbing broth with a lower proportion of spices. For this reason, the chef has specially prepared premium seafood and meat ingredients such as Australian wagyu beef, beef stomach, goose intestines, and lobster.


▲ Rice-pepper frog


▲ Chef-style boiled fish