let me get this straight, the specialty here is everything is steamed? at the table? hmmm, this shouldn't work but i guess if i like hot pot (and that's just boiling food on the table) i should give this a shot. plus, my aunt co-signed and she's legit.
we came on a weeknight, the day after my aunt came home from her business trip to beijing. after 5 days of eating rich/heavy foods in hk, i was ready for something a little lighter. cue chiu fook. they had the typical tanks of seafood outside, laden with all manner of exotic deliciousness from the depths. i wanted to eat it all.
i left the ordering to my aunt and after a weird issue with the built in steamer at our table (they moved us to the next table and the first table promptly started working again - dafuq?!) we were on our way.
i guess they assign a server to man your steamer and do the cooking serving for you. ours was a surly middle-age chinese lady that clearly gave zero f*cks. she skipped the day they were teaching about personality and not talking-like-you're-yelling-at-your-coworkers-even-though-they-right-next-to-you. otherwise, she was coo'. i'm not there to banter with her anyways. she prepped, steamed (to perfection, she had that timing right!), and served everything in what seemed like a deliberate order. her not being the super-social-with-the-customer-type didn't give me much insight into her methodology. that said, everything was f*cking delicious. there's a little sauce station near the cashier where you fancy up your soy sauce base with chilies, cilantro, onion, scallion, garlic, etc..but honestly after a few bites, i didn't need a whole lotta sauce. steaming your seafood (properly) leaves it fully, but not over-, cooked. you get this subtle sweetness you've never noticed before. fml, my mouth is watering as i type this. item after item, cooked the exact same way, was still an adventure. once all our seafood, meats, and veggies were done steaming, she removes the little perforated pan in the middle and *surprise!!* all of the steam condensed into liquid, infused with the flavors of all that stuff we steamed, at the very bottom of the steamer...where she conveniently put uncooked rice at the very beginning, which has now become congee...aww yeah!
i need to figure out how i can recreate this meal at home for real. this was a FANTASTIC break from all that other wildly un-healthy food i been eating all week (all my life?) this joint is on the rotation. read more