Zao Po Cu Vinegar Hotpot • Must Try in Puqian, Haikou, Hainan 渔家人铺前糟粕醋火锅第一家

Wenchang Hainan is well known to foreigners for their chicken rice, Jia Ji duck, Dong Shan lamb, and He Le crab. Actually, Wenchang has a few other local specialties such as qing pu liang, and bao luo fen noodle. Recently, another dish, zao po cu 糟粕醋 hotpot has been in the limelight and has emerged as another must try dish in Hainan.

During this trip to Hainan, I was introduced to 糟粕醋 hotpot i.e. hotpot with vinegar from glutinous rice wine dregs as stock base. 

It's a traditional type of hotpot, so most ingredients are natural and fresh. It is delicious and clean tasting. The dish is very popular in Puqian town 铺前镇 where it originated and in Haikou city, capital of Hainan. 糟粕醋火锅 Zao po chu hotpot restaurants are sprouting up across China, including in megapolises like Beijing and Shanghai.

The restaurant we went to in Haikou is known as 渔家人铺前糟粕醋火锅第一家 which translates literally as Fishing Family Puqian Town First Dregs Vinegar Hotpot.

When travelling, I look out for hyperlocal esperiences like 渔家人铺前糟粕醋火锅第一家. The space was full of energy, filled with cacophony of chatter, everyone was very comfortable, in casual dressing or no tops at all 🤗🫢 🙈

No decor, no frills, no problem, just enjoying life. 

The menu and prices were on a large board. 

Customers choose from the daily fresh, catch of the day. 

The hotpot stock base is dregs vinegar 糟粕醋 which has medium body and tastes savoury tangy sweet with subtle spicy heat. Glutinous rice and sweet potato are fermented together in a large jar for a month. The resulting sourish concoction is mixed with fried garlic and chili oil to make the sour, sweet, spicy, savoury zao po cu stock.

I like tangy hotpot stock as it seems to make everything it touches sweet (in my opinion). Reminds me of the preserved cabbage stock hotpot in Kaohsuing and Taipei which were also appetisingly sourish. 

There could be up to 100 options of things to put into our hotpot. We chose a few only.

Some of the fishes available when we were at the restaurant.

Succulent, plump, soft, juicy, fresh oysters. 

I blanched it, making sure it was fully cooked. Smooth, creamy, milky, forgot how many I ate 🤭

Must try the fresh sand worms. The innards were well cleaned out. 

Just blanch and enjoy! 

Texture was like chicken intestine but finer. While chicken intestine is flavourless, blanched fresh sand worm is sweet. 

Well cleaned, fresh, meaty clams. 

Staff came around to top up the dregs vinegar regularly, keeping the pot filled to the brim. 

There was a layer of gelatine between the soft but thick skin and tender fish meat. 

Small squid with eggs. 

Just beef. Just love the soft tender beefy sweet beef. 

I love this. It's a kind of seaweed. Simply dunk it in the boiling stock. The strands of seaweed will simply pick up the stock and all the flavours from fish, clams, whatever food that passed through that hot stock hotpot.

The seaweed itself has a slight sourish taste. Combine this sourness with the sweet, savoury, sour flavours in the stock, we have a wonderfully delicious dish with many layers of flavours. 

Lots of different sauces, condiments and aromatics to eat your hotpot with. I chose the familiar garlic, chili and peanut sauce. 

Rice boiled with yam and stock was the perfect complement for the hotpot dishes. 

This was exactly the type of experience I look for during travel. Gritty, non pretentious, authentic and delicious. Eat, enjoy like a local, appreciate and learn, there's no need to judge (should our palate not be used to the taste profile). When you come to Hainan, 糟粕醋火锅 zai po cu hotpot is one dish you need to experience.

Restaurant name: Fisherman Renpuqian Zaopocu Hotpot No.1 渔家人铺前糟粕醋火锅第一家

Address: China, 楼铺面1号CN 海南省 海口市 美兰区 椰林路 邮政编码: 570102

Tel: +861 897 677 1209

Hours: 12:00 noon to 11pm

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Written by Tony Boey on 11 Nov 2024