LongQing 隆庆 HotPot – MSG-Free Homemade Soup Base with Fresh Ingredients

LongQing HotPot undeniably places itself as one of the forerunners amongst other hotpot outlets. With its exclusive range of hotpot bases made in-house without MSG, LongQing prides itself in serving nourishing soups for dipping your ingredients in. Much preparation goes into the concoction of each soup base. Starting with their Pork Bone Clear Broth as the base for each soup, it is a derivation from a combination of pork bones, chicken feet, angelica root, rock sugar and salt, left to brew for a minimum of 10 hours.

LongQing offers five kinds of soup bases ($17 for 1 soup; $24 for 2 soup).

• Wild Mushroom Soup: Three kinds of mushrooms (tea tree mushroom, monkey head mushroom and porcini) boiled on high heat for at least 3 hours to get the full umami-ness of the mushroom essence, before blending with the Pork Bone Clear Broth.
• Spicy Mala: Three types of imported dried Szechuan Chilli, brewed with over 20 herbs and ingredients such as garlic and bean paste, to create a mouthwatering, saliva-inducing spicy goodness.
• Shark’s Fin Melon Herbal Soup: “Shark’s fin” melon brewed with 10 different kinds of herbs, before double-boiling for at least 2 hours.
• Lotus Root & Lily Bulb Soup: With the Pork Bone Clear Broth as the base, lotus root, lily bulb and some soybeans are added and double-boiled for at least 4 hours.
• Tomato Soup: Homemade tomato paste created by wok-frying fresh chopped tomatoes, onions and garlic, balanced and brought to a boil in a blend of Pork Bone Clear Broth.

We tried the Wild Mushroom Soup and Spicy Mala where the former was a light and easy-drinking soup while the latter had a stronger profile, with lip-numbing spiciness though we already had it at a level of ‘mild spicy’. Fiery eaters can request for a stronger spice level too!

Shark’s Fin Melon Herbal Soup

Lotus Root & Lily Bulb Soup

For groups of four to six, you might want to consider the Communal Dining Set $188 which comes with a decent variety of meat, seafood, vegetables and 2 soup bases.

If not, an Ala Carte option is available too, ranging from affordably-priced premium beef and pork, innards, live mud crab, fish and other seafoods to homemade pastes, dumplings, vegetables, mushrooms and the rest of the usual hotpot ingredients.

The Pork Cabbage Dumpling $12 was one of my favourites. Though the skin looked thick, it became really soft after being cooked and one bite in, the penned up meat juices burst with flavours in my mouth.

Pork Cabbage Dumpling $12

Another highlight was the Fresh Red Snapper Slice $16 which turned out to be really tender and whitish smooth.

King Oyster Mushroom $5.80

Lotus Root $4.80

Fresh Red Snapper Slice $16

Pork Cabbage Dumpling $12

Fresh Prawn $16

Potato Noodle $3.80

The meats at LongQing are worth every penny. With the Angus Oysterblade (150 days grain-fed angus slice) $22 and U.S. Short Rib (150 days grain fed boneless short rib chef’s cut) $22 sourced from Huber’s Butchery, expect premium quality without the gamey and overly chewy texture.

Our top choice was the Angus Oysterblade, sliced thinly and best for shabu-shabu.

U.S. Short RIb $22

Angus Oysterblade $22

Complement your meal with a series of chilled appetizers such as the Spicy Garlic Pork Belly $10 and Chilled Seaweed with Homemade Sauce $9.80.

Round it off with some crunchy Crispy Fish Skin $6.80 best paired with DIY sauces you can help yourself to.

High recommended is the Crispy Taro Balls $10.80. Though a tad pricy, these darlings were amazeballs with their fried mochi-liked skin peeled apart to ooze out a lava of taro. Limited quantities available per day!

We went on a Monday night and LongQing HotPot was almost full-housed. Service, however, remained efficient and attentive.

While many restaurants come and go, and few even making through its first birthday, LongQing continues to sit through its two years and shines in its own colours. Besides drawing crowds to the comforting MSG-free soup bases, its relatively competitive pricing of the quality ingredients would make you consider coming here for a change.

LongQing HotPot

18 Hongkong Street, Singapore 059661

Tel: +65  6533 1618

Daily: 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM, 5:30 PM – 11:00 PM

Website: https://www.facebook.com/LongQing.sg

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