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Qimin Chicken

Organic hotpot bubbles up in a rustic villa - By Billy, Jul 16, 08

Shanghai's pioneer organic restaurant is situated in a decidedly inauspicious locale. Over recent years a handful of western places have opened and closed in this old Shanghai villa on Shanxi Bei Lu, none of them ever establishing a foothold.

Qimin is doing things differently from its forebears; the art deco exterior is now painted stone gray and burgundy and large windows look out onto a cultivated garden with stalks of bamboo. What's more, Qimin is Chinese owned and managed, serving one of the most authentic cuisines – hotpot - in an upscale setting. The restaurant's name is derived from China's classic cookbook, the Qimin Yaoshu.

A quick word on organic: becoming a licensed organic farm or venue requires muddling through an extensive legal process to prove that all produce is untainted by pesticides and meat is never "genetically modified" - fed growth hormones. Qimin, for instance, imports its vegetarian ingredients from a farm in Kunshan and its mountain raised, free-range chicken from Taihu.

Qimin's interior décor can only be described as rustic – burnt reds and all wood generate a farmhouse ambiance. Simple but elegant photography of freshly picked strawberries dripping with dew and other ripening fruits are hung sparingly on the earthy walls. Complementing the overall décor is exquisite glassware. A private room on the second floor is enclosed by opaque glass and is big enough for a small gathering will be completed in the near future.

So often the mention of hotpot conjures images of Chinese-style fondue with twelve people and their 24 chopsticks diving into a filthy steel bowl where meats and veggies mingle with floating unidentifiables.

As a pleasing and complete departure from this mental vision, Qimin's set menus are catered with the single diner and hygiene in mind. One can order a la carte, but the set menus are the way to go.

Qimin offers different "levels" of set menu but all include appetizer and a consommé of your choosing in which to cook your hotpot ingredients. My appetizer arrived on a white plate in four partitions, each of which contained a dainty a color-complementary morsel. A small mouthful of succulent cabbage doused in special sauce, long-stemmed shitake mushrooms floating in delicate butter sauce, a deviled mushroom bursting with fluffy egg and bite-size pieces of dark meat chicken made for a striking contrast in flavors. Light sauces and small portions ensure you'll still have an appetite for your main.

The broth at Qimin Organic Hotpot "took us half a year to perfect," says Stephanie Ho, General Manager of YFY Biotech. "The Qimin Manual calls for the bones to be splintered and then simmered at 80°C for 6 hours, during which time it is carefully strained." The result is a light but flavorful broth that doesn't weight you down.

Presentation of the actual hotpot ingredients is unique. Each diner receives a tiered platter laden with a colorful array of veggies, the meat of his choosing and a set of multiple tongs, for ladling, straining and stirring. A waiter ignites the personal stove at your place setting, which reaches 140 degrees centigrade. As usual, vegetables take longer to simmer so toss them in the pot first. On the other hand, thinly sliced pieces of pork cook within minutes.

The set meal is called for one person, but after finishing the last scrap of lettuce I realized that the meal could probably be shared by two provided they are less than ravenous.

Attentive, efficient, and donning silk costumes, the servers speak very little English but are knowledgeable about their craft. Qimin is new, but so far it attracts locals and foreigners alike. The restaurant also appears to cater a late night crowd - business picks up around 9pm.

Set menus for 120rmb, 150rmb and 200rmb.

For more information on the organic trends in China click here for an article by SmSh writer, Bruce.

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