Founders of Qimin Organic Hotpot promote the idea of healthy fare with seasonal vegetables and selections with labels of their origins.[Photo provided to China Daily]

For the meat selections, the idea is to label its origin as specifically as possible. The pork belly, for example, is from the black breed in Anhui province, which is believed to be the most original pig breed in China; the white type introduced from the West is now more common. The black breed is richer in fat, but makes all your marathons, your yoga, your gym squats or just working overtime on the corporate treadmill worthwhile. The lardy rice, meanwhile, topped with spring onions and crunchy cracklings, makes you want to give up any and all diet plans.

With complete confidence in its array of ingredients, the kitchen prepares the simmering broth, or soup base, in a most plain way, never wanting to steal the thunder of the carefully selected ingredients. Does it make the kitchen work easier? Yes. But much of the overall workload of the restaurant just comes earlier, as a lot gets done at the farm.

There is also a wide selection of Taiwan snack-food appetizers, like salty and crispy-fried chicken, and bamboo shoot with mustard-mayonnaise. Those are not really conventional starters for a hotpot meal. But if you want an authentic bite of Taiwan delicacy, they are worth a visit all by themselves.

If you go

Qimin Organic Hotpot Marketplace

3/F, No 191 Hengshan Road, Xuhui district, Shanghai. 021-5465-9195.