Welcome to the West 102nd & 103rd Streets Block Association
Contact us via
  • Home
  • Board of Directors
    • Bylaws
  • Join Us
  • Blog
  • Events Calendar
  • Resources
    • YouTube Page
    • Alternate Side Parking
    • Tree, Hydrant, and Lamp Map
    • Eco-friendly Block
    • Open Streets W. 103rd Street
    • Bloomingdale Aging In Place
    • Hunger Resources
    • Bloomingdale History
    • TriBloomingdale
  • Quarterly Newsletter
  • Hall of Fame
    • 2024 Honorees
    • 2023 Honorees
    • 2022 Honorees
    • 2021 Honorees
    • 2020 Honorees
    • 2019 Honoree
    • 2018 Honorees
    • 2017 Honorees
    • 2016 Honorees
    • 2015 Honorees
    • 2014 Honorees
    • 2013 Honorees
    • 2012 Honoree
    • 2011 Honorees
    • 2010 Honorees

Hyper Local Eats: Choose Your Spice Level

6/17/2018

1 Comment

 

108 Food Dried Hot Pot

Picture
By Caitlin Hawke

Ma La. If you've ever tasted a sichuan peppercorn you know of what I speak. And Ma La is what you'll get, in literal varying degrees, at 108 Food Dried Hot Pot. How to describe this very specific taste? Ma La is to Sichuan cuisine what umami is to Japanese cooking. Indispensable. At its mildest, Ma La is the sensation of a peppery spice that tingles on your tongue. At its strongest, it's a three-alarm fire.

But let me assure you that I don't have a high tolerance for spicy, and 108 Food Dried Hot Pot has just the right level for me.

In what was Cannon's Pub on the southeast corner of Broadway and W. 108th Street in a cheery, cherry red storefront sits 108 Food Dried Hot Pot. It's a humble spot that looks more like a cafeteria or a food court than a mecca for thrill seekers. When Columbia is in session, watch out because the turnover and traffic is prodigious. I even know a colleague who travels 3.5 miles down to this spot when the urge hits.  He's Taiwanese and claims it's the closest he's come to the food he grew up on. I wouldn't be surprised if Tony Bourdain ate there. It's just his kind of place.

I've warmed progressively to this temple of spice. And here now is an ode to the thing on the menu that people come from all points to devour: the dry hot pot.

First keep in mind that you'll have to choose your spice level. The four-point scale goes from non-spicy, to spicy, then medium spicy and finally to very spicy. You'll actually have to choose everything. But be thinking about how brave you plan to be. You might want to be incremental and start on the low end of the Sichuan Richter scale.

That will be the last thing you tell the cashier. And she'll repeat the scale at least twice before you make a stab at the level you want. So think on it. Now.

Before you get to that, you are going to be under a little pressure to choose your stir-fry ingredients. Here, too, I advise prudence. It's priced per pound. Meat, fish and shellfish are weighed separately from the veggies and tofu you'll choose. And you want the person who is choosing your ingredients to not have too heavy a hand if you want variety of ingredients. Again, it's priced per pound.

So you could go surf and turf with sole and chicken, shrimp and pork, or focus on the more exotic meat choices like beef tripe and chicken gizzards. But in between, there are many other delicacies to choose from like squid, shrimp balls, and paper thin slices of fatty beef.

Once you've conquered the meats, turn to the body of your dish. Stoke it with bok choy, cabbage, string beans, enokis, three or four sorts of tofu, eggplant, bean threads, lotus, cellophane noodles and much more.

Then it's on to the weighing and paying. It's by the pound so make sure what you see is what you can eat! A very filling bowl will run you roughly $12-14. After you pay, your selections are whisked back into the kitchen and in 7 minutes later: Behold the Bowl!

Glistening with the spicy oil -- at the heat level you pre-selected -- your hot pot arrives with a side of rice. One bite of the fillet of sole -- slightly crunchy perhaps because it was dusted in flour on its way to a sizzling hot skillet -- and you know there's a master chef in the back. Then a bit of chicken: moist and delicious, again. And the supporting cast of vegetables? All have their crunchy snap. Each element is cooked to perfection and all together make up a meal, bespoke for you and you alone.

You can share a hot pot or create your individual dish.

People are trekking here because the hot pot spot has drawn raves. And you've been walking by it each week wondering what's going on in there.  Wander and wonder no more. Go in. Take your time. Ask for help. And enjoy your creation.

It's not glamorous. And when it's a full house, there can be some bustle. But if you choose your season and the right hour, you are in for one very satisfying, chowhounding meal in the neighborhood.

Just remember to spice it right.


Don't miss a post! To receive Block Association blog posts directly via email, enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Subscribe in a reader
1 Comment
Terence Hanrahan
9/15/2018 07:06:51 am

My family of 3 went last night and ordered 2 bowls to share....it was plenty, and tasty too. Spice level 1 seemed just right for us.
Sitting outside on a Friday night is better than the somewhat noisy and full inside seating.
Better, although Dried Hot Pot does not have a liquor license, the bodega across w108 sells ice cold 6-packs of Montauk Wave Crasher ale that can be enjoyed with your meal.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Aging In Bloomingdale
    BA Events
    Blog Favorites
    Community Issues
    Families
    From The Vault
    Green Neighborhood
    History
    Hyper-local Eats
    It's Elemental
    Local Events
    Mom & Pop
    Neighbors
    Seen
    Throwback Thursday
    Traffic

    Archives

    October 2022
    December 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

    Subscribe to our email list and receive regular news.

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.