Ah Lien Hot Pot

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/ah-lien-hot-pot-irvine
Whoa... My new favorite hot pot place...opened about a month now... They have sour cabbage soup stock which reminds me of Wuji's (closed) in RH.  The spicy hot pot is more Taiwanese flavor than Little Sheeps.  Definitely more aromatics than Little Sheeps kick-you-in-the-face herbal concoction.  Recommend getting half orders of everything so you can sample their extensive menu.  The fried doughnut is a must get..  It is fried extra crispy so even after cooking in the broth for a minute, it retains the crunch.  They also have my favorite "dried" squid; the reddish pinkish ones instead of the white fresh calamari you see at most places.  Weekday lunch specials have beef stew noodle and fried rice as well for the lunch crowd.  Hope they stay open, not the best location, but I will travel out there to give them my business.
 
Hotpot is easy to prepare from the comfort of your home!  Just go to H-Mart to get all those ready sliced shabu shabu meats and veggies.  For the soup base, just use canned chicken broth mixed with water. A no brainer! I always enjoyed hotpot at home.

I bet they will be out of business before year's end. Good luck  :p
 
Well....try it first...see if you can replicate their soup stock....also need freshly diced green onions, onions, cilantro, minced garlic, garlic soy sauce, sesame sauce, peanut sauce, leek soy sauce....bottom line is... $25 to eat at home and get a smidgen of the taste variety here or spend $15 more to eat out, give your taste buds a workout and the best thing is....I don't have to clean up old satay and the "thickened" soup stock with all the leftovers... That's just nasty...
 
ps9 said:
Well....try it first...see if you can replicate their soup stock....also need freshly diced green onions, onions, cilantro, minced garlic, garlic soy sauce, sesame sauce, peanut sauce, leek soy sauce....bottom line is... $25 to eat at home and get a smidgen of the taste variety here or spend $15 more to eat out, give your taste buds a workout and the best thing is....I don't have to clean up old satay and the "thickened" soup stock with all the leftovers... That's just nasty...
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The leftover soup stock can be very tasty, just throw in some bean thread noodles, and it should soak up most of the soup and make a tasty dish.  :p
 
Ate there for lunch a few weeks ago.  The owner said their beef noodle was very good, so I ordered it.  I thought was interesting that it's pretty sour.  Half way through my bowl, I hear the guy at the next table ask the waiter whether or not the beef noodle is supposed to be sour, the waiter said she'll ask.  Didn't really pay attention and continued eating.  A few minutes later, I look over and see the guy had switched to pork chop rice, and his beef noodle was gone (!!)  I had already finished my bowl, but thought I would ask the owner anyway, and he said no, it's not supposed to be sour, they don't add vinegar or any pickled veggies.  He went away and came back and said he tasted the stock, and it's bad and he threw away the whole pot.  Great, I ate the whole thing.  It didn't taste rotten, just tasted like they added a lot of vinegar.  Thought about that bowl of beef noodles the whole day and was ready to bolt from work at the slightest stomach growl.  I was fine for the next few days, so I think the chef might have mistaken the black vinegar for soy sauce. 
 
Confusing black vinegar with soy sauce occurs quite often....remember my family always do the smell test with the condiment bottles even if it was clearly labeled...mouthful of vinegar can ruin your palette...so did the owner comp you the meal? 

Bowl of vinegar should be fine....the acid would've killed off the bad micros...
 
ps9 said:
Confusing black vinegar with soy sauce occurs quite often....remember my family always do the smell test with the condiment bottles even if it was clearly labeled...mouthful of vinegar can ruin your palette...so did the owner comp you the meal? 

Bowl of vinegar should be fine....the acid would've killed off the bad micros...
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Yeah, I did get comped for the noodles.  BTW, the noodles wasn't that great even if it wasn't sour.  The noodles are not fresh noodles (irony not intended), but the dry variety that you buy by the box at 99 ranch. 
 
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