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[China] From Hot Spicy to Healthy / Many restaurants in line to open beauty hot pot restaurants with "flower gelato"

  • Release date: Dec 23, 2019
  • 4201 Views

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The hottest ingredient for 2019 is the collagen-rich "flower gel"

Since 2019, the number of fish maw hot pot restaurants in Shanghai has been increasing. Specialty restaurants with “hua jiao” (fish maw) in their names—such as Doulaofang Collagen Fish Maw Hot Pot (7 locations in the city) and Fengxian Jiejie Fish Maw Chicken Soup Hot Pot (3 locations)—have been opening one after another, and even long-established popular hot pot restaurants have begun adding fish maw hot pot to their menus.

Fish maw is made by drying and rehydrating the swim bladders of saltwater fish such as croakers. It has a texture similar to wood ear mushrooms. While it has little flavor on its own, it is believed to be rich in collagen that is easily absorbed by the human body, making it particularly popular among women seeking beauty benefits.

When used in hot pot, fish maw is typically eaten in a milky white broth simmered with bone-in chicken. This style is commonly referred to as “fish maw chicken hot pot”, and is often enjoyed with additional healthy ingredients such as mushrooms and seafood.

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Signs of change in hot pot craze as people shun shark's fins

Shanghai has a variety of restaurants specializing in different genres of hot pot, with a different hot pot boom coming every few years (e.g. bullfrog hot pot prior to 2018). Hot pot with huajiao (花胶) is a healthy way to enjoy the taste of light broth, which is quite different from what has been popular in the past. The boom is believed to be due to the emergence of a trend among health-conscious people to shun extremely spicy food and the recent emergence of a segment of the population that does not eat shark fins, which are rich in collagen, from the perspective of environmental protection and animal welfare. Another reason for the accelerated boom is the increase in the number of restaurants in Shanghai in recent years that have come from Hong Kong and Guangdong Province, the home of huajiao cuisine.

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This article is co-authored by TNC Lifestyle Researcher (http://lifestyle.tenace.co.jp/) and INTAGE's Global Researcher.

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  • TNCアジアトレンドラボ

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    TNC ASIA Trend Lab

    TNC ASIA Trend Lab is an information organization run by TNC Inc. that researches and shares trends in Asia. It supports corporate marketing activities by finding insights from trends rooted in the lifestyles and habits of local consumers. http://tnc-trend.jp/

  • Intage Inc

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    Intage Inc.

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