Guantang Town (官塘镇), located in Xiangqiao District of Chaozhou (潮州市.湘桥区), is well-known for authentic Teochew-Swatow (Chao-Shan, 潮汕) beef hotpot, using incredibly fresh beef from local slaughterhouses that is often sliced and served within hours of butchering without being frozen. The local style of hotpot with fresh beef slices is known as Guantang Beef Hotpot (官塘牛肉火锅) and is one of the culinary representatives of Chao-Shan cuisine.
Guantang Niu Da Ka Beef Hotpot (官塘牛大咖牛肉火锅) is a restaurant located near Chaozhou Ancient City (潮州古城), right outside Borrman Hotel (柏曼酒店), and serves Guantang Beef Hotpot as its key signature.
For Guantang Beef Hotpot, either dry-style or with soup, a list of soup bases or sauces, ranging from clear, light broth (清谈) to Chao-Shan braised soup / satay sauce (潮汕卤水 / 潮汕沙茶) to mala (麻辣香锅) or combinations of any two sauces (鸳鸯锅底), are available for selection. Several types of fresh beef slices from different parts of a cow are highlighted on their menu.
Aside from beef hotpot, other cooked beef dishes like fried beef kway teow, beef offal, hand-beaten beef balls, etc, and Chao-Shan delicacies, including goose meat and oyster omelette, are also available.
Typical of any restaurants serving beef hotpot, there is always a chart on one wall to explain the names of meats on different parts of a cow and recommended durations, usually in seconds, to boil the meats in the hotpot. The meats are from 10 parts of a cow, sliced using 10 different cutting techniques to give 10 different textures and tenderness to satisfy the palates.
On the self-service counter for condiments, primary condiments such as Chao-Shan sha cha / satay sauce (沙茶酱), chilli paste, spring onion, spring garlic and coriander are in sauce trays — these are recommended for the hotpot. Other condiments, such as vinegar, soy sauce, dark sauce, etc, are placed to one side for customers who want stronger taste.
The highly-recommended way to have beef hotpot and highlighting the meats’ freshness, original flavours and tenderness is to opt for a simple, light broth (清谈养生汤底) that is boiled with beef bones and served with radish, bitter gourd, dates, wolf berries, corns, etc. Strong tasting soup bases / sauces may change the flavour of the meat and more for non-first-timers.
Our orders of Self-made Beef Balls (自制牛肉丸, 4 pieces) and Self-made Beef Tendon Balls (自制牛筋丸, 4 pieces) need to be added to the hot soup as well before eating. Both types of hand-pounded beef balls are tender and juicy with bouncy textures — the beef tendon balls are firmer and bouncier. It is definitely a must to try both types.
Our orders of fresh beef slices are: (from right to left) leaner tenderloin (嫩肉), diaolong (吊龙) from the upper back, and the heavy-marbled, melt-in-the-mouth snowflake (雪花) — we picked the most tender of all the parts. The tenderness of the different meats vary and very fresh indeed.
We added a serving of cow’s tongue (牛舌) as well. It has a very different texture, firmer, bouncier and chewier. An unique experience for us to try it hotpot-style though we have tasted cow’s tongue as grilled and braised before.
Although there are recommendations on the boiling durations for each type of meat, I will check the colour of the meat visually when boiling to ensure they are not over-cooked — slightly pinkish.
We have a go at another Chao-Shan delicacy too — the Oyster Omelette (蚝烙). Although similar dishes are available in Singapore and Malaysia, usually called “蚝煎”, the Chao-Shan-style oyster omelette is served in one whole piece after frying with medium-size oysters, duck eggs, tapioca starch and spring onions using lard oil. It is non-oily, crispy and accompanied by a dipping sauce concocted from fish sauce and white pepper powder. It may be a familiar dish, but the flavours vary a lot. It is another unique experience to try the Chao-Shan dish.
Aside from Beef Hotpot, other popular dishes we tried at Niu Da Ka include fried beef kway teow, beef offal and braised goose meat. The Kailan Beef Fried Kway Teow (芥兰牛肉炒粿条) is nicely-fried with tender beef slices, crisp kailan and thick, chewy kway teow with light sauce. The Beef Offal (美味牛杂) comprises of beef briskets with tendons, cow’s stomach and tripe garnished with scraped turmeric and spring onions and is a delightful dish with varying textures.
The small-size Braised Goose Meat Platter (鹅肉拼盘) is actually from the restaurant next door which serves Xikou-style Goose Meat (溪口鹅肉) — similar to A-Hao Xikou Goose Meat Shop (溪口阿浩鹅肉店). The nicely-braised, non-fatty goose meat are tender as expected. Underneath the spread of goose meat are pieces of bouncy goose blood cubes and soft goose liver.
Niu Da Ka is a nice restaurant to go for Guantang beef hotpot and various beef dishes. It is also a convenient place to try other Chao-Shan delicacies.
Address:
No. 4 Chengxin Road, Xiangqiao District, Chaozhou City, Guangdong, China
中国广东省潮州市湘桥区西新街道城新路4号 — Baidu Map
Opening Hours:
10am to 12am | Daily
Nearby:
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