The final dish we got to enjoy at @enjoyeatinghouse was the Hakka Claypot Hong Zhao Ji, aka red wine chicken ($28++). Red wine chicken isn’t actually cooked with red wine like merlot or cab sav, but it’s chicken cuts cooked in red glutinous rice wine which explains the notable red hue. According to the menu description, it’s known its potent flavour and health benefits that include better blood circulation and metabolism.⠀

I can’t testify to the health benefits part, but I can corroborate the potent flavour part. I prefer my food strongly flavoured, and even I found this to be excessively salty. It might be less overbearing when paired with a bowl of plain, unseasoned white rice, but eating it on its own may cause hypertension. However, this had the effect of impregnating the chicken with a truckload of sapid, delicious flavours right down to the bone. Bonus points for tremendously tender chicken. Even the normally dry chicken breasts were astonishingly juicy, and I had no problems polishing them off without any beverage assistance .⠀

I don’t remember if there was anything else in the claypot, but this Hong Zhao Ji urgently needs more ingredients in there. The easiest fix I can think of would be to add radish cubes into it while braising, which would leech out some of the sodium and exchange it for some sweetness. As it stands, the Hong Zhao Ji at Enjoy Eating House is a dish that needs more complexity to realise its incredible potential.⠀

For the last time for now, thank you for inviting me, @enjoyeatinghouse & @burpple!

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