Ji Xing Hotpot: Affordable hotpot with 5 types of soup bases & dry mala from S$6.50 at PLQ Mall Kopitime foodcourt
Located in the KopiTime foodcourt at PLQ Mall is Ji Xing Hotpot, which opened on 10 July 2022. It adopts the standard mala concept, where you can pick and choose your desired ingredients and place them in a bowl before passing them on to the staff to prepare the dish for you.
Since its launch, Ji Xing Hotpot’s vision is to focus on helping its customers achieve their daily vitamin intake through a bowl of Ji Xing soup with their wide range of fresh ingredients and healthy soup bases.
I’m sure you’ve tried mala at least once in your life or probably heard your family and friends raving about it. Originating from Chongqing, China, this spice is notoriously known to numb your tongue, and is currently one of Singapore’s popular obsessions.
There’s a plethora of ingredients to choose from at Ji Xing Hotpot. From various noodles ranging from sweet potato noodles, bee hoon, and instant noodles; to meats, seafood, vegetables and other assorted delights. A minimum weight of 300 grams is required to be taken.
Besides Ma La Dry, Ji Xing Hotpot also has five different kinds of soup bases. They are Pork Bone Soup, Ma la Soup, Milk Soup, Tomato Soup, and Pickled Vegetable Soup (S$1.20 for each).
What I tried at Ji Xing Hotpot
I was treated to a variety of different tastes, textures, and sensations during my meal at Ji Xing Hotpot, together with my two colleagues, Pavin and Rachel. We tried a different combination for each of their six options to get the full-on experience.
I started things off with their Ma La Dry (S$8). For this combination, I chose ee mee, black fungus, sausage, crabstick, white cabbage, and nai bai (milk cabbage).
Upon taking the first spoonful of ee mee, I found the balance of the mala spices to be just right— it wasn’t too spicy nor too mild for me. The only gripe I had was that the noodles didn’t match well with the flavour. Rachel commented, “You should have taken instant noodles for this, it would’ve been nicer.” I regretted my decision and made sure I’d remember which combination works better in the future— no more ee mee with mala!
The black fungus was cooked well with the right texture and the nai bai retained its colour and wasn’t overcooked. Overall, it was a good bowl of mala that worked well for the three of us.
Rachel and I were excited to try their Milk Soup (S$9.70). We took beef slices, pork belly, fish cake, broccoli, and oyster mushrooms for this.
The Milk Soup was robust and had a subtle tinge of mala pepper lingering on our tongues, which made this soup quite unique. Although there was a layer of chilli oil on top which gave us an impression that it was going to be spicy, it surprisingly wasn’t!
The pork belly slices were tender and melted into my mouth upon eating them. The beef tasted great as well. However, I wished that the beef slices were a bit more tender as they needed a little mouth-work to break them down.
The oyster mushrooms were sliced thinly and I loved how the earthy taste of the mushrooms was enhanced by the flavourful Milk Soup. The fish cake and broccoli were good accompaniments to the overall bowl of broth as well.
We then moved on to the Pork Bone Soup (S$10.80). It consisted of pork belly slices, beef slices, lobster cheese balls, meat balls, black fungus, and di huang miao (emperor sprouts).
There were wolfberries, red dates, and something else very interesting in the Pork Bone Soup— fried chickpeas. The mini yellow pearls were fried to a crisp and added an element of crunch to the soup which was satisfying. The broth itself was flavourful with slight hints of bitterness coming from the Chinese herbs, which wasn’t overpowering.
The lobster cheese balls had a satisfying chewy texture and contained a savoury liquid cheese surprise within. The dark yellow cheese filling was thick and didn’t possess any strong artificial taste.
For the Pickled Soup (S$14.60), we selected a Hotpot (+S$3.80) option for this that’s included in the pricing. It came in a personal mini silver pot with an adjustable burner underneath. This pot was chocked full of ingredients. It contained wanton noodles, pork belly slices, chicken, one sausage, black mushrooms, nai bai, fish slices, sotong, fish balls, and prawns. The crispy chickpeas were also present in this pot.
The Pickled Soup had a good balance of tangy notes extracted from the pickled vegetables coupled with the savouriness of the stock. I felt like I could finish the entire bowl myself as the acidity helped cut down the richness of the soup, allowing me to have more without feeling overwhelmed.
I could taste the freshness of the seafood served at Ji Xing Hotpot, and they had no stale fishy smells. The sotong wasn’t rubbery and the prawns were firm— they were cooked very well.
We proceeded with the Ma La Soup (S$7.80), which consisted of instant noodles (I heeded Rachel’s advice), you mai cai (chinese cabbage), luncheon meat, potatoes, and beef slices.
Being a fan of dry mala, I’ve not really tried out mala soup. The spices of the broth came in with a bang, and the numbing peppers took effect— I was sweating in a good way.
The instant noodles matched perfectly like what Rachel recommended, and the satisfying cubes of luncheon meat tied everything nicely together— I’m officially a mala soup fan after trying this!
We ended our meal with the Tomato Soup (S$8.50). I adopted a vegetarian approach for this— tang hoon, tau pok, cabbage, eggplant and enoki mushrooms.
As I was down to my sixth and final bowl, I’m glad I took all the light ingredients for this. The tang hoon was smooth and paired well with the tomato broth. The flavours of the tomato soup were strong and would be a hit for those who are seeking something healthy without sacrificing flavour.
The tau pok acted as a terrific ‘sponge’ that soaked up all the goodness of the broth and was satisfying when popped into my mouth.
Final Thoughts
Over at Ji Xing Hotpot, all the ingredients are hygienically organised in chillers with film guards to prevent flies from getting to the food. Just choose what ingredients you feel like having and they are conveniently cooked for you together with your desired broth.
Whether you’re someone who prefers strong spicy flavours like Ma La, or something not as cloying like the Pickled Soup, there’s bound to be something to suit everyone’s taste buds.
Head over to KopiTime food court located on the 4th floor of PLQ mall and give Ji Xing Hotpot a go or visit their other outlet. Trust me, you’ll be spoilt for choice.
Expected damage: S$6.50 – $15 per pax
Ji Xing Hotpot (Paya Lebar Quarter)
10 Paya Lebar Road, Paya Lebar Quarter, #04-11, Singapore 409057
Kopitime Foodcourt @PLQ Mall 4th Floor
Opening Hours: 10am – 9pm (Daily)
Ji Xing Hotpot (Choa Chu Kang)
Blk 309, Choa Chu Kang Ave 4, #01-01, S680309
NTUC Foodfare @ Choa Chu Kang Centre
Opening Hours: 10am – 9pm (Daily)
*This post is brought to you in partnership with Ji Xing Hotpot.
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