Hot Spicy Frog @ Yilangtianji 一郎田鸡

This is one of my favourite foods in Shenzhen. The star attraction in this restaurant is frog and according to the publicity posters on the wall, frog is deemed by Chinese Medicine practitioners to be excellent for strengthening the body, especially if you have been weakened from a long illness. In addition, the restaurant further claims that frog meat is high in protein and low in sugars and fat and compared to all the commonly eaten meat, frog is the most nutritious. The owners of this restaurant have taken spices from Guangdong, Sichuan and Hunan cuisine and amalgamated it into a fiery fusion of tastes and then took herbs from Traditional Chinese Medicine and fortified the health benefits. Who says healthy eating has to taste bad?

This restaurant is part of a chain which spans Guangzhou where the first dining establishment opened and pioneered this new way of cooking frog, and various other cities in Guangdong province. As such, the interior is cookie cutter style. And as you can see from the picture, standard hot pot tables and some attempt at differentiation due mostly to the posters extolling the virtues of frog cooked their way on all the walls.



The frog is cooked hot-pot style and as is fashionable among hot pot establishments, some concessions are made to those who will not brave the spicy food. The clear soup base is actually quite tasty but in my opinion, no where in the class of the spicy half.



The frog is HUGE. And here's a tip. When the dish is first served, although the frog is pre-cooked and ready to eat, curb the urge to dive into it immediately. Let the contents of the hot pot boil for about 10 minutes before starting. At this point, the frog meat will be absolute heaven - tender, succulent, and it simply drops off the bone at the first bite.



Here is another shot of the frog to get an idea of scale.



The rest of the menu is hot pot style. You pick an assortment of meat and vegetables which are served raw and you cook it in the hot pot. Having tried this place several times, I would venture to suggest that you skip all the rest of the menu altogether. Perhaps pick a vegetable or some mushrooms to complement the frog but no more. The rest of the food is average and pale in comparison to the frog.

The address:
Yilangtianji, Nanhai Road (opposite Nanyou Building), Nanshan District, Shenzhen 一郎田鸡　深圳南山南海大道(南油大厦对面)
Google Maps directions




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