Yu Jia Fish hotpot – old school steamboat with mod flavours

Not another mala hotpot place, I’m thinking. But Yu Jia Fish hotpot in SS2, PJ, was quite different. Rather than the usual deep sunken soup pot, this comes in an apparatus with charcoal in the centre funnel providing the heat.

Apparently Penang-inspired, the soup base is fish stock and one portion for 2-3 pax (RM73) comes ready with vegetables, fried grouper fish pieces, taro, homemade fishball, tofu, seaweed, celery, coriander. There’s a ready bowl of rice wine to add to the soup, but you can opt to leave this out. Of coz, we put this in! 

There’s also an option of adding milk to the soup, making it similar to fish head noodles. We chose without milk, and asked for the taro to be separated for us to cook at leisure. The first time we came, we left it in and the soup became thick and starchy. 

Even though there were four of us, there was more than enough food, including a few side orders. You can also choose a prawn stock base. The larger pot suits 4-8 pax for RM93. 

You can have this set on its own or add meat slices, seafood, vegetables to soft tofu and more, to it. Besides this, there’s also ready to eat sides like belacan chicken, lobak, fried wantan, Yujia fried meat, etc. 

Most China-style mala hotpot places may have more soup base and meats/condiments to choose from, but everything also adds up. 

I enjoyed this hotpot more as it’s healthier with better quality ingredients at an affordable price. The housemade soybean with chilli sauce is a must-try! 

They don’t take reservations so it’s first come first serve. Even at 9pm people were queueing up, so best to come earlier to get a table.