Feel the Burn: Hakkenden Brings Japanese Heat to Our Hot & Spicy Fest on Apr 14-15

Tracy Wang, Senior Editor | Apr 6, 2018 1:00 pm | Add a comment | 15485 reads

In the lead up to our inaugural Hot & Spicy Festival on Apr 14-15 at Galaxy Soho, we'll Feel the Burn with a few of the vendors to see what fiery wares they'll be slinging come that rapidly approaching fine spring weekend.

The Japanese izakaya chain Hakkenden has plenty of things going for it: their mouthwatering sukiyaki (Japanese hot pot), delicious teriyaki, fried dumplings, numerous choices of sake, along with an authentic atmosphere and surprisingly low prices (check out our first impressions here). On top of all that, the chain also has plenty of worthwhile hot and spicy options, which the Hakkenden team introduced to us just in time for our chili-inspired festival on Apr 14-15. 

Tell us what you'll be bringing to our Hot & Spicy Fest, and what inspired those wares.
Hell fried chicken and tako wasabi (wasabi marinated raw octopus). Our hell fried chicken is inspired by Japanese hell ramen, which is a pork-based Hakata Nagahama-style, super spicy ramen. We strived to match this ramen's level of heat with our chicken.

Tako wasabi, meanwhile, frequently goes with drinks at izakayas, and our rendition has a more pungent kick than typical tako wasabi.

What other spicy dishes do you sell in your restaurant? Which is the most popular and why?
Our teriyaki (Japanese grilled chuan’r) and sashimi specialties are also popular dishes at the restaurant. Both are spicy and authentic.

What drink do you like to pair with spicy food?
Asahi draft or ramune (or marble soda, carbonated soft drink in a distinctive Codd-neck bottle). Both originated in Japan and pair well with our food.

What's the hottest thing you've ever eaten?
Sichuan pickled chili peppers.

What's your go-to spicy comfort food?
Sichuan hot pot, Hunan cuisine, and Guizhou cuisine.

If you're eating something that becomes way too hot, what do you use to cool off?
Binge-drinking cold beer.

Hakkenden, along with 40 more of Beijing’s top purveyors of chili-infused grub, will be in attendance at our inaugural Hot & Spicy Festival at Galaxy Soho on Apr 14-15. If you have yet to grab your RMB 20 presale ticket, do so by scanning the QR code in the poster above or read more on what to expect here.

More stories by this author here.

Photos courtesy of Hakkenden