Hainan-Style Coconut Chicken Hot Pot

Another one for the journal:

This photo does not do it justice. Upon the first sip of the soup, you are hit with the strong umami flavor from the chicken and a lingering fragrance from the coconut. You will pause and ponder... "what is this sorcery???"... and then you will pat yourself on your back for taking the leap of faith and trying new things. This is hands down the best hot pot I've ever had and it trumps all the other hot pots in the history of hot pots (imho)!!!

I never in a million years thought this would work. In fact, when I first saw a recipe for it on youtube I was truly bewildered!!! In my head I was like "What in the world is she doing?? Coconut water broth?? Wtf???"... Then I found out it’s a 三亚海南 specialty so I decided to give it a shot. 

I am already plotting when I can get CC to agree to eat this again! Low key happy its hot pot season because of this. 

Notes:

• I used Harmless Harvest coconut water and it worked well. Not sure if the addition of a fresh young coconut added or subtracted to the dish, but it sure was a pain in the butt trying to get it to open. I might still add it if I can find fresh ones. The one we had this time was a little overripe, sadly!