The beauty of living in the LA area are all of the interesting specialty shops that are around. I know that if I ever leave the state I'll miss the variety that I get here. There's always something to do if you're feeling up to it. That's why I thought it would be nice to create Outs & Abouts; a section of posts dedicated to the fun things that are around here that I enjoy. This week I'm going to write about my favorite Hot Pot place, Cocary.
Some of my family still lives in Monterey Park; famous for it's Chinese culture. When my mom first came to the United States she stayed with her older sister and family for a few years in this city. So the food and ways of Monterey Park have become a tradition and a piece of everyday life for us. Whenever family flies over, we ALWAYS eat in Monterey Park. Cocary happens to be a place only popular with my immediate family, so I make the trip myself whenever I can.
Cocary is not your stereo-typical Chinese food. It's what you might consider a variation Korean BBQ houses. The tables are equipped with a pot that has a huge bowl in the center which they fill with soup broth and the outside of the bowl has dished out areas to grill meat. (If you've ever watched the anime Ruroni Kenshin, Akabeko is a Hot Pot Restaurant.) There are refrigerators in the back where you pick out the things that you want to cook, this is for both the soup and the grill. We chose beef to grill with eggs, fish-balls, and veggies to boil in our soup.
Another thing that I love about Cocary, especially on cold days are the unlimited porridge and steamed rice. I love topping my porridge with the grilled meats and veggies. This day I tried the Oyster Mushrooms stir fried in the satay sauce; it was so yummy! I made sure to make room for my vegetable soup. The spiced broth they use is so heavenly; alot of the locals toss noodles in their soups but I like mine veggied up to the max!
The best part of this place is the price; we only paid about 20 bucks for the two of us and we were stuffed to the brim. This is definitely a fun place for big groups and raises plenty of good conversation. I also recommend that you come try the lunch bar, where they have a train of the dishes come by for you to cook on a mini personal hot pot in front of you.
Until next time,
-Stef
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