Beijing Lamb Hotpot on Niujie: Copper Pots and Hand-Sliced Mutton

Beijing-style hotpot, properly called shuan yangrou (涮羊肉, shuàn yángròu), has nothing to do with the numbing chilli oil of Sichuan. A brass pot with a chimney of glowing charcoal arrives at the table filled with plain water, a few jujubes, goji berries and spring onion. That is the broth. Everything rests on the quality of the lamb and the dipping sauce.

The lamb comes hand-sliced from the shoulder and leg, laid in overlapping pink ribbons on a plate. You dunk it in the boiling water for eight or ten seconds — no longer — then into a bowl of sesame paste cut with fermented bean curd, chive flower sauce and coriander. It is one of the great simple meals anywhere.

Niujie (牛街, "Ox Street") is the historic heart of Beijing's Hui Muslim community and where you go for it. Jubaoyuan (聚宝源) is the famous address: crowded, loud, tiled, fast-moving, absolutely not a romantic dinner. The queue outside starts before 17:00 and can hit ninety minutes on a Saturday. Nobody speaks much English but the menu has pictures, and staff are used to pointing.

Expect ¥100-150 ($14-21) per person to eat generously. The street outside is worth ten minutes on its own — beef and lamb counters, sesame cakes, halal bakeries selling flaky pastries, and the Niujie Mosque a short walk south, founded in 996 and still the community's centre. Cash is accepted but Alipay and WeChat Pay are faster.