• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Tiny Urban Kitchen
  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About Me
    • Travel
    • Recipes
    • Michelin
    • Subscribe
    • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Restaurant

    Seasons Coconut Chicken Hot Pot 润园四季椰子鸡 - Shenzhen China

    Published: Mar 28, 2018 by Jennifer Che

    We're doing a mini-series where we are exploring a few regions in mainland China. We started with Shanghai and today are moving onto the southern city of Shenzhen!

    Hello Shenzhen!

    Shenzhen is less than an hour away from Hong Kong by car, and is the closest big city in the Mainland to Hong Kong. The city is best known as the center of China's rapidly expanding tech industry (home of Chinese tech giants TenCent, Huawei, and the like). However, this southern coastal city also boasts an ever-changing landscape of architecturally stunning skyscrapers as well as an intense, optimistic buzz from its ten million residents who have descended upon this city for its numerous jobs and opportunities.

    Seasons Coconut Chicken Hot Pot
    Seasons Coconut Chicken Hot Pot

    What's crazy is . . . this tech giant of a city was a mere fishing village some 30+ years ago. Its population exploded after  the Chinese government marked it as the first of its four Special Economic Zones in 1980. As a result, Shenzhen is comprised mostly of "immigrants" from other parts of China who moved to the city for better opportunities. Mandarin is spoken here, unlike the rest of Guangdong province where Cantonese rules.

    From a food perspective, this means that Shenzhen doesn't really have much of its own local, traditional cuisine. However, Shenzhen does have some specialties that have sprung up in more recent years. One of the most famous is the coconut chicken hot pot.

    Seasons Coconut Chicken Hot Pot

    The coconut chicken hot pot originated from Hainan but was made popular by the Shenzhen group of restaurants called Seasons Coconut Chicken Hot Pot or 润园四季椰子鸡 (rùn yuán sìjì yē zǐ jī). Seasons has been around since 2009 and focuses on three main Hainanese specialties: coconut chicken hot pot, clay pot rice, and a number of cold dishes.

    Their restaurants are decorated with a Southeast Asian feel. Diners get their own semi-private "rooms" where they can enjoy their hot pots in a cozy and quiet space.
    Seasons Coconut Chicken Hot Pot
    The restaurant originally imported all its coconuts from Hainan, but due to increased demand (there are now many other "copycat" restaurants serving basically the same concept), they started importing coconuts from Thailand.

    Seasons still imports all its chicken from Hainan. The chickens are "Wenchang" free-range chickens. The restaurant also uses fresh coconut juice as the hot pot soup base (and it's sooooo good).
    Seasons Coconut Chicken Hot Pot
    Once they put the chicken in the hot pot, they give you an egg timer to ensure that you don't over-cook the chicken. In short, once the timer runs out, it's time to start eating the chicken!

    I was not sure what I would think of coconut chicken hot pot, but I was surprised that I really really liked it! Even Bryan, who can't stand coconut water, really enjoyed the hot pot. The coconut water adds a pleasant and fragrant sweetness to the broth, and the chicken imparts the much needed umami. The whole meal felt light, healthy, and restorative.

    Seasons Coconut Chicken Hot Pot Seasons Coconut Chicken Hot Pot

    I liked the "ponzu"-like sauce that we could optionally used. Frankly speaking though, the coconut chicken and coconut soup was so fragrant and flavorful, I ended up just eating it on its own.
    Seasons Coconut Chicken Hot Pot
    We also ordered another one of the restaurant's Hainanese specialties, claypot rice with Chinese sausage and mushrooms. Though we were so full from the coconut chicken already, it was still nice to enjoy some rice and added variety to the meal.

    All in all, I had a fantastic time enjoying this unique Shenzhen specialty at Seasons. I liked it so much I even tried making my own version of coconut chicken soup at home by poaching some chicken in boxed coconut water. It wasn't nearly as good as the version at Seasons (I think their use of fresh coconut water and high quality chicken is key), but it still reminded me of the flavors I had enjoyed.
    Seasons Coconut Chicken Hot Pot
    After returning to Hong Kong, I realized there are several restaurants in Hong Kong who have also adopted the same concept. I have yet to try any of them yet, but I am quite curious to see how they compare.

    In short, if you are in Shenzhen, I would highly recommend trying coconut chicken hot pot at Seasons. Average cost per person is 100 yuan / $16 USD for the coconut chicken hot pot, which is quite reasonable considering how much coconut water is used! There are many locations in Shenzhen (see links below), so it should be relatively easy to find one that is close by.

    I have since visited Shenzhen many times and have dined at many different places, but this meal is still one of my favorites to date.

    The Details
    Restaurant Name in Chinese: 润园四季椰子鸡 (rùn yuán sìjì yē zǐ jī)
    Restaurant Name in English: Seasons Coconut Chicken Hot Pot
    Find locations at this OpenRice link or this Dianping link
    If you don't speak or read Chinese, you can show the taxi driver the address on your mobile phone and they can usually punch in into their GPS.

    For more information, check out this article

    More Restaurant

    • chocolate
      La Dame de Pic - Paris France
    • Mono HK
      Mono Hong Kong
    • Five Guys Hong  Kong
      Nostalgic Reminders of Home: Five Guys Hong Kong
    • Divino Restaurant
      Divino Patio Hong Kong

    Recent Posts

    • Les Enfants du Marche Paris March 18, 2023
    • Wong Kee Restaurant 旺記打冷小菜館 March 14, 2023
    • Frenchie Wine Bar (Frenchie Bar à Vins) March 13, 2023
    • Dublin Ireland Trip Report March 12, 2023
    • Palazzo Parigi Milan, Italy March 9, 2023
    • Ricard Camarena Valencia Spain February 28, 2023
    • chez Alain Miam Miam - Best sandwich in Paris France February 15, 2023
    • La Salita Valencia Spain January 16, 2023

    Reader Interactions

    Trackbacks

    1. Exploring Yunnan China! - Jinghong in Xishuangbanna - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      April 12, 2018 at 6:46 am

      […] as crowded, traffic isn’t as congested, and the buildings are much lower. Compared to Shenzhen, cash is still used a lot (though WeChat is available too, even at street stalls!). I had so much […]

      Log in to Reply
    2. 50 Posts in 50 Days - Take 2! Exploring Hong Kong in 2018 - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      October 21, 2018 at 12:35 pm

      […] parts of the world, such as Tokyo and Hakone (Japan), Sonoma (California),  Yunnan, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Xiamen (both in […]

      Log in to Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen
    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen

    Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am an expat who moved from Boston to Hong Kong 5 years ago. Born and raised in Ohio to Taiwanese immigrant parents, I am a chemistry nerd, patent attorney by day, blogger by night, church musician on weekends, and food enthusiast always. Feel free to explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!

    More about me →

    Explore

    • Recipe
    • Restaurant
    • US Travel
    • World Travel

    Popular Posts

    • Les Enfants du Marche Paris
    • Wong Kee Restaurant 旺記打冷小菜館
    • Frenchie Wine Bar (Frenchie Bar à Vins)
    • Ireland
      Dublin Ireland Trip Report

    Recipes

    • Appetizer
    • Snacks
    • Meat
    • Vegetables
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Seafood
    • Noodles

    Recently Traveled

    • Hong Kong
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Boston
    • California
    • United Kingdom
    • Germany
    • Spain

    Support Us

    Recognition


    Featured on the front page
    of the FOOD Section: 2015

    Best Food Blog Awards:
    Restaurant & Dining 2012

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Me
    • My Equipment
    • In the Press
    • Project Food Blog
    • Privacy Policy

    Eating Guides!

    Eating & Travel Guides
    Trip Reports
    "Kawaii" (Cute Foods)
    Around the World

    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube
    • Mail
    • RSS Feed

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Shop at Amazon

    Copyright © 2022 Tiny Urban Kitchen