Takahi Electric Hot Plate

I bought a Takahi electric hot plate.  Many people in this part of the world use this 'hot plate' for cooking.  I had observed that even a few coffee cafes in Singapore were seen using this hot plate for boiling water and keeping the water hot for brewing coffee. I was at such a cafe, asked a staff in charge of brewing coffee, and had received very good reviews on this model. He had used this hot plate for more than a year without issues and this plate was constantly used throughout the whole day.  I got this plate for about $50.

I had also observed a 'hot plate' in action during a recent trip to Hong Kong.  A tea drinker friend had invited me to his house for dinner and it was going to be a 打边炉 (“da bin lou” in Cantonese) dinner.  After an afternoon tea session in Hong Kong, my friend brought me to the market to buy the food for dinner that evening.  Hong Hong people love their food fresh and markets there are opened twice a day (mornings and evenings) to meet this demand.  We bought, if memory served me right, pork bones, prawns (shrimp), beef, a fish (filleted on the spot), meatballs, tofu and vegetables.  At his home, his wife cooked up some rice and took out a similar hot plate placing it on the dinner table.  A pot of water was placed on the hot plate, then adding in the pork bones as stock.  We sliced up the food we had bought and dinner was ready.  All we did was to cook the food in the simmering hot pot of soup and eating this soupy meal with a bowl of rice.  A simple and very delicious dinner. 

Back to my hot plate.  I had purchased this device mainly to pair with my tetsubin and Lin ceramic kettles.  I was advised by my friends not to use the kettles over a gas stove as such kettles perform best on a charcoal stove or an electric hot plate.  Using an electric hot plate would allow the user to control the heat allowing the water at a 'constant slow boil' which my friends claim would make the water softer.   I intend to test these claims when I use this hot plate in a tea session.  But not before a da bin lou dinner tonight!