We kind of stumbled upon the greatness of "hot pot" by accident. I wasn't a fan when we lived in China before, mostly because of the mystery meats (for those of you who know what gou rou is!) But in Singapore, when Jim and I stole away for a date night alone, we found ourselves returning to the same restaurant over and over. Yes, it was a hot pot place. It had the perfect combination of factors for Sinagpore. It was COLD inside, it was cheap, and it was all-you-can-eat.
Having moved back to China we quickly found more hot pot restaurants to experiment with, and then I happened upon the perfect Christmas present for my husband! Jim has hardly been more excited about any other present I've bought him since we got married. Does this man look happy? (And it was a mere $25!)
So today came my first experimental hot pot meal. This meal was part of the Christmas present. My dear friend Agnes (who is Singaporean and makes a mean pot herself) took me to the market and showed me the ropes--who to buy the veggies from, stick to meat stalls #8 and #18, and packaged tofu won't taste burnt like fresh does.
Kathryn came out of her room after we put the kids to bed (early-- when the sun goes down at 5, you can pull off bedtime at 6:30 if they are really tired!) and commented, "Uh, I see you're having lettuce for dinner. That doesn't look very good." Ah, perhaps to the untrained eye! But quite the contrary--it was yummy and such fun!
I suppose it's not mostly about the taste for us. (Next time I'd like to try chicken bone broth instead of pork rib broth.) It's just that we've just had a lot of good dates eating hot pot. And if you come visit us here, I promise we'll offer you all the best in our pot!
I definitely feel a little more Asian today than I did yesterday.
3 comments:
Another great entry!
Love,
Jim
Well, I recognize the garlic and the greens. The rest is a little mysterious. You are more Asian than you think! Hope yall are well and were able to enjoy the holidays!
Hi Lauren!
Some of other ingredients are tofu, noodles, lotus root (which is a lot like a potato but a bit more crunchy), lamb and beef slices(those are the 'rolls'-- they are sliced thin and frozen that way to boil), needle mushrooms...and a sauce that tastes a lot like peanut butter but not sweet. I suppose our tastes have changed some over time! (Mine especially-- Jim has always loved this stuff!)
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