Hot Pot Showdown, Part II: The Home Version

As I mentioned previously, if you want to save a decent amount of money (50%-75%), your best bet is to try hot pot at home. In this case The Fisherman had an induction heater, but a hot plate would work or even a sterno can if you’re very, very careful (and don’t have cats that happen to like playing with fire, screwballs).

Aside from that, the rest is super simple. First is the broth, which The Fisherman and his mom highly recommend Little Sheep Hot Pot Soup Base. Seriously, it’s really good. You probably won’t be able to read much of it, but there is some Engrish and that’s very fun. 

Here’s his family’s stash of Little Sheep, brought here before you could get it online, since The Fisherman’s mom is hardcore like that. 

Next, the spread. The usual suspects are present, various fish/meat balls, tofu, veggies (in this case baby bok choy) and seafood. Keep in mind this is for four people (actually three since The Fisherman’s mom was out shopping for the upcoming Lunar New Year festivities. That’s still a crazy amount of food). 

The Fisherman’s family already had this at home, so all we had to pick up was some read meat, namely beef and lamb.  

Next, the fun with the raw egg, seasoned and used to cool the very hot food that was boiled in magma broth. If this skeeves you out, then don’t do it. I tried it, I might try it sans egg next time, just to compare. 

One of many bowls of hot pot, fish balls, veg. Since you don’t want anything to overcook, sometimes there’s a pile up of stuff. And, if you get something a bit under (like a semifreddo of fish ball), just drop it back in to finish cooking. You know you’ve ingested worse things…

Then, to make things interesting, we tried it with some green bean thread noodles. These cook super fast, and are fun to eat. Problem is, they are SUPER high in carbs, like worse than wheat or rice noodles. I was about to huzzah for finding something tasty, noodley, and lower in carbs. Maybe next time, maybe next time…

 Since I’m one to play with my food, I had to fiddle with the noodles. Mmm

And for fun, I was learning how to do this origami-like paper folding (called Zhezhi it seems) with The Fisherman’s mom. 

This is mine, it’s not great, but for a first timer, I’m trying not to be too hard on myself. 

So, that's Hot Pot 101. And with weather like this, hot pot would be a good idea indeed. 

Next time on Full Belly Alchemist, we'll see what adventures we went on, but haven't written about yet. Stay tuned, and mangia!

Cooking with The Fisherman

So, more than we post, The Fisherman and I do cook (actually we eat at home during the week, usually healthy boring things, like HUGE salads for me, or whatever The Fisherman’s dad makes for him. We do enjoy eating out on the weekends, but we also like to get some ingredients and tear it up in the kitchen. 

Without further ado, The Fisherman whips up some pan fried tofu, marinated chicken, baby bok choy and pan fried noodles. 

First, the tofu. Now, we both really like tofu, but this application wasn’t the tastiest. I don’t think the wok was hot enough, because the tofu was coated in corn starch to create a tasty and crispy crust. Instead, it wasn’t. Maybe we’ll try it with a really hot pan next time. 

Next he’s showcasing his noodlicious skills. Flipping noodles and whatnot, coated in garlic, some pepper flakes, and chili oil that I made. 

A close up of the noodles. Mmmmm.

Next, some marinated chicken with oil, red pepper flakes, garlic and other delicious yumminess. It was really good, juicy, a rarity with white meat chicken.

Finally some sautéed baby bok choy, one of his favorites. I found it loses a lot of moisture, and I think I’d like to try something to make it a bit drier.

Other than that, nothing beats a meal made with love, no matter how it comes out. I love cooking, and being cooked for. It doesn’t have to be beef wellington and baked Alaska, it can, and should be something simple. Besides, who wants you exhausted from cooking?

Next time, I think it would be interesting to compare hot pot at a restaurant in Flushing to the home version. It’s my new favorite cold weather meal. Until then, mangia!