火鍋

After my cousin mentioned she had Shabu Shabu for lunch last week, I got to thinking. Mmmm sounds good.....So last night, after getting sick of eating junk for lunch AND supper I took myself to Mitsuwa for some long over due HEALTHY supper. No, that image up above was NOT taken of what I ate, it was just one I found on the net for those ppl who do not know what 火鍋 or しゃぶしゃぶ is. Since this is something traditionally eaten during the wintertime with family and friends there's tons of ingredients, I made the mistake once of preparing it as we would have at home and ended up eating hotpot for 2 weeks straight (URGH talk about overdose). Curbing it down to size has been interesting.

Called up my sister for recommendations as to what to put in there veggie wise. I tend to get stuck after nappa cabbage. Gotta love these Chinese Cabbages, they go so well in so many dishes!

So being the farmer's wife that she is she totally recommended this thing she called "Hot Pot Veggie". Hum, yeah, that didn't go too well. She described them as "short and leafy". I was in the produce department of a Japanese market, I wonder if she realized how many items fit her description. Lucky for me, the Mitsuwa I frequent is a relatively small one and I zeroed in on something that looks familiar and asked her to Google the word Mizuna. Indeed it was the mysterious "hot pot veggie" my sister mentioned. Delicious vegetable that I haven't encountered outside the realm of hot pots. Very distinct flavor, my sister warns that older ones taste somewhat bitter yet she didn't exactly give a clue as to how to spot an older one. The ones there were all longer than what she described them to be so I had my worries as to if they were going to be bitter or not. I'm not a fan of bitterness the 苦瓜 that my relatives always try to feed me scares me like crazy. Luckily, these were not bitter and I ate the stem also, my sister had told me just eat the leafy part but I found no issues with the stem.

Next came the white button mushrooms, no shitake due to my price conscious self, when shitake gets thrown into a hot pot I never can tastes it's flavor anymore, thus defeating the purpose in my opinion of having shitake. Wanting mushrooms just for it's fun texture, I stuck with the inexpensive button ones. They tend to take on a slimy feel when you wash them, has anyone else noticed? Oh *gasp* did I just offend anyone with that last phrase "wash them"? Heh, reminds of an episode of Good Eats once where Alton Brown offended some fake French Chef when he said to wash them, apparently some cooking school of thought is that you're only suppose to brush off the dirt with some funny looking brush. Eh, me too lazy me wants easy me washed them is what I say to that.

To finish off the fungus family, I chose 金针菇. These suckers have a tough root bottom that totally wigges me out so I chop them off before I wash them, which causes a problem of them separating, but since I'm the only one eating it that's not too much of a problem.

As I was meandering my way through the rest of the produce isle, I happen to glance and see one of my favorite gourds ( not sure if they're really in the same family but you get the point) かぼちゃ. Let me tell ya, these little delights are NOTHING like it's American counterpart, the big orange fruits we carve during Halloween and make jack-o-lanterns or pumpkin pies out of. These babies are sweet and meaty and able to be used in SO many dishes. Only found in Asian markets, these puppies can cost a little more than your average Pumpkin, but if you get the chance, please give it a try. Yes, it's suppose to have a green skin, no it does not mean that it's under ripe.



After that, I called it good for the "greens portion of my meal. It's been a while since I've bought fresh veggies and I was quite proud of myself for it. Couldn't wait to sink my teeth into it all, I was having a green craving. I could have left it there and called it good, but I wanted flavor in my hot pot. One of the uniqueness to hot pots is that No Two Pots are alike. The flavor of the soup which often lends its flavor to an otherwise bland veggie or fungus (the mushroom) comes from the other stuff that it's cooked with and the longer you cook the more your soup has flavor. Cheap or as we tend to say "not very good" Shabu Shabu/Hot Pot restaurants offer water to start off with. I suppose that's okay, it is the very traditional way of cooking the thing, some family may have spent a few hours cooking up a stock for it as my family used to do. However, we're short on time, we want flavor, we're only cooking for one. Let's do it the right way shall we? I welcome you all to the wonder of: Swanson's Chicken Broth! They make all kinds: Organic, Low Sodium, Beef, Low Fat. I'm telling ya, these things are TIME SAVERS! Not only do they cut down the prep time, they really add flavor! I often use it as a substitute for rice. If you're on a brown rice kick, try it. Cook your Uncle Ben Rice with this, or even your couscous.

Having solved the problem of my soup base, it was time for the meat! This adds flavor, plus it's just plain yummy. I went to a Japanese market vs. a Chinese market because of just this issue. The Japanese knows what the customer wants! Convinced, instead of just selling blocks of meat and expect their customers to slice it at home, they offer them pre-sliced for so MANY occasions. Shabu Shabu, Sukiyaki, Chinese Stir Fry, way beyond the stew or fajitas cuts they offer at western markets or having to wait in line at the butcher block in the Chinese Market. The smell and the noise not to mention having to look at so many parts just confuse me. I want the convenience of seeing a nicely packaged sliced meat with a label "Sukiyaki" or "Yaki niku" or in my case "Shabu Shabu". Back home, since there's really no major Asian Markets that does that, we have a meat slicer. Very handy things. Scary as heck having to clean, but handy.

Next came the taboo food for me. I personally don't care for it in my hot pot because I think they tend to get over cooked and all leathery, not to mention I'm allergic to them. However, SHRIMP is a must have item. I can't explain it, I dislike them but they really do add flavor. I'm not against shrimp, far from it. I love them pan fried with ginger carrots and leek, however they don't like me as much. Just this year I went to visit my uncle in China, I couldn't resist, regretted my glutenous self for 3 days. My most sever allergic reaction to date. Nothing to send me to the hospital, but I'm sure they would have if I insisted and the hospital staff would have given me something to calm my swelling, itching, and tummy aches. Swelling and aching I can handle, but the itching! WOW, it was like this major need to itch UNDER the skin which we can't do so nothing can relieve it. Even now, I dread coming in contact with them. However, I digress. I picked up a few unfrozen, but not fresh shrimps. Nothing like these beauties that's pictured. Mine was farmed in Malaysia. Just enough to flavor the soup and hopefully not KO me.

And there you have it. My Supper. All washed up, thrown in the largest pot I own and boiled away for some UBER WHOLESOME GOODNESS. Once boiled to perfection (which is basically just boiled) scoop out what you want to eat, be thankful for the invention of chopsticks, dip in some light Chinese BBQ Sauce and we're good to go. Of course, some folks like a raw egg scrambled into their sauce, I personally get wigged out so I left that portion out.

Of course, I have left overs for tonight's supper. So easy to just cut up some more veggies and throw it in there. Tonight I'll be adding tofu and some 冬粉 which literally translates as winter noodles, I've never bothered reading it's English name 'cause I always recognize them at the market on site due to it's bright pink fishnet style packaging. Once I see it and made sure it's not made ANYWHERE other than Taiwan, I'm a happy camper. My parents instilled in me the fear of China made food since I was young. Even some Taiwan brands they made sure my sister and I know if there's ever been any scare on the company's products. Of course, being me, I don't remember all these names, I just look for the ones that matches the items we had at our house. Hey, if it's in my parents kitchen the only thing I'd have to worry about is the expiration date. My parents medicine cabinet frightens me, but that's another story for another time.