Hotpot or shabu shabu is an asian traditional soup dish where most of the ingredients are cooked as one eats. Where I used to eat, it usually involves individual sauce mixing, so as to achieve personal preferences. This is much better than the usual soup style, in my opinion, because it can be personalized as to each person’s taste. Some people like their soup salty, some a bit sweet, others prefer spicy, while others like it sour. With hotpot soup, the possibilities are endless. At least, with the hotpot restaurants I’ve tried, that is the case.
A few weeks back, I’ve been nagging my husband to prepare hotpot for me. I already tracked down the ingredients, no surprise there, as they were mostly found in the asian grocery stores. I was excited to finally try it and check if they’re as good as I remember. Oh, how I miss the hotpot restos in Cebu, Philippines. They were ❤️. Anyway, as my husband chopped up the vegetables and spices, prepped and poured the sauces, boiled the beef bones for the broth, and readied the balls, my mouth was already watering. I can hardly wait! So when he called and said that the balls were ready to be dropped into the boiling broth, I hurriedly and excitedly volunteered to do the chore. I dropped the big and small fish balls, the beef balls, the shrimp balls, the fish tofu, the squash slices, all the green leafy vegetables (bokchoi, morning glory, cabbage among others) and everything else, and silently waited for them to cook. After a few minutes, they were ready. My husband and I made our own sauces (he likes salty and spicy, i prefer salty and sour), and finally poured some soup and balls into our bowls. I mixed a bit of my pre-mixed sauce with my soup, checked the taste (approved) and attacked the balls. Hea-ven! They tasted wonderful 🤤. My favorite was the fish tofu, which really surprised me. I was expecting to love the beef balls, but they were “meh”. Oh well, maybe we can prepare it better next time. I am soooo planning for our next hotpot sesh ❤️😍.
Suddenly in Norway 