Steamboat Dinner at Home

“Steamboat dinner, to warm you up during the rainy cold night, so as to warm your hearts.”

Eating steamboat aka hot pot at home is always fun… and warm, and one of the best meal options for small gathering purposes.

I liked having steamboat. It’s light, savory and great for varieties. Oh… I liked varieties… (laughing).

Having said that, steamboat for dinner probably a better choice for Asian countries like Singapore, because the weather here is hot, but still tolerable during nightfall. So, steamboat dinner is, good…

I had this craving for steamboat, but limited to homemade one. So, I got my mum to go marketing with me. Chose only our preference food for this dinner! And wait, for Singaporean to have steamboat meal, the condiment/ sauce for dipping is important, just like many steamboat foodies in Hong Kong, steamboats steamboat restaurant to provide a spread of condiments and sauce, is something these patrons would expect, at least… And to me, I didn’t know how to make good dipping sauce for my steamboat meal at home, sad to say the truth..

So, I have to make sure my soup base for my steamboat meal is the key we could count on… Then, come the store-bought sauce.

And so, in my post right here, I would like to share with you the recipe of my tasty and simple clear soup base.

Soup base for steamboat:

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken bone (rib cage parts)
1 can of abalone brine
1 teaspoon of wolfberries (枸杞)
1 pot of water
Pinch of salt

Method
Bring all ingredients into a boil and simmer for 30 minutes before heat off.

Main food items great for steamboat:
1) Deli-thin Shabu Shabu beef or pork slices
2) Meat balls and fish balls
3) Golden needle mushrooms/ Shiitake mushrooms
4) Wanton or shrimp dumplings
5) Deep fried crispy bean curd sheets/ rolls
6) Prawns/ sliced fish
7) Hotdogs
8) Tong-O and/ or Chinese cabbage
9) Silken tofu/ egg tofu
10) Corn cobs

For more luscious choice:
1) Abalone slices!
2) Flower crabs
3) Clams
4) Scallops
5) Sea cucumber

Do you have any better choice to share? What would you like?

Well, mid-autumn festival is approaching. How about having a steamboat gathering with the family and good friends at home? Like I said, steamboat, in Chinese we called, 圍爐 (wei lu), gather around the hotpot for a symbolic meal and non-stop laughter…

Oh, before I forget…. There is this latest favourite store-bought dipping sauce of mine. I would like to recommend it to you. This is so far the best steamboat dipping sauce found on the shelves, the sesame chilli dipping sauce!

Want to know more about this dipping sauce and how to elevate the taste of this sauce in order to maximize your steamboat eating pleasure? Check out my Facebook Page.