The one and only time a year I'm kinda Chinese

So I've been super busy and am totally backlogged in my blogging - there are a ton of entries I still need to cover including my 2nd Culinary Class and my Craft and Shang Restaurant reviews... I promise I'll catch up this week.

I'm not sure if you know but it's Chinese New Year ... I sure didn't know. Not until my dad sent me an electronic card and the sound of the fireworks on the East River made me think we were being attacked my terrorists.

To celebrate, I had my other asian-non-asian friend Jessie over for some good old Chinese Hot Pot (or Shabu-Shabu) - this is like Fondue but instead of cheese you use broth and instead of bread and meat, you use... whatever you want in your soup (noodles, veggies, chicken, seafood).

This is one of my favorite things and usually I only eat it when I'm at home with my mom ... however I made the trek to Chinatown (big mistake) and got myself an electric hot pot in celebration of the New Year.

I made the broth from scratch... you can head down to Chinatown and get chicken bones for 1 dollar. ONE DOLLAR! Nothing costs a dollar anymore. What a bargain. Anyway, You put the chicken bones in a pot and water and 2 hours later, voila! You have a delicious and flavorful broth. You can also add some napa cabbage which is absolutely delicious in the soup.

We fired up the hot pot and had the following ingredients to cook with:
- Mei Fun noodles
- Mushrooms
- Daikon
- Chicken
- Clams
- Tofu
- Eggs
- Napa Cabbage
- Lump Crab Meat
- Fried Shallots
- Scallions

Sauces:
Ponzu
Soy Sauce
Siricha
Sambal Chilli

It was super frigid today so it was especially delicious in my belly... plus it's like going to those japanese hibachi places ... great for making your cooking a shared experience.

In any case, we were completely stuffed to gullet and since the soup was made from scratch, we didn't ingest 3 million mg of sodium. Everybody wins.

Picture of your set up below: