Round Eye Hot Pot

Tyson named it. He's the one that likes to throw in non-culturally sensitive labelling terms. But I guess it does kind of describe it perfectly. By the way, the non-PC labelling term is not only not meant to be offensive, but rather humorous as Tyson's eyes are smaller than mine.

So, as Tyson's mom was coming back into town for a quick dinner, and her experience of Asian cuisines spans the realms of sushi and Chin Chin, and the weather was still chilly-for-LA, we decided to do a Hot Pot event. Well, MY version of Hot Pot, which is technically somewhat of a Shabu Shabu/Broth Fondue/Hot Pot hybrid. Being of Chinese descent, I really think that I should call it Hot Pot, and I do serve Chinese Sesame Paste with zero english writing on the jar. But the process of Hot Pot just isn't as refined as Shabu Shabu, with its delicate dipping of one thinly sliced strip of marbled beef into the boiling broth at a time, rather than the more practical but a bit too zooey for my taste throw-it-all-in-at-the-risk-of-overload technique. I throw in the Broth Fondue title, since I do use chicken broth as a base rather than the awesome but hard-to-find kelp stuff.

Round Eye Hot Pot, which is just Hot Pot minus the stuff that grosses mei guo ren out.



ingredient list:

sauces: sesame paste, sesame oil, ponzu sauce... I just mix them all together.

proteins: sliced sirloin (I think), sliced pork, tofu

veggies: napa cabbage, baby spinach, shitakes, enoki mushrooms,

starches: sweet potatoes, udon noodles