Four weeks ago, we celebrated my sister-in-law (SIL) Ying’s birthday.
As usual, she picked CHINESE FONDUE as her birthday meal choice!
Chinese Fondue is the German way of referring to our Singapore-style Steamboat.
Steamboat (or Chinese Fondue) is a cantonese soup-style hot pot in which everyone communally cooks and eats simultaneously. The flavourful soup broth is brewed beforehand, and a spread of meat, vegetable, and other raw dishes are chopped/soaked/prepared and set up for buffet-style access during the meal.
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Ying’s birthday comes around every summer, during which temperatures hit a whopping 40°C some years!! Because the hottest days of summer typically last no longer than two weeks per year, the norm is for establishments to not have air-conditioning.
You can imagine the sweltering experience when the entire family once headed to a restaurant with multiple fire pots contributing to the trapped hot air inside for Ying’s yearly steamboat feast! The Mann said it felt hotter inside that restaurant-sauna than the 40°C temperature outside!
I’m so glad I wasn’t living in Germany then..Even with the free food, I’d gladly pass on such a sticky eating experience. ;)
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On Sunday morning, my FIL got up early to prepare two soup stocks: One chicken-based soup with lots of tofu fishcakes floating inside. . .
and one vegetarian broth for my mother-in-law (MIL) who does not eat meat, garlic, and onion for religious reasons.
He also made his trademark dipping condiments — an onion-filled soy sauce base and an enhanced version of store-bought chilli sauce.
Then it was time to prepare all the other food items.
He soaked black fungus.
Sliced up yams and lotus roots.
Washed various veggies. I made photos of the:-
Lady fingers,
Chinese cabbage,
my SIL’s favourite vegetable (I’m not sure what the english name is!!),
. . . and bean sprouts!
Tired of looking at veggies? Feast your eyes on The Mann's favourite shabu-shabu beef slices! =D
Grey prawns!
There were also Korean rice cakes — my favourite! When cooked through, they are chewy, tender delightful sticks of happiness! :)
My father-in-law (FIL) also prepared some tofu-based ingredients especially for his wifey!
Fried beancurd skin balls..these were not yummy at all to me :(
Beancurd skin. . . also not my favourite. . . I'm an egg-face, remember? ;)
Around 11:00, The Mann started to set up the electric hot plates. Meanwhile, I joined the family team of dumpling-making minions (these were made with a chicken-filling because Ying's husband is a muslim).
I found out something really cute!! The Mann had wrapped the hanging lights above the dining table with plastic bags to protect them from the steam and whatever splashes may occur. ;)
As each food item was rolled out, we carried them out and set them around the table. The whole table was filled!
Then it was time to CHOW!!
We threw in a bunch of prawns to make the soup base more flavourful. Then everyone started adding their favourite ingredients! The Mann and Ying started cooking shabu-shabu meat slices in the long wire 'spoons' as well.
Once items were cooked, we would transfer them into our bowls, which were already filled with dipping condiments.
Halfway through, we added a bunch of kimchi into the pot.
Time for kimchi steamboat!
Everyone was full to bursting, but there was still tons of leftover food. As is the norm, we will be eating steamboat using the leftover ingredients for another 2 meals after this.
This is my third #BeautifulSunday entry :)
The #BeautifulSunday contest is run by my fellow Singaporean steemian 
He's a really cool dude, and he's even funding the contest from his own pocket. So join the contest, or send his initiative a donation. Either way, it will go a long way into injecting more colour into this community each Sunday at the very least :))
You may click on the photos below to read my other #BeautifulSunday stories. :)
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