Chinese New Year is upon us once again, and what better way to usher in the year of the Golden Rabbit than with some good food and company. Of course, you always have the option of eating out or just preparing your own menu at home. If you chose the latter, then we suggest that you make the
steamboat the centerpiece of your Chinese New Year feast!
Having a steamboat during CNY is a good way for you to bond with your family and friends over this hot pot. The best thing about it is that you can do it right in your own home without the hassle of queuing outside your favorite restaurant (given the fact that you haven’t reserved your table in advance).
If this is your first time to prepare a steamboat, here are the things you will need:
Steamboat-pot where you cook your ingredients in boiling broth
Cutlery-the utensils that you need to cook your ingredients
Broth or Sauces-the flavourings that you add to the hot water to make it more flavourful
Ingredients-the stuff that you want to put in your hot broth to cook.
The secret to a delicious steamboat special is that your ingredients should always be fresh. If possible, always buy them the day before you cook them so they will retain their quality goodness. There are so many ingredients to choose from, but the most common are meat, seafood, noodles, and vegetables.
As for meat, it will take a while to cook so the best way to remedy this problem is by cutting them into really thin slices so that it will cook in 20 to 30 seconds. You will know it’s done when there is no more pink color in the meat. As for the seafood, it takes longer to cook than most ingredients, so we recommend you put it in first before the others. Also, it is advisable that you don’t put all ingredients at once as this will slow down the cooking process and your guests might already be starving before they can even enjoy what you’ve prepared.
For a more flavourful soup, broth or crushed ginger is usually added to the boiling water. But you can be adventurous and choose from many flavors such as dark broth, herbs, hoisin sauce, etc. Or, you can choose from our recommended soup base to better enjoy this bowl of goodness.
No matter how you prepare your steamboat, it is always a good way to bring your families and friends together over some warm and delicious dish meal.
Want to make your soup more flavourful, here are some
suggested sauces.You might also be interested in: 
