shabu shabu!!

so for the first time recently, i had the opportunity to eat shabu shabu. shabu shabu is a japanese dish that, like yaki niku (cook your own meat on a grill at your table), requires you to cook at your table.

sometimes, tiff, carrie, and i will go out to dinner with master from pta. sometimes, master invites some of his single bar patrons out with us – maybe thinking he can play match maker. we always joke around with him, asking him to invite some cute ones, but so far, he’s never quite accomplished that. it’s always a good time anyway because it’s delicious food and great japanese practice; a cultural experience on several levels.

first you order plates of meat – beef or pork. i believe each table comes with an array of tofu and vegetables as well. then, you dip the meat in the boiling broth and swirl it around until it’s cooked. you bring the hot, freshly cooked meat into your individual bowl of sauce and then to your mouth. it’s great, and each morsel of meat is really tasty. at that particular restaurant, there were two sauces from which to choose – a thinner, soy sauce based sauce, and a thicker sesame sauce. both were delish




in the end, i still prefer yaki niku; it’s often that i crave it. smoky, bite-sized, grilled to perfection, supremely-seasoned yaki niku, i’d love to have some now . . .