Monday, May 24, 2010

How to Organise a Steamboat Party

steamboat

The perfect party on a cold, cold night.

Steamboat is quintessentially Chinese. A group of friends surrounding a pot of simmering stock - sharing food and chatting away their worries. There are no rules, and preparation time is minimal. You can get as much ingredients as you want to go with your preferred stock. And the best part? Your guests can't blame you for lacking cooking skills.

Can't decide on one stock? Get a split steamboat pot. Ours is filled with delicious homemade chicken stock and spicy prawn stock. Chicken stock is made by simmering a whole chicken with ginger and spring onions for 45 minutes. Spicy prawn stock is made by stir-frying 1.5 kg of prawn shells and heads with Malaysian sambal, and then simmering them in water for 2 hours.

steamboat

If you can be bothered, make some dumplings for your guests. Otherwise, the pre-made variety from most Asian grocers is also fine.

steamboat

The dumplings are simple to make. A concoction of pork mince, garlic chives and fresh shitake mushrooms flavoured by the usual suspects - soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and white pepper. Leave the marinated ingredients in the fridge for a couple of hours before wrapping the dumplings.

steamboat

To cater for the carnivorous, buy thinly sliced pork belly and good quality beef from your butcher.

steamboat

Radicchio is not exactly Chinese, but they are only 1 dollar and look pretty next to the crispy iceberg lettuce.

steamboat

My guests also enjoy this United Nations of fish balls from a fishmonger in Cabramatta. Colourful and delicious, they also give us a bonus MSG-kick afterwards.

steamboat

MSG is offsetted by a healthy dose of fresh button mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, firm tofu and tofu puffs.

steamboat

The seafood section is also represented by fresh prawns from the market - deshelled, deveined and butterflied. Mussels, scallops and fish meat are also suitable.

steamboat

Let's dig in, shall we?

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21 comment(s):

Amy @ cookbookmaniac May 24, 2010 at 11:29 PM  

I ♥ Steamboat! I love the communal aspect. Everybody is eating together. You've included dumplings too! Aww, you spoilt your guests! I'm jealous ;)

chocolatesuze May 24, 2010 at 11:43 PM  

bahahaha united nations of fish balls lols that was gold!

Cathy x. May 25, 2010 at 12:46 AM  

sometimes in china you'll find a wilted poppy flower in the bottom of the pot and wonder why you suddenly feel so sleepy.. :P

shaz May 25, 2010 at 1:01 AM  

Wow, I'm feeling the warmth from here:) That step-by-step dumpling sampler is awesome.

Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial May 25, 2010 at 5:05 AM  

Wow! That's possibly the most impressive steamboat I've ever seen! :) Love the dumplings, I've never had those in a steamboat before. And you're right, it's perfect weather...aaaahhh... :)

Juliana May 25, 2010 at 7:36 AM  

Love this...love when we all sit together on the table and cook together...it sure brings a feeling of closeness :-)

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella May 25, 2010 at 9:44 AM  

Hehe you are so right. I can't imagine anything better for a Winter night with friends! :D

Celeste @ Berrytravels May 25, 2010 at 12:12 PM  

I absolutely love steamboat parties. In my house, it's the default big party meal. Easy, simple to prepare and everybody loves it!

Sydney Shop Girl May 25, 2010 at 2:21 PM  

Hi foodwink
Looks so delicious and perfect for the current weather.

I love those steamboats which have a teppanyaki grill plate around the edge - two awesome meals in one! Need to go to Malaysia soon to buy one.

SSG xxx

OohLookBel May 25, 2010 at 5:17 PM  

That is such an amazing spread of food, and such lovely dumplings! There's nothing better than a hot steamboat in winter (or autumn), and I love when you can drink the soup afterwards, too.

greenbeenfood May 25, 2010 at 6:06 PM  

that is impressive and delicious - i would have been very happy being apart of your steamboat party!

missklicious May 25, 2010 at 7:00 PM  

I just had steamboat last night. Your feast looks much more immpressive though!

Julie May 25, 2010 at 9:21 PM  

MMm! Love hotpot on a cold day! Love your dumplings pleats!

Emma May 25, 2010 at 10:28 PM  

I must admit, I had never heard of a 'steamboat' before. You learn something everyday! :)

Anonymous May 26, 2010 at 11:06 AM  

OK can I invite myself over when you have your next steamboat party? *drool*

Angie Lives to Eat (and Cook)! May 26, 2010 at 11:19 PM  

We had a steam boat party for 20+ for my birthday last year! It was all family though hehe. You can get blamed for lacking cooking skills, it's all in the flavour of the broth!

Shanks May 27, 2010 at 1:17 PM  

I tried your prawn-head/shell stock last night and it was gold - thanks for the tip and awesome dumpling folding technique :)

Cheryl May 28, 2010 at 9:59 AM  

Handmade dumplings? Gosh, this is the most posh steamboat I've ever seen. What a wonderful meal to have with friends during winter!

Thang @ noodlies.com July 17, 2010 at 8:11 PM  

Yum! I love a good steam boat in winter. A friend has us around once a year and she cooks a mean steam boat.

jack Gibson November 25, 2014 at 5:32 PM  

Recently i enjoyed a steam boat party. It was awesome. I love Steam boat parties.

Boat Rental June 16, 2022 at 7:05 PM  

What do you need to know during a bachelorette party on a yacht?

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