Xin Nian Kuai Le!

…or in English, Happy (Chinese) New Year! Over the weekend, a couple of friends came over to celebrate the year of the ox. We decided to do a hot pot, which is easy to prepare, great for groups, and an overall really fun experience. To prepare, Audrey bought some ingredients for us in Chinatown and we set up on Friday after work. It’s really easy to buy ingredients for a hot pot – pick up a bunch of vegetables, thinly sliced meats, throw it in a pot, add some broth. Baby, you’ve got a stew going. Here’s our set up:

One important sauce to pick up is Satay, which is a barbeque flavored sauce that you mix with soy sauce, sesame oil, hot sauce (optional), and cilantro (optional). Some people even add a raw egg to the dipping sauce! The best meats for hot pot (in my opinion) are thinly sliced lamb and beef, but you can also pick up pork, chicken, and different types of seafood. We ended up going with a little bit of everything and also picked up some shrimp flavored fish balls (my favorite). Add some tofu, some enoki mushrooms, taro root, feng shi (to soak up all of the flavors near the end of the meal), and little scoops to fish out all of the goodies in the broth and you have yourself an awesome meal. Below are some pictures from the night:

(left to right: Joe, David, Justin, me, and Audrey)

(left to right: Sara, Justin, and Audrey)

Joe in a Yang sandwich (probably the highlight of the night for him)

(The ASIANS: Julie, me, Joe, Audrey, and David)

(The OTHERS: Sara, Ariel, and Justin)

After our successful dinner, we played Catchphrase and went out to celebrate with more friends. How did you spend your weekend? Are you going to celebrate the Chinese New Year tonight? Gong Shi Fa Tsai!