Got out from work around 4pm and went to pick Lin Pei up to get the stuff for steamboat. We spent about an hour and half preparing everything, which was super easy since they don't have to be fully cook as we'll be cooking while eating! The last thing was the 'bak uan' (pork balls) where we sat in front of the TV rolling the 'uans' while watching 轉角. 遇到愛. Just as we got everything all set up, Wei Yi, Pei Hwa arrived, bringing along Sabrina, a new Malaysian undergrad who just arrived the day before. While we were preparing drinks and talking about taking photos, our professional photographer - Ming Woei - came by with his video-cam this time!! Although a lot of the 'gang' was away celebrating their NY with friends or families, just the few of us remaining made it possible for Ping to invite them over. But, it would have been much more fun if TT and Jo was around!!
So what is steamboat and why do we like it so much? It is simply a pot of soup (usually made from chicken stock or pork ribs) and a variety of bite size seafood, vegetables and meat. The most common sides is the 'uans' (balls) - 'hu uan' (fish ball), sotong ball, 'hae uan' (shrimp ball) - all kinds of balls you can think of, they are usually there. We missed out on one of the best types of fish ball though - the Fuzhou style fish ball where there is meat and a little bit of sauce in the fish ball. Of course there is fish and shrimp.
To eat, we will dump anything we want into the pot of soup and then sit around and chat until the soup boils, the balls will float up and they are ready to be eaten. Most of the balls are usually partially cook so they cook very fast. However, the meat like chicken and fish, they have to sliced thinly so that they can cook faster. Traditionally, a pot that can be separated into two compartment is used so that one side is the non-spicy soup base and the other is spicy soup base. Since Ping doesn't have that kind of pot, we started out with the non-spicy soup and then after the second round, Ping added some chilli paste to make it spicy. However, knowing us Malaysians where there must always be chilli even when we're eating stuff that are not spicy, it didn't matter if we had spicy soup or not.
Just for the fun of it, Ping also made Blueberry Puff Pastry. Easy stuff but wish it was raspberry instead of blueberry because red would have made the picture look nicer than the blue that blends into the chocolate filling. Anyway, it was tasty though! Hehe!We were done with dinner by 9pm but sitting in front of the pot for most of the night is not necessarily good because Ping 'zhui yang', keep picking on the food. We sat around and sang lots and lots of '安靜' and them being awesome friends, didn't mind watching Jay's 無與倫比 Concert since majority of Ping's DVDs are Jay's work. We switched between that and ABC channel showing the countdown at New York City.
As we approached midnight, we had Ming Woei playing Auld Lang Syne on the guitar and more Jay after midnight. Thanks a bunch for coming over guys!! Ping had lots of fun!!
Reflecting back, this year is the most social that Ping have ever done! Not just while Ping is in the States but 'THE ＭＯＳＴ’. Sometimes it takes the right people to just get you out of the shell or maybe it is finding the right 默契. Also thanks to you all, Ping 可以驕傲的說, 我已經不會再給某人讓我傷心了. 因為遇到你們, 我看得到這世界其實還有真實的愛, 還有一種可以讓人感覺到安慰的愛. Happy 2008!!!
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