STEAMBOAT
Steamboat (or Hotpot) makes for a sociable meal as you cook fresh, raw ingredients at the table in a well-flavoured stock. It is a do-it-yourself meal where diners cook their own food in a deep metal pot (ie. the steamboat) placed over a small electric or gas stove.
The steamboat is first filled with stock and you usually have a choice of chicken broth , Tom Yam Soup or other gravy. Once the soup is brought to a boil, the fire is brought down to a simmer and you can begin cooking , you can use the sieve-like ladle or your chopsticks to drop the raw food into the stock when you feel the food is cooked to your liking, transfer it to your bowl to eat, and add more uncooked ones into the steamboat.
You may wish to add raw eggs to the soup for flavour, especially if you are eating your steamboat with the chicken-based broth. This can be done at the beginning of the meal, before you start to cook anything else. Make sure you beat the egg in a bowl before pouring it in, and swirl the egg around almost immediately otherwise the egg will cook as a clump.
Some people order steamed white rice or noodles to eat the cooked food with , others are happy with just dipping the food into the condiments provided, usually soya or chilli sauce. After cooking all your ingredients for some time, the soup will be full of flavour and you can choose to drink this on its own or to add some noodles to the soup and create noodle soup .
The raw ingredients offered will vary from outlet to outlet, but some of the more common ones include vegetables, slices of chicken, beef, pork or fish which can be plain or seasoned, fish maw, fishballs, sotong balls, prawn balls, tofu, prawns, tung hoon and crab sticks.
Most steamboat outlets offer this form of dining buffet-style and you pay a set price per person. You can choose whatever you like, sometimes from a common area where you pick the food yourself or from a menu where you order repeatedly and the food is brought to you. Keep in mind that you should not take or order more than you can eat as there may be a surcharge for food that is wasted.
There is a variety called Fish Head Steamboat which uses fish stock and comes with fish head, preserved plum, vegetables, deep fried thin slices of fish and some pieces of pork and is served to your table mixed and cooked so the fun of cooking your own meal is missing but the dish is worth trying for its unique flavours.
Nowadays , one can find at some food centres , stalls that offer mini steamboat sets where you get your own mini stove and small pot with a choice of soup and a plate with ingredients dependind on the set you choose .
thanks to all the sources : Wikipedia ; SingaporeLifestyle ; YourSingapore ; MakanTime ; and all the other sites and blogs
The steamboat is first filled with stock and you usually have a choice of chicken broth , Tom Yam Soup or other gravy. Once the soup is brought to a boil, the fire is brought down to a simmer and you can begin cooking , you can use the sieve-like ladle or your chopsticks to drop the raw food into the stock when you feel the food is cooked to your liking, transfer it to your bowl to eat, and add more uncooked ones into the steamboat.
You may wish to add raw eggs to the soup for flavour, especially if you are eating your steamboat with the chicken-based broth. This can be done at the beginning of the meal, before you start to cook anything else. Make sure you beat the egg in a bowl before pouring it in, and swirl the egg around almost immediately otherwise the egg will cook as a clump.
Some people order steamed white rice or noodles to eat the cooked food with , others are happy with just dipping the food into the condiments provided, usually soya or chilli sauce. After cooking all your ingredients for some time, the soup will be full of flavour and you can choose to drink this on its own or to add some noodles to the soup and create noodle soup .
The raw ingredients offered will vary from outlet to outlet, but some of the more common ones include vegetables, slices of chicken, beef, pork or fish which can be plain or seasoned, fish maw, fishballs, sotong balls, prawn balls, tofu, prawns, tung hoon and crab sticks.
Most steamboat outlets offer this form of dining buffet-style and you pay a set price per person. You can choose whatever you like, sometimes from a common area where you pick the food yourself or from a menu where you order repeatedly and the food is brought to you. Keep in mind that you should not take or order more than you can eat as there may be a surcharge for food that is wasted.
There is a variety called Fish Head Steamboat which uses fish stock and comes with fish head, preserved plum, vegetables, deep fried thin slices of fish and some pieces of pork and is served to your table mixed and cooked so the fun of cooking your own meal is missing but the dish is worth trying for its unique flavours.
Nowadays , one can find at some food centres , stalls that offer mini steamboat sets where you get your own mini stove and small pot with a choice of soup and a plate with ingredients dependind on the set you choose .
thanks to all the sources : Wikipedia ; SingaporeLifestyle ; YourSingapore ; MakanTime ; and all the other sites and blogs