Steam Boat

My husband and I got bored of eating out and the regular meals that I cook at home. That got us thinking of having something that was easy to prepare and yet delicious and hopefully healthier that eating out. The weather has also gotten cooler with the bouts of sudden heavy thunderstorm like rain for the past week. That’s when we decided to have steamboat! It would the perfect meal on a cooling day.

Steamboat normally refers to an array of dishes where the ingredients are cooked in a simmering pot of broth at the table usually communally, similar to a fondue. The term Steamboat is mostly used in Malaysia and Singapore while Hotpot is more commonly used in other parts of the world.

Steamboat dinner

Soup/Stock Recipe

If you are planning to have fresh seafood and meats during the meal, you don’t really need to have any flavour enhancing soup. For my soup, I made something healthy and simple.

1.  2 chicken bones
2. 1 corn (cup into smaller pieces)
3. 1 clove of garlic
4. 2 litres of water
5. 3 table spoon on soya sauce
6. Salt to taste
7. Pepper to taste

Soup

Put everything into the pot and bring to boil. Once reached boiling temperature, reduce fire to a simmer. Simmer for 1 hour making sure that the soup does not dry up. Top-up the water where necessary.

Dipping Sauce

Everyone has their preference when it comes to dipping sauce. For me I prefer the simple yet healthier sauce that actually enhances the taste of the meal rather than overpowering it.

1.  ½ clove of garlic (minced)
2. 4 Small chilli - chilli padi (finely sliced)
3. Soya sauce (enough to drench the garlic)
4. Sesame oil (a few dashes)
5. Coriander leaves (finely chopped).

Just mixed all the ingredients together and your dipping sauce is ready. For those who don’t like the raw garlic taste, you can opt to lightly fry it first and then mix all the above ingredients together.

Dipping sauce

Steamboat Ingredients

Generally, you can put anything you want into the steamboat. Here are some of the usual ingredients.

1. Prawn
2. Fish slices
3. Scallop
4. Clams (la-la)
5. Squid
6. Thinly sliced meat (akin meat used for shabu-shabu)
7. Fish/meat/cuttlefish balls
8. Crab-stick
9. Pin/button mushroom
10. Leafy vegetables
11. Tofu
12. Fried bean curd skin
13. Egg
14. Noodles

Scallops, Crab-stick & Pin mushroom

Squid & Prawn

Clams

Meatball

Sliced meat

Fried bean-curd skin

Leafy vegetables

Prep Time: 2 hours including cleaning

Cook Time: 1 hour

Serves: 2-3 pax

Special Green Bean Dessert with Gula Melaka & Durian

Green beans with gula melaka & durian

It’s one of those days when you crave for something sweet to eat and I happen to have leftover durian sitting in the fridge.  So I decided to make my special green bean dessert with gula Melaka and durian. This is a recipe passed on from my dad. Yes, you read right. My dad is the cook of the family!! Every member of my dad’s family can cook. They all take over my late grandmother who was a glorious and talented cook. And I guess I took after my dad, the passion and love for cooking. But I must admit that I am not as good as them.

Ready to eat

Nevertheless, this is a fairly simple recipe. My husband said it was good. He’s never tried this before and even suggested that I share this recipe with everyone out there. So that’s what I’m doing now. Hope you all enjoy it as much.