Welcoming year of horse 2014 with DIY Steamboat

This year, we spend Chinese new year at our home sweet home.
We had dinner at Ayam goreng Malioboro for CNY eve and today we had DIY steamboat at home.
We invited Om Reynard too

Steamboats is called Chinese fondue and its ingredients have some meaning
Here's what mommy found from internet
Source : http://www.noobcook.com/how-to-prepare-a-sumptuous-hot-pot-steamboat-feast/

Steamboat in Chinese is called hotpot, in Japan it's called shabu shabu and in Malaysia Singapore it's called steamboat

Why hotpot/steamboat is an ideal meal for CNY and social gatherings: - It is so easy to prepare, it involves more of logistics (gathering ingredients) rather than any expertise in cooking. Hence anyone can host a fail-proof, yummy meal.
- You can easily prepare a meal for as few people (e.g. 2) or as many people (like 20) as you like simply by adjusting the quantity of ingredients.
- You can do hotpot again over the next 1-2 days with the leftovers, especially useful when many eating places, markets and shops are closed during the first few days of CNY.
- You get to sit around the table for a long time as you cook your own food, hence promoting interaction and bonding.
- It’s a healthy meal, as you are enjoying the food which has been briefly cooked in hot broth. The food is not greasy at all.
- It is great for pot luck. Just make sure you coordinate who are bringing which ingredients so that there is no duplication.
 - You can choose almost any ingredients for your hotpot based on your preference and budget. It can be really lavish (with lobster, abalone etc) or really simple. Either way is totally delicious

Traditional beliefs: - Try to prepare excess food with the intention for leftovers* for the following 1-2 days. Do not say things like “let’s try to finish all the food”. The Chinese prefer to have leftovers which symbolizes lots of savings in the coming year. You can use the leftovers to make more hotpot meals or other dishes in the coming days.
- Refrain from bitter foods such as bittergourd and also sour foods as they are considered inauspicious.
- Some cultures believe that having cooked rice on the table is a must (whether you eat it or not), as it is a symbol of prosperity.
* Do note that certain foods (such as tau pok aka stuffed bean curd puffs and fresh yong tau foo pieces) do not keep well overnight in the fridge, as they easily become sour the next day.

Auspicious foods:
- Prawns are a symbol of happiness (sounds like “ha” in Cantonese, hence 笑 “哈哈”).
- Long noodles signify longevity. Hence do not cut them to shorter lengths.
- Fish & abalone is a symbol of abundance (年年有余/年年包有余). You can use either thin fish slices or yong tau foo (which are pieces of food with stuffed fish paste).
- Dumplings are a symbol of wealth because they resemble ingots (yuan bao 元宝; ancient Chinese currency).

Our DIY Steamboat ingredients

Main items - Sliced beef

Fish and prawn ( Symbol abundance and happiness )

 

 

Vegetable and tanghoon ( symbol health and long life )

 

 

Dumpling ( symbol wealth )

 

 

Sausage and vegie's balls ( Richie's favourite)

 

 

Crispy beancurd and ngohiang

 

 

Homemade dipping sauce ( Thai sweet sour chilli and sesame soya sauce )

 

 

 

Soup base : homemade chicken soup made from chicken feet, carrots, salted fishes with pinched of salt and peppers