Steamboat Party

It's been raining on and off for about a week now in Sydney. And what's the best way to embrace this latest spate of cold weather?

A steamboat party!


Steamboat buffet

There were nineteen happy people at the G-man residence last weekend. Two steamboat pots bubbled happily with broth (one Thai, one Japanese) and a sidetable groaned with fishballs, beef balls, beef slices, pork slices, tiger prawns, dumplings, shiitake mushrooms, Japanese fishcake, marinated chicken, calamari rings, bean vermicelli, udon noodles, enoki mushrooms, baby bok choy and more.


Assorted fish balls (the orange ones at the front were a spicy Thai variety)


Tiger prawns and calamari rings


Dexter's selection ready for cooking

The idea is simple. Help yourself to the raw buffet, then dump the lot into the broth and fish out once they are cooked to your liking. Usually everyone cooks simultaneously at the table, with people using chopsticks and wire "fishing baskets" to hold their catch. Today we observed a one-at-a-time approach, avoiding any squabbling or chopstick clashes.


My cooked steamboat selection

The soup was warming, the windows fogged up, and we all seemed to expand at least two belt notches.

Then the homemade desserts were proudly unleashed by their creators, and suddenly there was room for more.



First a giant blondie slab, like brownies but made with white chocolate instead of milk. The slice was moist, dense and buttery, with a white chocolate sweetness and a crackle of crumbly crust. It was a little different to my first encounter with a blondie, but just as delicious.


Blondies

And then there was Monkey's Lint white chocolate cheesecake, a calorific behemoth made with white chocolate, double cream, cream cheese and mascarpone. Studded with fresh blueberries and set over a digestive biscuit crust, there was a mad scramble in the kitchen for a slice.


Homemade Lindt white chocolate cheesecake
(a death by calorie experience)

The richness of the cheesecake was somewhat tempered by a generous spoonful of raspberry coulis. However we still rubbed our stomachs in pain once the feast was over and the cheesecake calories suddenly hit our digestive system.

It was a good kind of pain though.

And then a voice rang out, "Hey, anymore cheescake left?"