Pardon the three food posts in a row, but I ate well today, and food is high in my mind because of a new grocery-store experience. Plus, the weather is full of gloom, and there's not much else to do in terms of mood. I lost or misplaced my office ID card, which has put me in less-than-peak performance mentally and emotionally. Talking about hot soups on a cold rainy day is as good as it gets, no? Let's get on with it.
I got the wood ear mushrooms, tofu, loads of greens and other stuff...delivered from Saywee today, including 10-pack Shin Ramyun (who even knew they sold 10packs!?). So I did the easiest, laziest thing a boy could do: I made hot noodles in this cold day. A big bowl of noodle soup for the guy who claimed to be avoiding carbs and wheat and many costs. Because the pot I was cooking was my smallest, I couldn't just dump everything in it as they cooked together. So I gathered it all in the serving bowl, and added them one at a time, with hot water. That's when it hit me: what I do with my noodle-making is how hotpot works!
Get some boiling hot water, add your carbs, add your protein, add your veggies and spices, and get them simmering together. Add different things at different points, and keep eating. It's easy, not very messy, and honestly, doesn't dirty too many dishes. You will get only one favor -- in contrast to the South Asian way of cooking (or even Chinese) where each dish is supposed to have its own 'thing -- but who cares, you have a full belly, and a content mind!
A whole-pot noodle stew with veggies and spices and proteins is as 'old timey' and simple as it gets. Specially when cooking for one, when it's ideal to avoid complex recipes and too much added work that doesn't directly lead to better or more food, this is really the perfect way. Wish there was a way I could do this for rice and other proteins too. Or maybe there IS! Cook a carb, get a hotpot thing, and do it in your living room. Actually no, that doesn't work, I don't have a place to put it, without everything getting nasty dirty, but what a great idea.
Definitely something worth considering. A Nepali-style hotpot. Why don't we have it already!
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