しゃぶしゃぶ with friends~!

Shabu-shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ , also spelled syabu-syabu?) is a Japanese variant of hot pot. The name Shabu Shabu is derived from the "swish swish" sound of cooking the meat in the pot. The dish is related to sukiyaki in style, in that both use thinly sliced meat and vegetables and are usually served with dipping sauces, but it is considered to be more savory and less sweet than sukiyaki. It is considered a winter dish but is eaten year-round. (--Wikipedia) 

 It is the start of Autumn and the weather has definitely cooled down quite a bit in Fukuoka. Yesterday and today is rainy weather and it's a bit gloomy (low 20'sC/70'sF) and we were in preparation of Kevin flying out to Hong Kong for IB Training. 

 Friday morning Kaitlyn walks in our bedroom and said "I think Father Sky is crying because Papa is leaving for Hong Kong today." Of course, we are a bit sad that Kevin is going to be gone for a few days, but lucky in a sense that he gets to travel for work and gets paid for it. We get ready for school and off we go. As I spend the day subbing for Kevin's classes, he goes home to pack. Luckily during lunch break (an hour before Kevin leaves for the airport), I call him to run down my checklist of things he "should have" done or packed. Check, check, check he tells me. Ah, but one thing he really really really forgot that was extremely important.
What do you think that is? HA~! It was his passport~! "What would he do without me?" I asked him. Be stuck at the FUK International Airport? Passport. CHECK~! And off he goes. 3.5hrs later he emails me to tell me he landed in Hong Kong safely. 

 With Kevin gone for a long weekend, what are we going to do? Hmmm... luckily yesterday afternoon we get an email from our co-workers of arranging a lunch date for Saturday afternoon. Shabu Shabu? Uh, YEAH!!! Momma has been missing the hot pot action from back home, so this was great. Replied: YES! 

 Of course, knowing Papa is going to be gone for the weekend Kaitlyn jumped on the chance to snuggle with mommy for bedtime. The funny thing was, at about 1am she gets up having to use the restroom she forgot she was in our room. I look up at her in the dark and realized she couldn't open our door (our room is a tatami room, so the doors are sliding doors, unlike her room which is western style doors.) She stands there doing the "pee pee" dance for a couple a seconds before speaking up "Mommy!!!! I have to pee can you open the door for me?" I jump up and open the door. Kaitlyn dashes out and does her business. It was seriously funny for me. 

 Saturday morning comes. Like every weekend morning, Kaitlyn is up at dawn so she doesn't waste any daylight hours for playtime. The doorbell rings and Kaitlyn yells "Mommy!!!!!" I get up and look at the receiver and see a Japanese man waiting downstairs. I couldn't tell if her was a delivery man or solicitor. I pick up the phone and he's spouting out Japanese. "Wakarimasen." I told him. He then shows me a box in front of the camera and I buzz him in. I sign for the package. wOOoo hOoooo... package from Grandma and Grandpa!! Kevin's birthday in nearing, so he will get his early birthday present when he comes back from Hong Kong. Great Grandma also made us some Persimmon cookies...and "other" treats Grandma added also. ahhh... yeahhhh~! LOVE YOU GG, G-MA & G-PA~!!! 

 Noon is just around the corner, so KK and I get ready to ride our bikes out to Nishijin. We arrive at Nishijin Hatsuki and we go upstairs to the 2F for Shabu Shabu. Because we had a larger party, we got our own room. Kaitlyn and I were the two first people to arrive as we were 10 minutes early. We take off our shoes and the young hostess in a kimono walks us down the softly carpeted hallway and slides the door open for us to enter. There were two tables; one long seating 8 and one short seating 4. These were the tables that are low and there is a "hole" in the bottom to put your legs as you sit on cushions. The tables were nicely set with our utensils and a side dish. We waited for a few minutes and then the others arrive.

Toshi Kimura-san, our HS Physics teacher and also Japanese, arranged this luncheon for us foreigners.  He looked at the menu and briefly described some of the foods and sets.  We ordered the pork set, which was really affordable.  We have some tea and chatted for a bit while the workers started setting up.  They brought in a few different dishes that were just for the sauces and turned on the portable gas stove for the broth to start simmering.  When all the sauce ingredients were complete on the table, Toshi went through each bowl and told us what they were and in which bowl of sauce to mix it with.  We start mixing our two different sauces.  One was a sesame seed sauce that was a light tan color and the other was a ponzu sauce that was a dark soy sauce color.  "Another sauce is coming" Toshi said.  Another? I thought.  How many sauces do we need?  Well, a bowl of soup, a side dish of pickled veggies and a bowl of rice came.  The bowl of soup is a light miso kind of soup with spring onions and it was quite tasty.  Each guest got a "box of raw thin sliced meats with a variety of veggies, noodles, tofu and dry mochi.  We are ready for shabu shabu~!

"Put the veggies in first" Toshi says.  Since it was 4 people sharing one hot pot, we all share.  One at a time, we put in our veggies into the broth.  Then we cook our meats and dip into the variety of sauces.  A bit over an hour passes by and we are stuffed with all these delicious meats and veggies.  Washing it down with some hot tea, Toshi asks if are ready for dessert?  He presses the button and the server walks in.  Hot coffee, iced coffee or something like calbee it sounds like (please someone correct me here, I couldn't hear).  He takes our orders and our drinks comes and they serve dessert.  Dessert was a coconut covered milk mochi with candied walnuts.  Oiishi~!! 

Can anyone say food coma?~!!!!  After the 2 hour dining experience, I think everyone was ready to get back home and take a nap.  Everything was quite delicious and for a very affordable cost.  The sets that we ordered for everything was ¥1300 per person.  The setting was beautiful and calm.  This a great place to go to for a family style event when it is cold outside.  

Nishijin Hatsuki --website

Nishijin Hatsuki --Google Map