huǒguō

Slightly before my partial incapacitation I managed to lift the old man's spirits from the onset of the winter blues. In addition to that, dad has also been mourning the death of his old electric hot pot (known as Shabu Shabu (translates to swish swish) the Japanese name) cooker since last winter. I was ready to buy him a replacement when I arrived, but chose not to say anything until last month. My dad is kind of like a kid and would've wanted me to buy it then had I said so last June. I was right and glad I waited to say anything. He started scouring for deals the second I told him I would buy him one. We shopped around and read all the reviews for a week before finding one with a decent warranty at a local Asian supermarket. We got it and picked up all the ingredients for dinner that night. Dad was uber thrilled and acting a lot like a kid at xmas that night. We must've had it at least four times for dinner that first week. The good thing is it's excellent and something you don't tire of easily.

For anyone interested. Hot Pot was invented by Temujin or Genghis Khan as the world knows him. He was also the greenest leader in the world to date, look it up. He had come up with this method as a means to conserve fuel while keeping his troops fed. Basically the troops were given thinly sliced cuts of meat along with vegetables where they would use communal pots of boiling water to cook it in. The fast cook time also allowed the food to retain most of it's nutritional value. Unlike my tater tot casserole pictured below. Not at all healthy but just as tasty and filling on a cold day.

So I've got an upcoming camping trip where I'll really by putting the Kelly Kettle thru its paces. In addition to the usual canned or dried soups I plan on using it as a mini hot pot cooking system. I'll see about taking some  more pictures and video of it in action too.