Member Appreciation Day: Thank You, Everyone, Please Come to Free Dinner:-)
Details
http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/c/2/0/8/event_192829672.jpeg
(shabu shabu from Wikipedia)
http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/c/6/4/event_184443172.jpeg
https://www.meetup.com/LACooking/events/91023582/
Dear members,
I have always wanted to do this -- to invite members for free dinner to show my appreciation, and time has finally come thanks to some special donation I'm getting.))
My life has taken a very interesting turn last year as some company found me on LinkedIn and offered a full time job out of blue that I didn't even know existed. And perhaps you remember that one of the reasons I was chosen out of 500 profiles was the fact that I've been a meetup organizer!! Yes, I told you the story - I feel very fortunate to have someone "assume" that I "must have people skill, communication skill and leadership" because I've been organizing meetup groups!
So, I told myself that I owe it to all my members; because without their constant support, help, encouragement and involvement, I wouldn't have been able to keep organizing. I would have quit long time ago if they were not always there for me...
I got lucky to have an anonymous sponsor to pay for the food cost! And also Jonathan who's kindly opening his house again)) So, I'm happily going to grocery shopping to buy whatever I need and want!!
By the generous sponsor's request I'll be cooking Japanese shabu-shabu again, but this time in 2 kinds - Meat with vegetable pot and Seafood with vegetables with all kinds of stuff you might not be familiar with..
Beef, pork, shrimp, oyster, scallops, nappa cabbage, shungiku, carrots, daikon radish, naganegi, shiitake mushroom, Enoki mushroom, shimeji, harusame, konbu, tofu, mochi in aguraage, udon, with sesame sauce and ponzu
And I'm planning to cook probably 5-6 more different dishes of my choice below (subject to change). I haven't finalized the menu yet, but since we only have a week, I thought of posting now.
-Sake to ikura no mushi gohan (steamed sweet rice with salmon and salmon roe and mitsuba) or
-Chuuka chimaki (steamed sweet rice balls with pork and vegetables wrapped in bamboo leaves)
-Japanese style chicken curry or curry udon
-Green beans with 2 mustards
-Ebi shinjo or Yariika no kenchin ni or tsumemono
-Konnyaku, potato and carrot cooked in cream
-Hijiki salad
(Hehehe, some of the items you might have no idea what the hxxk they are! lol )
Thank you so much, everyone, for always supporting me. If you have time next Saturday Jan 12th, please come to Jonathan's house and cook and/or eat together. It is free, but for security purpose I'm asking attendees to pay nominal $2 fee so that we know you're serious about coming and I can disclose the address, too.
Also, please indicate if you'd like to come early to help cook or just want to have a dinner with us.
If you can bring wine or other drinks, that would be great, but if not, just come empty handed but with HUGE APPETITE!)))
See you soon!
Sally
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https://www.meetup.com/LACooking/events/42861042/?action=detail&eventId=42861042
You might have tried shabu shabu before, but I'm not sure if you've tasted what's called "Biiru (beer) shabu shabu" YET. My mother used to make this when there was leftover beer.
Well, for regular shabu shabu you quickly cook ("shabu-shabu"=swish-swish) thinly sliced beef, pork, seafood, tofu, mushrooms and vegetables in kombu (kelp) based broth usually, but this version we do that in a pot of beer!))
Just for the photos please click the link below:
http://www.h2.dion.ne.jp/~beer/koubou/beer_syabusyabu.htm (http://www.h2.dion.ne.jp/%7Ebeer/koubou/beer_syabusyabu.htm)
It helps to tenderize the meat and adds flavor to the meat and vegetables. You dip the cooked food in the sauce I make - sesame based sauce and homemade ponzu (citrus based vinaigrette without oil) and we usually add udon noodle and/or mochi in the end. I'll bring the table-top cooker and a pot and cook.