How to Prepare a Delicious Hot Pot Party

I’ve written about hot pots before, but one of the easiest parties you can throw – there’s very little prep work, it involves lots of guest interaction, and you’re guaranteed a good meal! For this hot pot, my mom went to Chinatown, picked up a ton of thinly sliced meat (pork, beef, and lamb), mushrooms (enoki!), fish balls, taro, turnips, and nian gao (whole wheat). The entire dinner didn’t take very long to set up (all you need to do is wash the vegetables and cut up the larger veggies):

We also celebrated Ariel’s birthday – our friend Laura brought a three-layer cake:

Top layer: chocolate ganache, middle layer: chocolate mousse, bottom layer: cheesecake. I can see this cake being on This Is Why You’re Fat.

Happy birthday, Ariel! I hope you had fun at your hot pot party.

Tomorrow, I’ll post the recipe and story behind the lotus root dish in the first picture – it’s a sweet dish that my mom made – more tomorrow!