I have to admit, before we came to Thailand, we had never tried this type of cooking method before. We had been to some Korean BBQ restaurants before where you cook the meat in front of you on a grill when they you bring you your pre portioned order but this was not the same. If you have never had this Shabu-Shabu style cooking before let me explain a little.

First they start by bringing out a clay pot full of hot coals (and a couple ice cold Chang Beers) and then place this metal soup / bbq grilling vessel on top (The Shabu-Shabu). Then, they place a large piece of pork fat on top so as the grill gets it will start to render down into the soup. It is pretty wonderful. They then give you these metal t-pots filled with the most delicious, flavourful and beautiful tasting soup stock and it gets better and better as as it continues to cook.

After this it is time to pick your ingredients. Anything you want, and as much as you can eat. There was EVERYTHING you would want here to make an amazing and filling dinner. There was over 20 different protein trays with marinated pork, beef, chicken, squid, shrimp, fish balls, meat balls, bacon, tofu, eggs and a few items i wasn’t quite sure what they were and a different sauce for each type of protein. There was tons of fresh vegetables and herbs, noodles of every kind, a salad bar beside it and there was even cooked dishes in the front with items like spring rolls and stir fried noodles. And if all this wasn’t enough there is a fresh fruit and ice cream station for dessert because why not.

Now it is time for the assembly. We start by putting the meats on so that they can start to render into the stock and make it more flavourful. After we are finished with the shrimp we put the shells back into the stock as well because why not. There is a flavour party going on in that pot and we do not discriminate.

Once the meats start to brown its time to put in the vegetables. You can put the longer cooking vegetables in first like the broccoli and carrots but we usually just put them all in at once and start. Yes, perhaps it is because I am a bit impatient but I just cant help my self the soup is that good.

Now its time to eat. There are also a lot of fresh noodles so we just put those in our serving bowls and the hot stock will just heat them through. There are also tons of fresh eggs to make some poached eggs with. Who doesn’t love an egg of top of just about anything.

As the soup goes down you are constantly re adding meats and stock and vegetables till you just cant possibly eat anymore. Between Rob and I we usually get around 2 full baskets of vegetables and a couple small plates of meat and that is plenty. We barely have any room for dessert. We have seen some people that come in and grab a plate that is about a mile high full of meat. I don’t think they realized you can go up as many times as you want.

So if you ever see one of these Shabu Shabu restaurants travelling through Asia I would recommend stopping by and if you don’t see one, try looking one up, it will be well worth it. Did I mention it only costs $6.00!