We’ve been looking at various hotpot appliances for some time and finally bought a Mistral induction cooker that came with a free pot (MIHC1800). The petit 35cm diameter footprint fit nicely on our dining table and was just the right size for the two of us.
To officially put it into service, we headed down to Don Don Donki at Orchard Central and picked up some fresh meats and vegetables for a simple home hotpot. It was crowded, as usual, but not too crowded for us to change our plans.
The selection of fresh food at Donki was quite wide and included Japanese produce from different prefectures. We picked up a $5 bundle offer for shimeji mushrooms and dou miao, as well as a $3.90 bag of Japanese mustard spinach (komatsuna), more than sufficient to meet our grass and fibre quota.
The meat section was fully stocked and given the wide variety on offer, it was a challenge to decide what we wanted. Eventually we settled on some Australia Angus shabu shabu beef and Hokkaido sukiyaki pork. Both trays were priced at $10 each.
Why not actual Japanese wagyu, you ask? Because, expensive. And also, we haven’t tried Donki meats before and wanted to start simple before upgrading to the good stuff.
When we got home, we plugged in the Mistral, dumped a pre-packed bag of mala soup into the pot, put the lid on and waited for it to boil. The power/temperature settings weren’t intuitive and required me to fish out the user guide to figure things out.
I eventually set it to C4 (120°C) while mentally complaining about why they didn’t just use a temperature display instead of the cryptic C1 to C9 scale? Also, why have two different ways of setting the induction cooker, by temperature and wattage (P1 to P9). And again, for wattage, why not just display the actual power? I think one simple scale of, say, 1 (min) to 10 (max) would have sufficed. Oh well.
User interface gripes aside, the cooker was simple to use. When it’s in operation, you can hear a fan going, presumably to dissipate heat of the induction plate as the temperature rises. It took a while for the soup to boil and I’d probably crank it up to max power the next time it gets used.
Once the stock started boiling, we happily shabu shabu’ed away. The vegetables were really good, especially the sweet and crunchy dou miao. We also opened a box of deep-fried tofu skin that The Wife had bought online previously and dunked it into the soup to act as a flavour sponge.
She also fished out a bottle of yuzu goma to act as the dipping sauce for the meats. I think it’s normally used as a salad dressing, but the tartness and creaminess worked really well as a sauce.
The meats were average, and the pork was better than the beef. I suppose it’s the usual case of you-get-what-you-pay-for and I assume the higher-priced fatty wagyu would have been much tastier. Maybe next time.
Overall, we had a fun and enjoyable dinner. We’ll definitely do it again, but the next time the hotpot gets used, it will probably be for some Korean food like budae jjigae, tteokbokki or dakgalbi.
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Don Don Donki
Shopping for sukiyaki ingredients at Don Don Donki
Since Donki is a Japanese chain store grocer, we were confident of sourcing reasonably-priced ingredients to cook a decent beef sukiyaki at home.
There’s always a packet of Misuzu Inari in our pantry
Inari sushi, kitsune soba and even stir-fried vegetables. Given its convenience and versatility, The Wife makes sure we never run out.
Don Don Donki beef chips are really quite versatile
These offcuts, retailing at S$9.90 for a 300gm tray, tend to sell out pretty fast. That is, if they even make an appearance in the store chillers.
1 avocado, 2 oranges, 3 eggs and 4 karaages make a hearty dinner salad
Even though there’s deep-fried chicken involved, you’re still technically having a “salad”. Which magically transforms it into health food.
The frozen oden at Don Don Donki is actually quite nice
If you happen to come across the petite Kibun Oden Set in Donki’s freezers, you might want to give it a try. Because good things do come in small packages, and it’s especially true in this case.
Eight different Aomori apples from Don Don Donki
I know that fruits are good for me, but I don’t particularly enjoy eating them. There are some that I tolerate, and will grudgingly have. Apples are one of those.
The amazing cost performance of fresh fish from Don Don Donki
Next time you visit your favourite Don Don Donki outlet, why not buy some kampachi kama, buri fillet and salmon fin and whip up some simple Japanese dishes at home? Both your stomach, and your wallet, will thank you for it.
Auspicious mochi waffles on the first day of the Chinese New Year
Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year, and The Wife wanted to start off the year with an auspicious breakfast. So she made some mochi waffles and paired them with Jeju yuzu citron and Canadian maple syrup.
Nature moves at its own pace
The sprouts shot up at quite an amazing pace and after only seven days, they were ready to be harvested and eaten again. It’s unclear if the Totoro had any significant impact on their speed of growth.
Looks like I’m able to eat supermarket sushi again
On our previous grocery runs to Don Don Donki in Orchard Central, we walked past the large coolers that housed the many trays of takeaway sushi but didn’t buy any. This time, we choose one tray each and brought them home for dinner.
