how to throw an easy (and cheap!) shabu shabu party at home

I love me some shabu shabu. 

There's something so therapeutic and delicious about dipping your own meats and vegetables into a hot broth and cooking it yourself. It's amazing! I love going to shabu shabu and hot pot restaurants but it's not Eugene's fave. He always say's its too over-priced and not worth the money. In a lot of ways, I agree! Most shabu shabu places are pretty pricey and you only get a handful of vegetables and a not-so-impressive portion of meat. But my love for shabu shabu can not be tamed so I had to find a way to make it for cheap at home. The broth is simple and not super flavorful - but the different variety of veggies, meats and sauces make it a tasty meal. 

I included a rough estimate of the prices for the veggies, meats and sauce to estimate the overall price for the meal. I tried to divide the price by the percentage of ingredients I used. (i.e. Using 1/4 a pack of baby bok choy that was $4 = $1) 

Here's what we did for our simple shabu-shabu party:

For the broth - I boiled a pot full of water with a handful of anchovies in a mesh infuser ball, a whole onion, handful of garlic and 2 pieces of dried kelp. 

Then - on to the good stuff...

meat // pork slices ($4.99) thin-sliced rib eye ($6)

seafood // shrimp ($0.89) crab meat ($0.80)

veggies // spinach (1 bunch - $0.69) baby bok choy ($1) broccolini ($1.02) squash ($0.42)

sides // udon noodle (1 pack - $0.79)

seafood // mussles ($1) 

veggies // cabbage ($0.80) oyster mushrooms ($1.49) napa cabbage ($0.30) enoki mush ($0.99)

extras // green onions ($0.50) perilla leaves ($0.15)

sauce // ponzu ($2) sesame sauce ($1) chili ($1) 

The grand total was $25.83. This would comfortably feed 4 people ($6.46/person)

The best part is always putting the udon noodles in last. Sadly we were too full to finish this part. 

my happy + excited husband. :)

Eugene and I ate this for dinner today as a "test run" so that we could see how much food we would need to prepare to actually host a dinner. This meal is easy to prep, simple + healthy, and fun to share with others. It's way cheaper than going out to get shabu shabu at a restaurant - though, it does take some work to do it at home. I'd say it's worth it.

We're definitely hosting a shabu shabu party in the near future. Come join us! :)