The Famous Thai Sukiyaki

Thai Sukiyaki is a shared cooking and eating experience that possesses a similar one pot style to that of fondue and Japanese Sukiyaki, with the major difference being the chili addition of the Thai variety.
The Thai sukiyaki dining experience requires a sukiyaki pot (electric wok or crock pot) to be positioned in the center of the dining table, surrounded by platters of fresh vegetables, meat and seafood, all of which are then cooked in a steaming broth, contained in the sukiyaki pot.
Here is a wonderful recipe for colder weather, as it will keep you nice and warm for hours. I don’t know how other people prepare their Sukiyaki, but this is how my home (in Sydney) cooks it, so I have described it the way we have always had it at home. Naturally, there are many variations based on personal preferences and regional differences, but ours follows Thai style.

Utensils for Preparing Thai Sukiyaki
•1 sukiyaki pot (electric wok or electric crock pot)*
•serving platters
•1 jug (to contain sukiyaki broth)
•1 medium size bowl(for mixing the Thai sukiyaki sauce)
•1 small bowl per Guest (for individual portions of sukiyaki sauce)
•Chopsticks

*available in most supermarkets, price from AU$30 , can be use for many times

Ingredients:
•Water for soup
•1 vegetable, chicken or pork stock cube (For soup)
•1 White Chinese radish
•Fish balls (available frozen in most Asian supermarkets).
•Pork balls (available in most Asian supermarkets).
•Thinly sliced raw pork. *
•Chinese cabbage, washed and cut into bite size pieces.
•1 bunch of celery, washed and cut into 4 portions.
•1 bunch of Pak Boong (Thai water spinach available in most Asianb supermarkets) washed and cut into 4 portions.
•Enoki mushrooms (available in most Asian supermarkets)..
•Baby corns, root removed, washed and cut in halves (long ways).

* Included here are meat suggestions for a well rounded and authentic sukiyaki experience, but feel free to alter ingredients by preference. The only condition is that the meat can be prepared in bite size pieces that will cook quickly when added to the sukiyaki broth.

Fill the vegetable platter according to vegetable preference, including one or two types of; leafy green vegetables, mushrooms and cabbage (as the basic requirements) and then add whatever you desire. The suggestions made here constitute those vegetables that are commonly used in authentic Thai Sukiyaki.

Thai sukiyaki sauce
Thai style sukiyaki sauce is can easily find in most Asian supermarkets (see picture). The Thai version uses chillies and garlic, normally it is served in a separate plate so that each person can choose to add more or less chili to their sauce. Chop the chillies & garlic and place in a serving bowl.

Thai Sukiyaki Cooking and Eating:
Boil 3/4 of water in a pot adding the stock cube and large wedges of Chinese radish. Bring to the boil and simmer for a while. Once everything has been chopped up and laid out on the table, then the fun begins. Everyone can do his or her own cooking (the handles of the wire ladles can be bent so that they hook over the edge of the pot to stay in place), keeping an eye on the ingredients they have placed into the pot. There are no hard and fast rules!

You will be amazed at how much you can actually eat during this meal. Because the food is eaten slowly over the course of a few hours, you can take digestive breaks, then have some more! And it really is not as complicated as it might sound. Let me know how it goes when you try it, and if you have any suggestions to improve the experience!!