A SHABU SHABU WELCOME DINNER!

After our California vacation, we headed back to Las Vegas in a hurry not because we will be going to another casino or that we were missing my cousins.

We were so excited for a SHABU SHABU dinner!

Yep! Sorry. Ha ha ha ha! We love food too much that we have forgotten any form of human affection. Instead, we just focused on what's waiting for us at the end of the sin city's "rainbow" and that is, piping hot bowls of SHABU SHABU.

Yum! I'm sure you'd know by now that SHABU SHABU is indeed our favorite!  To THINK that we just came from Days Inn Hotel for a heavy breakfast and Arby's for our late lunch. Yes it may seem gluttony that we are rushing somewhere just for a taste of our delicious food but we don't care -- we are willing to shed what's left of human decency just to get a sip of that heavily flavored broth, crunchy vegetables, tender seafood, and chewy noodles.

I'm sure you'd agree with me once you see the spread that my cousin prepared for us. You might even purposely forget that you have a wife/husband just so you'd get the first bowl.

I'm sure that's what my husband did. And even son.

I lead such a sorry life......

Kidding! He he he he he! 

Familiar landmarks that remind us we were near LAS VEGAS!

When we got to Las Vegas, my cousin Kuya Nap was so busy preparing the ingredients for his special SHABU SHABU dinner. 

My cousin is not really a chef but like us, he LOVED to eat. It's always a great day when he cooks because he is such a whiz in the kitchen! 

Oysters for the SHABU SHABU! Mati was overjoyed to see this because he is an absolute oyster boy!

Bags and bags of balls for the SHABU SHABU!

Japanese SHABU SHABU noodles.

My favorite veggie in SHABU SHABU -- Pechay!

SHABU SHABU ingredients were coming to order.

Kuya Nap's pretty wife, Ate Shiela joined in on the fun and started to arrange the platters of grub.

While everyone was preparing the SHABU SHABU dinner, I was busy munching on the Kuya Nap's oven baked pork rinds. This was seriously good! I could not stop at one since everything's just so crunchy and tasty. I even brought several jars of this wonderful "chicharon" home! YUM!

And finally... the first platter of SHABU SHABU ingredients!

Ain't that sight pretty? This SHABU SHABU platter consisted of meat balls, squid balls, fish balls, two types of mushrooms, and greens! 

The second heaping platter of SHABU SHABU had shrimps, squid, cuttle fish, plus more delicious vegetables!

And just in case we ran out of seafood and mushrooms, we have extra plates ready. He he he he!

Kuya Nap pulls out what would start our SHABU SHABU fire! He he he he!

Oh yes! Light it up! Light it up!

This is my cousin's very flavorful SHABU SHABU broth. I was trying to sweet talk him into sharing the recipe but he says that it will go with him to the afterlife.

So morbid Kuya Nap!!!! And so selfish too! 

Even if you have already cooked a feast that would feed an army, you know what I mean. Ha ha ha ha!

As the very wise Mr. White would say..

"Let's cook!"

And by "cook" I meant dumping everything in. Ha ha ha ha!

Yep! The balls were "dumped in" afterwards.

OH.

YEAAAAH.

The aroma of boiling seafood, vegetables, noodles, and broth would make any sane person crazy from waiting to get a bowl!!

Now THAT is a beautiful sight. 

Yep more than a picture of yours truly. 

Yeah that's me. Comparable to a potful of boiling soup! Tee hee!

Yohooo! Time to EAT our welcome SHABU SHABU dinner!

My master Mati was so excited to slurp his SHABU SHABU away!

Even Andrei stayed put on his chair and enjoyed his very comforting SHABU SHABU bowl. He just requested for more balls.

You asked for it and so now you get it!

At first sip of the very tasty broth, I was hooked. There was no need for any type of dipping sauce here. If you need to dip your seafood, balls, and veggies into something you just get a spoonful of the thick soup with it. Now just put everything in your mouth and savor away. 

I think I was quiet for a good 30 minutes here as I just kept slurping, chewing, and sighing from all that delicious SHABU SHABU!

The first pot was immediately DONE so immediately had a second round!

Yep! That's how awesome it was!!!!

BURP!

And we're done with our unforgettable SHABU SHABU dinner. Now THAT is what dreams are made of.

Somehow life will not be the same again as Kuya Nap raised the bar in our SHABU SHABU devotion. There is really nothing like the home cooked taste of this wonderful soup dish. Let's hope that  when he flies in to the Philippines next year he will whip this up again for us.

AND I might be able to tickle him into submission for the recipe! 

BWA HA HA HA HA HA!

Let's Eat!!!!