It's a sunny Saturday, and I've been thinking about a delicious hot pot tonight at 10 o'clock in the morning. I bought the ingredients online early and even ordered two cups of our first cup of milk tea of the year for this special dinner. It turned out that eating hot pot at home for the two was not only delicious, but also cost-saving. We chose Haidilao's tomato hot pot base because I am from Hubei and love spicy flavors, while my best friend is from Guangxi and doesn't like spicy food very much. Despite our very different tastes, we get along very well, and I think this is due to our tolerance and respect. She doesn't eat spicy, so I cook tomato base, and I love spicy, so I make some spicy ingredients for myself. Living together is a process of mutual understanding and tolerance.
When enjoying hot pot at home, we didn't have as many condiments as outside, but it was enough. I prepared some fresh coriander, minced garlic, and sesame paste, and I also had Lao Gan Ma, light soy sauce, and vinegar at home. These simple condiments are enough to satisfy our taste buds, and sometimes, a few simple condiments can create a satisfying taste. Although we eat hot pot at home, we still need to add some ritual to this meal. Therefore, I prepared a rich side dish.
I'm a person who isn't afraid of trouble, and I think that if you want to do something, you have to do it to the best of your ability, not to do it perfunctory. I prepared 15 different ingredients, each with only the right amount, but I could taste different flavors. These include bell rolls, fat beef rolls, pea tips, oyster mushrooms, frozen tofu, kelp sprouts, fried tofu, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, ham sausages, beef balls, shrimp dumplings, lobster balls, and sausages. These 15 ingredients make us feel very satisfied, and we have more choices and more diverse tastes than eating hot pot outside. Usually eating hot pot outside, it already costs two or three hundred yuan for two people to order 8 dishes, and if you order a little more, it will be even higher.
I like to prepare all the ingredients in advance, cut them up and put them on a plate so that I can eat them as much as I like. Not only are the ingredients diversified, but the choices are also more diverse. Only a moderate amount of each ingredient is prepared so that we don't overeat. It's also part of the sense of ritual I give to life.
Roughly calculated, this hot pot meal only cost about 50 yuan, and we were very satisfied. To live a good life is to enjoy life with minimal expenses, and that's exactly what we aim for. It's the perfect combination of doing it yourself at home and being able to taste it delicious and save money at the same time.