Rainy day pork + beef shabu set ($20.90++)!

Rainy day comfort at Serangoon. Shabu shabu pork + beef set, $20.90++. 😋👍🏼

What was on the table:

• Pork belly platter: thin ribbon slices on the wooden board, the fat-lean striping
• Beef platter: marbled slices fanned out beside it
• Vegetable basket: napa cabbage, baby corn, enoki and shiitake mushrooms, leek, carrot, black fungus, the standard shabu garden
• Yin-yang twin pot: clear dashi on one side, dark sukiyaki-style broth bubbling on the other
• Glass noodles (harusame): the carb finisher
• Beancurd rolls + fish paste stick: the dipper extras

Shabu shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ) is the Japanese swish-swish hot pot, named for the sound of meat being waved through broth. The technique: grip a slice with chopsticks, swish it through the simmering broth for 10-15 seconds until it just turns colour, then dip and eat. The meat is cut paper-thin precisely so it cooks in seconds; leaving it to boil is the rookie error that turns good pork into rubber.

The yin-yang pot doubles the experience: the clear dashi side keeps the meat’s flavour clean (pair with ponzu), the dark sweet side runs closer to sukiyaki (soy + mirin + sugar), better for the beef and for soaking the vegetables. Standard play: pork in the clear, beef in the dark, vegetables wherever there’s room.

Order of operations for a shabu set: vegetables and mushrooms in first (they build the broth), meat swished to order through the middle of the meal, glass noodles last once the broth has collected everything. The noodles at the end are the best bowl of the night.

Why hot pot on a rainy day needs no explanation: steam, broth, unhurried pace, the windows fogging up while it pours outside. The $20.90++ single-person set format (own pot, own platters) means no need to assemble a 4-pax group like the buffet chains require.

Overall: 4.2 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Proper rainy-day therapy. The dark-broth beef swish was the standout, the end-of-meal glass noodles a close second. Would re-visit next downpour.

Original IG post