“Shabu Shabu” Cedar Park, 2020
We recently purchased a new portable stove: the Kovea Cube Stove. I think it has a really cool, compact design, which is nice because it should stay cleaner from drips and splatters than our older, wider stove. Mariko says it’s a popular stove with lots of accessories, for instance, you can replace the know with a stylish wooden version. I was unable to actually find any accessories other than a carrying bag, but I’m guessing the market in Asia is larger.
One thing to note is that the burner sits higher than other stoves, so the pot is elevated an inch or two more than you may be used to. I could see the higher design of the Kovea Cube Stove being more convenient for camping, where you might not have a regular table to use. Honestly, though, I didn’t really notice the difference when we used it at the dinner table.
Our first meal using the stove was shabu-shabu, and it was delicious! In the afternoon, I used our Waring Pro Professional Food Slicer to prep the pork slices for the dinner. Buying pre-sliced meat from H-Mart is convenient, but can be a bit pricey, so we like to buy a large piece of pork butt from HEB, and slice it ourselves which the food slicer makes easy. Pro-tip: freeze the meat before slicing and you can get a nice, thin cut. Since shabu-shabu pork is meant to cook in the hotpot for only a few seconds, a thin cut is best, maybe around 1 or 2 mm thick. For yakiniku, pork belly at 3 or 4 mm and beef at 4 or 5 mm is what we prefer.
Hotpot or yakiniku using the portable stove at the dinner table makes for a fun meal, and everyone can take park in cooking – a great way to bring the family or friends together. I definitely recommend trying it if you haven’t already!
“New Burner” Cedar Park, 2020
