a proper chinese birthday

my mom's birthday was last week, and being the low-key woman that she is, i asked if she even wanted to do anything...a sunday dinner, perhaps? she said she wasn't sure and would let me know later. the last thing i wanted was for her to prepare dinner for "the kids"...it was her birthday, after all.

a couple days later, my e-nbox pinged, and my mom invited us out to her house for hot pot! yay! i love hot pot, but it wasn't really a food tradition in my family. heck, i didn't even think my parents would break out the burners for the real deal. boy, was i wrong.

my parents bought the hot pots with the divider in the center so that we had both a hot and a "normal" broth. they went for extreme variety, offering chicken, beef, and vegetarian broth (whee!).

yeah, i took a picture of the blue flame, so sue me for nerding out!

the spread included spinach, baby bok choy, lotus root, bean sprouts, snow peas, green onion, purple basil, cilantro, fresh and fried tofu, shrimp, chicken, pork loin, and two types of beef, one sirloin (i forget..?) and one "ungraded" per vietwah. mmm, check out that red broth! i would've gone hotter, but with the temp and the spice combined, i was pretty satisfied.

here's my brother dunking some chicken into his broth. delicious.

i had a lot of fun engaging in the communal activity that is hot pot. i love interactive food, and this was super tasty, filling beyond words, and a fantastic way to celebrate my mom's birthday.

thanks for dinner, guys!!