[GIVEAWAY] An Easy Way to Cook for Those You Love: CookIn1’s Japanese Tonyu Nabe
With Phase 1 of Post-Circuit Breaker currently in place, eating out is still not a viable option yet. So I’m sure that like me, many of you have been opting for food delivery every now and then in order to break out of the routine-like mundanity of our meals and to get any semblance of normality and comfort from our favourite restaurants.
Craving for hotpot one day, I took it upon myself to search for hotpot restaurants offering home delivery, but eventually found them selling their food at exorbitant prices, some even with a minimum order of over $100. Now, being a self-proclaimed cheapskate, I obviously took one look and had to reluctantly give up on this idea...
Until I discovered CookIn1, a homegrown business that curates meal kits and delivers them to your home directly! Much to my delight, they were offering Tonyu Nabe, also known as Japanese Soy Milk Hotpot, at an affordable price of $24.90 for 2 pax. With fresh ingredients and a simple recipe provided, all I had to do was follow the instructions and I would have my very own hotpot in time.
Photo credits: CookIn1
So here begins my mouth-watering adventure...
The meal kit arrived in a cardboard box and I opened it up to see that the ingredients had all been packed and labelled neatly. The meat was even vacuum sealed to maintain its freshness and placed in an insulated cooler packaging with an ice pack such that the cold ingredients wouldn’t go bad! The kit also came with a card detailing the ingredients provided, cooking appliances needed, as well as step-by-step instructions for you to follow easily.
The meal kit included:
Shabu Shabu Pork Belly
Crabsticks
Daikon
Pumpkin
Bok Choy
Chinese Cabbage
Oyster Mushrooms
Shiitake Mushrooms
Enoki Mushrooms
Chicken Stock
Unsweetened Soy Milk
Mirin + Cooking Sake + Soy Sauce
Ponzu Dipping Sauce
After washing and chopping up the ingredients, I prepared the soup base by adding the unsweetened soy milk, chicken stock, mirin, cooking sake and soy sauce into a pot. I then brought the soup to a boil and seasoned it to my liking. Next, I simply placed all the ingredients in the pot, poured the soup over, and allowed the meat and vegetables to cook through before they were ready to be served.
And ta-da, my Japanese Tonyu Nabe is done, and in under 20 minutes no less!
I’m drooling just by looking at this picture again...how can anyone not be tempted by the glistening soup and the colourful freshness of the ingredients 🤤
As the savoury aroma of the soup wafted through the house and eventually attracted my family to the kitchen, I invited them to have a taste of the hotpot. They were pleasantly surprised by the wide range of ingredients, from pork belly strips to a variety of mushrooms and vegetables! There was no doubt that this made for an extremely hearty and balanced meal, which was especially comforting during the rainy weather that day.
As the soup simmered in the pot, juices from the meat and additional flavours from the ingredients slowly seeped into it, resulting in a flavourful, silky broth. The rich umami taste was nicely balanced with the creaminess and natural tinge of sweetness from the soy milk, producing a well-rounded flavour that perfectly satisfied my cravings.
The acidity from the citrus and vinegar of the Ponzu dipping sauce also helped to cut through the creaminess of the soup, giving it an additional tangy kick. Paired with the tender meat, the crunchy daikon, the soft vegetables and the earthy mushrooms, it added another dimension of flavour to the meal.
Overall, the hotpot was extremely simple to prepare (even with my practically nonexistent cooking skills...) but it was an immensely satisfying and nourishing meal that filled both my stomach and my heart. Seeing the smiles on my family’s faces while eating made this entire experience ten times sweeter! I now understand the charm of cooking for your loved ones, it’s a type of love language that often goes underappreciated in our day-to-day lives.
If you want to show some love to your family or even just to yourself today, CookIn1 allows you to create amazing homecooked meals hassle-free, without the need to plan or shop for them! All ingredients in their meal kits are thoughtfully curated, locally sourced and come in the right portion to ensure that food wastage is reduced. With everything you need delivered right to your doorstep, easy-to-follow recipes, a wide selection of cuisines to choose from and vegetarian/vegan options to suit your dietary preferences, CookIn1 provides the perfect way to treat your family to an elegant restaurant-style meal or to simply spend some quality time cooking together with them!
[GIVEAWAY] To celebrate Father’s Day this year, we have teamed up with CookIn1 to give away 3 meal kits (each serving 2 pax) to 3 lucky winners, featuring the Japanese Tonyu Nabe kit, the Gyudon kit and the Miso Butter Pasta kit.
How to enter:
Step 1: FOLLOW Nani’s Instagram and LIKE the post about this giveaway.
Step 2: COMMENT on our post one thing you are thankful for about your father.
Step 3: (BONUS ENTRY) SHARE the post to your story!
OR
Step 1: LIKE Nani’s Facebook and the post about this giveaway.
Step 2: COMMENT on our post one thing you are thankful for about your father.
Step 3: SHARE the post about this giveaway!
Winners will be thoughtfully picked and announced on the 15th of June, Monday, at 5 pm.
Best of luck!
