Two words: Hot pot!
My family never really held on to the turkey tradition. Most years, my aunt would bravely roast the turkey, but she is a decidely bad cook (both Chinese and American dishes) and the turkey always came out dry and tasteless (though we all love her for hosting dinners for the past 10+ years). Then somehow I took over the turkey tradition, and thanks to many cookbook consultations, my turkeys have always come out fine (whew) though it stressed me out having to rush back from school and buy all the groceries (usually one day in advance-yikes).
Unfortunately, there was never enough people to partake in the feast. These past few years, it has been just my parents and myself, sometimes my grandma (who is another horror story in and of herself). So about two years ago, my mom suggested we ditch the turkey and just make other foods. One year we made dumplings. This year will be hot pot.
Very simply, we heat up a broth (diluted chicken broth with some Chinese cooking wine), let it simmer, than throw in thinly sliced meats (they'll cook faster), shrimp, veggies, sometimes fish balls or assorted seafoods. The typical "dipping" sauce is called "sa cha" which is sort of like Asian BBQ with black bean and other spices. We crack a raw egg and mix it with the sauce.
I love hot pot because there's always the hot broth/soup to sip in between bites. Plus at the end, we throw in bean thread vermicelli (mei fun), let that soak in the soup, and then slurp it up! Yum!
I hope everyone has a safe, wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Eat well!
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