Lucy Zahler is a wonderful Filipina I met in Columbia, and she is married to Warren, an equally wonderful American. She has a Ph.D. in Food Science, so it's always a treat to be invited to dinner by the Zahlers. She recently invited some Filipino students to have Shabu-shabu in her house. (Graduate students are always happy to have dinner at people's homes.) Shabu-shabu apparently means "swish-swish" in Japanese, referring to the swishing action when you cook slices of meat in hot water. Lucy thoughtfully provided shrimp, scallops, and lots of vegetables which I could eat. The rest of the party feasted on the slices of beef and chicken that Lucy of course provided. The Zahlers have a greenhouse at the back of their house, and one of their plants is a calamansi tree. So, were lucky enough to have fresh calamansi to dip in which to dip our food. Lucy and Warren are obviously fond of having shabu-shabu, since they have at least three burners for guests to use. There was so much food that we didn't have a lot of space in our stomachs for the rice. We thought we were all stuffed after the Shabu-shabu, but when the freshly baked brownies were served with coffee, we discovered we could always make room for dessert. I can't wait for the Zahlers' next dinner invitation.
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