I did a food shoot for an upcoming review of Soga Shabu Shabu restaurant on State Street for Isthmus today. The photo editor gave me five dishes were reviewed in the article. I showed the list to Xiaoling (aka Rene) and Seya since it seemed that English wasn't their strong suit. I asked for one or two dishes to work with. They being eager to please types, I got all six! Fried duck, sliced pig ears, poached fish, spicy salad and their specialty shabu-shabu not to mention bubble tea and an alcohol-laden tropical fruit drink.
After I completed the assignment, they insisted I sit down and eat. I had never heard of shabu-shabu before. It's an interactive dish popular in Japan and Korea that let's you do the cooking. You get a boiling pot of broth (one side spicy the other not) in which you cook the thinly slice pieces of fatty beef and a heaping plate of vegetables. Xiaoling being the good host, sat down across from me and did the cooking. Like a doting mother, she kept heaping samples of all the dishes on my plate. I tried several times to quit, but my pleas for mercy went unheeded. I must admit I didn't try too hard since the food was all quite tasty...though I wasn't the biggest fan of the pig ears. Kind of rubbery.
It was all a wonderful experience and for a moment I imagined I was actually traveling in China being treated to Xiaoling's hospitality in her own kitchen.
I sure hope the Isthmus gives them a good review after all the trouble and expense they went for me to make a photo. We'll find out on Thursday and I'll post the link to the article and a few images from today's session. Fingers crossed!
*UPDATE: See next post on results of the review and more images.
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