Sumptuous steamboat meal for S$12.50 per pax, all 18 items from 1 shop & no cooking required

Good, cheap, and fast. It’s been said that shoppers can usually only choose two out of these three things.

When hosting friends at home, I usually prefer to opt for the “Slow” option: Taking my time to hunt down good-quality ingredients from different sources, and waiting for promotions.

As work and life get more demanding, however, I find myself gravitating towards “Expensive” instead: Pricier, quality options, such as eating out, or getting food delivered.

So I wasn’t too sure how things would turn out when I was asked to work on an article about hosting a steamboat party on a budget.

The assignment came in the midst of a busy week at work, so I couldn’t afford to go “Slow”.

And I was on a budget: S$75 for 6 pax, or S$12.50 each, so I couldn’t go “Expensive”.

I’d either need to compromise on quality, or somehow find a way to host a steamboat party that was good, cheap, and fast.

Personally, I’ll be getting married and moving out soon, so money has never been a more real concern.

With this motivation, I headed out on my own to shop at a FairPrice outlet near my parents’ house.

It was an opportunity to see if I’d be able to host friends in my new home, without compromising on budget or quality.

Spoiler alert, things turned out quite well.

Don’t just take it from me — here are the honest reviews from my satisfied guests:

“Satisfyingly full.”

“Cheese tofu was surprisingly well-stuffed. The prawn paste item was strange, but it was otherwise a satisfying meal.”

“I ate enough, the beef and prawns were surpassingly good. It was a good range.”

“Surprised that all the food came up to only S$75! Fed all six of us very well”

Here are three practical tips that helped me plan my budget steamboat party:

1. Start with a goal in mind

Knowing that my target total was S$75, I didn’t want to just grab whatever caught my eye.

I started off by adding lower-priced items first, as those wouldn’t make too much of an impact on the total budget.

As I went around the supermarket, I was on the lookout for these labels, which would help me save as I shopped:

The labels were attached to the price tags of individual items, making them easy to find on the shelves.

As I shopped, I keyed in the items and their prices on a spreadsheet on my phone to tabulate the total spending so far.

I was pleasantly surprised at how full the basket was with just around S$20 of items.

In hindsight, this makes sense, as a lot of larger items, like vegetables, are rather affordable.

Save the best for last

It was only when I came to the end of my shopping trip, that I happily added a hefty portion of beef slices, the most premium item on my list, knowing that I was comfortably below budget.

I picked up two packets of the beef shabu shabu, choosing one with more fat and another with less fat.

With all the “essential” steamboat items in my basket, I saw that the total came up to S$71.30.

Which meant I had just enough spare budget for a little extra.

I picked up a bottle of sparkling juice from thestore’s Christmas display, for a good dose of party vibes.

There were other affordable drink options too, of course, which I’ll be keeping in mind for another occasion:

2. Buy what you need

This might seem like an obvious tip, but one thing that really helps to get the best value for money is to buy only what you need.

That way, you don’t spend extra on food that you might end up throwing away.

At the same time, a good host needs to ensure that there’s enough food to go around.

How to estimate?

Estimate by looking at every dish, divide by group size (in my case, six).

One pack of meatballs didn’t seem like a lot.

But, I counted 18 in a packet, which worked out to three meatballs per person — this sounded like enough to me, as I knew that not everyone in the group was going to be super keen on meatballs.

I did the same with fish balls, and ended up with one packet too. Split among the six of us, it felt like just enough.

Cheese tofu, on the other hand, called for more than one packet, especially because it was on promotion as a “Price Drop Buy Now” item:

Having a “buffer” of easy-to-store items

It was great to have fresh food like prawns.

They were plump and delicious, by the way.

But it was also good to have some items that we could easily store, if we didn’t finish.

For example, the frozen prawn paste items, the beancurd rolls, and the udon — we only managed to finish about half of these items, with the other half left in unopened in their packaging.

Everbest Ring Rolls at S$8.80 for 2.

With some fresh vegetables, these leftovers could definitely be used for a simple meal in a hurry.

3. Little things can make a big difference

In hindsight, there were some relatively inexpensive items that added a lot to the overall experience.

Corn, in particular, punched above its weight.

I picked up two ears of corn at S$1.45.

By the end of the meal, the corn stewing in the broth made for a mellow, comforting soup.

Chilli was another “small” item that made a big difference.

At less than S$2 per item, these items really made a difference to the overall meal, while staying within budget.

Good meals can be affordable

FairPrice can be a great place to get daily essentials, but it also has a range of offerings for special occasions.

With Christmas coming up soon, here’s a look at their Christmas specials, which you can preorder till Dec. 16 on the FairPrice website here.

A minimum of 5 days advance notice is required, and you can select your collection date anytime now till Jan. 2.

I stayed on track though, and headed to check out after viewing the Christmas menu.

With this successful steamboat experience, I’m all the more convinced that I’ll be able to keep costs manageable when I start doing my own groceries in the near future.

Under the Link Rewards Programme, I can offset future grocery purchases for more savings with the Linkpoints I earn on every dollar.

With these Link Rewards cards, I can earn and redeem Linkpoints, and even make payment.

Cardless payment is also available via the FairPrice app, which allows me to keep track of my Linkpoints.

“50 per cent Link Member Deal” promo.

There are also exclusive deals for Link members, including weekly deals where I can get 50 per cent off on selected items per week, under the “50 per cent Link Member Deal” promo.

Past items that have been on offer at 50 per cent off include popular fruits like blueberry and grapes, ice cream, frozen meat and seafood (find out more at the Link Rewards Facebook page here).

Good news for me, my friends, and my wallet.

This sponsored article by NTUC FairPrice gave this writer a free meal, and a plan for affordable future meals.

All article images by Nigel Chua.