Whether or not you’re sold on the idea that shabu shabu is the next sushi, you have to admire the way Koca Lounge (formerly the Outlet Koca Lounge) chef Shawn Collins has thrown himself into his work–the man is so busy preparing small plates and simmering pots of broth on the Lower East Side that he hasn’t restocked his own fridge since Labor Day. Collins, along with the restaurant’s two Chinese-American owners, have made it their business to make hotpots as big of a sensation here as they are in Taiwan–which is to say, huge. HungryMan, the Noshingtonienne, and I took Collins up on his invitation to come down and visit Koca Lounge and to see what the restaurant’s small but knowledgeable staff is doing with pan-Asian cooking. As always, you have the option either to download the podcast (right-click that link to save the file to disk) to listen on your mp3 device, or , if you have a speedy Internet connection, you can just stream the podcast by clicking the ‘play’ button on the audio player below. As you listen, browse through our Koca Lounge photoset on Flickr to see photos of pretty much everything we ate and drank during our visit.

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