A Wedding Banquet

The last time I attended a wedding banquet was in 2011. Since then there hasn't been a wedding in the family. There was a time when we would get wedding invitations after wedding invitations but those days are over.

Last Saturday, hubs and I attended my niece's wedding and since hubs has been craving a wedding banquet, I was glad he could go. The best thing about a Chinese wedding is the dinner.

I wore a Zara top with Denizen jeans. I don't own anything dressy so this was the best I could do. I'm glad I've lost enough weight to fit into the jeans. I miss thin Jane.

Ah yes, the dinner. Traditionally, the first dish is a platter. It's to whet your appetite. I have to say this is the best platter I've ever had. Hubs enjoyed it too.

I love the jellyfish. It's a little spicy, just enough to give a bit of kick. I only ate one piece of roast duck. When I reached for more, they were gone. The water chestnut shrimp roll was not bad either. We call it ngoh hiang. Sometimes it is made with 5 spice powder but some people don't like it. This one definitely did not have 5 spice powder. I love my mother's version and would nag her to make them during Chinese New Year. The salad prawn is a cold dish. I usually don't like mayo on my food but I love it on the salad prawn. I didn't eat the salmon toast because I thought it contained glutinous rice flour so I avoided it. I could be wrong.

This was Double Boiled Abalone Soup with Black Truffle and White Fungus. In short, a very plain soup. Each person gets one gigantic piece of abalone. It's chewy and I don't know the appeal but abalone is a prized food item in Chinese families. I really miss shark's fin soup! It's not the shark's fin that I enjoy but the way the soup is made - starchy and with egg. I guess the hotel couldn't possibly serve a simple starchy egg soup at a wedding dinner.

This was Slow Cooked Pork Bone Rib in Red Burgundy Sauce. I ate one quails egg and didn't like the sauce so I skipped this dish. Also I'm not a fan of pork. Hubs ate a lot.

This was Poached Live Prawn in Shiro Miso Soup. I'll be honest with you. The prawns were completely tasteless to me but I ate four because I love prawns.

This was Braised Duet Mushrooms And Conpoy with Seasonal Vegetables. This was quite good. My diet consists of a lot of mushrooms so this is right up my alley. The vegetables is dou miao or pea shoots, something I rarely eat. Conpoy is dried scallop, another prized food item in Chinese families. My kids get upset if I add dried scallop to their food. It's supposed to add flavour but I guess my kids are used to my bland food.

This was Steamed Fresh Garoupa in Traditional Way. I usually eat fish fillet because I'm terrified of choking on fish bones. So I gave this dish a miss.

This was Fried Rice with Smoked Duck and Crabmeat in Kimchi base. It was not popular. Lots of leftover. Hubs said it tasted like something he would cook. I couldn't eat this because I no longer eat rice.

For dessert, we had Sweetened Yam Paste With Pumpkin and Gingko Nuts. I like this but it was too sweet and remembering how hard it is to lose weight made me hold back from eating the whole bowl. I ate all the gingko nuts - another prized food item although based on taste alone, it's very blah.

And that was the 8 course dinner. In the past 10 course dinner was the norm. Nowadays it's 8. I wonder how many more years I have to wait before I get to attend another Chinese wedding dinner.