This was the first of our three team dinners during our
3-day sojourn with the Asia team. Our Hong Kong host(ess) planned out each
dinner to give us the best exposure to her hometown cuisine, balancing between
“no, not where the tourists go” and highly rated local favorites.
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| Eggs with bitter melon - the eggs were really good |
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| Sweet and Sour Pork |
The first night was all about true Cantonese cooking. As
she explained, Cantonese cooking doesn’t believe in adding a lot of sauces to
their dishes. Instead it’s about making things simply and well to bring out the
food’s optimal flavor.
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| Yes, the prawns were that big |
Similar to our dim sum lunch at Lee Garden, I can’t tell
you exactly what everything was or how much it cost since I never saw the menu
or the bill; she ordered everything ahead of time since we were such a large
group. But there was ample variety and tons of food as you can see from the
pictures. I don’t think I took a picture of all of the dishes either since they
kept coming and I might’ve lost track.
Everything was delicious. I appreciated the “simple”
flavors. Simple doesn’t mean tasteless; in fact, it was the opposite. The food
might have been simply prepared, whether it was steamed or poached or fried but
the ingredients were fresh and the dishes were straightforward and well done.
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| Described to me as something similar to pork belly |
Oh, and here’s another thing about many Asian cultures.
Food equals caring. As our Hong Kong host explained, it’s about sharing and
making sure people feel welcome. That’s done through the generosity displayed
with the food being prepared well and shared generously. Which means this is a
bad place for a diet. I sat next to my coworker from Singapore and she showed
her caring by heaping my plate whenever a new dish arrived. “Here, try this!” I
tried it, I ate it, I enjoyed it. Can’t be rude by refusing, right? By that
standard, I was the most amenable guest. At least until we got to the last few
dishes and I had to end up crying uncle “I’m full! I can’t eat anymore!” LOL
After dinner we ended up extending the night by taking
the ferry from Hong Kong to the Kowloon side. It was only 2.70 HKD or about 30
cents USD each way. The ferry ride was short and the night was humid but the
views were pretty with all the lights. Plus it gave us a small chance to walk
off a tiny portion of that delicious dinner.
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