Reunion dinner

So on the eve (27th Jan) of Chinese New Year, a few of us gathered and had our reunion dinner.

Potluck dinner. Dishes were : sashimi, beef steak with red wine sauce (lots of stuff went into this), stir-fried minced meat with shiitake, scallops and button mushrooms fried with butter, fried pak choy and golden mushrooms, fried egg and onions, tofu, chicken soup with potatoes and carrots. Of course, we had snacks before dinner, too.

I did the scallops and mushroom dish. Too much water was exuded by the mushrooms, turning it into a watery version of the intended dish. Ah well, the flavour was passable. Could have been better though.

Anyway, it was a great reunion dinner!

CNY

Last week, got my Chinese New Year parcel from home.

Clockwise from upper left: Kok zai, cashew nuts, fish floss (or pork, cannot recall right now), pineapple tarts, shrimp rolls

Doubt there will be any that survive all the way till the 15th day of the new year...

20050120

Went to a Chinese restaurant yesterday with some other Singaporeans and a Japanese friend. Good enough, and real Chinese food, but some things were different from Singapore or what I was used to.

Century eggs came with soya sauce and chopped spring onions. Was expecting the thin slices of ginger you usually get back home. Also, the dessert of tapioca and coconut milk had way too little tapioca balls in it. The siew-mai/燒賣 were shaped a little more like xiao-long bao/小籠包 to me - although they were delicious.

Am nitpicking. The food was mostly good, actually. Have not had Chinese restaurant food for some time. Especially in Japan, it's not always easy to find non-Japanese food.

20060116

After a rather long interlude, did some cooking this morning before heading for school. Stirfried beef with thinly sliced chinese cabbage. Followed the usual pattern - heat oil, add garlic, fry beef slices, add vegetables. Seasoning was pepper and a little soya sauce. Verdict : average.