Mid-Autumn Feast

This was it.

What we had been waiting and fearing the last few days/weeks...the big Mid-Autumn Festival feast.

These are usually family affairs and I dread them. I love my family but they are mad. Mad as can be and soooooooooooooooo Chinese. It's like a bad Chinese sitcom.

"Aieya!!! How come you gain so much weight? That's no good. Come, eat Auntie's food, it is very good and very expensive. You don't get this everywhere. What do you mean you don't want? Aieya!!!"

"Why don't you work for a financial firm? Or a bank? Those are good jobs!! You can meet nice rich men! What do you mean they aren't nice? How do you know?? Go work for a bank!"

Anyhow, it was an early dinner and my boyfriend, who knew what was coming ate barely anything all day. As usual, it was at my father's second eldest sister's house.

We started with tomato and preserved veg, deep fried pork ribs, marinated jelly fish and ginseng chicken soup as a starters. Oh and we had a bottle of red. Normally at these Chinese family dinners, no one drinks but the old stereotype of drunken Englishmen hold true and my family, out of supreme courtesy had to open a lovely red in case my boyfriend felt a bit homesick.

We then moved on to the abalone with mushrooms and veg (definitely my favorite), fish maw (I have no clue what part of the fish this is but it is very rich and a bit chewy and sticky), chicken, fish, 3 types of green vegetables, bitter melon stew with preserved vegetables and pork, and crab with bean vermicelli.

It was a huge meal. We waddled home and sat nursing teas until we could get the energy to go to Victoria park to see the lanterns.