: : Tsui Ha Lau : :
Digging through my collection of unused pictures, I found a set that has never been put up so far. It was taken at a wedding dinner of one of my numerous work collegues. Think it was taken back in December 2004, just before I left for the USA.
The dinner was held at a very old (but yet still a firm favourite for wedding banquets) Chinese restaurant called Tsui Ha Lau. It is located along Ban Hock Road, next to Champagne Restaurant, opposite the Salvation Army hostel. Unfortunately, it’s a non-halal restaurant so they serve pork, especially suckling pig. Anyway, here is the full review of the wedding dinner.
As part of the welcome, we were served peanuts and pickled cabbage (very sweet and sour! my teeth were chattering away). Needless to say, we were asking for 2nd helpings of the cabbage as all of us (8 at the table) were very hungry. It’s typical of Malaysian timing that we always arrive late for appointments.
Once the bridal couple has entered the restaurant after welcoming all the guests, the first dish was served. It’s usually a cold combination of little bites. The one we had was sweet and sour pork ribs, sweet and sour chicken and sotong (squid) balls (similar to fishballs and not the other kind lah! Clean your mind!)
Next on the list is the soup. I think we all had sharkfin soup. A note about sharkfin : these days, it is seldom served during a wedding reception because of the high prices since not many people are that keen to pay for delicacy anymore. Added to the fact that shark fin soup has been the target of many activists. These days, people are going more for crabmeat soup or the hot and sour soup. Anyway, the black liquid that you see that is the black vinegar and the orange bits are the crab roe @ eggs. At some functions, brandy is added into the soup to give it a good kick.
Another favourite which all children like : roast chicken. The skin is extremely crispy as well as slightly salty. The chicken would be dip in a light soy sauce that goes with it. Notice on the left hand side of the dish is the chicken head. Now, not commonly found in most servings at Chinese Restaurant, you will definitely see it at this one. Even the comb is still on it’s head.
This is definitely not a common dish at weddings : suckling pig. Why? Because one small pig is about RM200. Yes, I kid you not. It is that expensive. In East Malaysia, the entire pig would be eaten, skin and meat. On the other hand, in West Malaysia, only the outer crispy skin layer would be eaten. Sort of a waste, if you ask me. Anyway, we only had a small part of the pig but I can imagine my collegue is paying a bomb for the dinner.
The steamed sultan fish that was done Teochew style. The meat was very tender and juicy but it was definitely oily and quite boney. Well, not as much bones as the Terubok but still quite a fair bit. Not an easy fish to eat but it seems to be becoming more and more popular these days.
A favourite that never fails to turn up at any table : butter prawns. Seafood is very fresh in Kuching and relatively cheap. I use the term ‘relatively’ quite loosely as it would depend on the season. Anyway, the butter prawns came out from the kitchen smelling wonderful. Plus, it was the huge freshwater prawns that were being served. Yum yum!
The funny thing about Chinese banquet dinners is that the vegetables are always served last! Can’t understand why. Anyway, with all the exotic dishes served first, this simple dish was a welcome sight for all of us. It’s not easy to cook a simple dish with all the crunchiness at just the right taste. It’s an assortment of vegetables.
Now for the dessert : orange flavoured gelatin with longan. It was so-so as the orange flavour didn’t quite match the longan. Still, I ate most of the longans and was digging for the leftovers still in the big bowl.
This was a weird-tasting dessert : yam balls with sugar coating on top. As it was the last dish, we were too full to take more than a bite each. It was just too rich and starchy! Ah well.
There you go. Wedding banquet dinner, Chinese style. What is missing is the music throughout the banquet. It was a combination of old Chinese opera-like songs with the cheekiness of Ah Ngu singing in Hokkien.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention that the next table full of my other collegues were the loudest table. Too much yam seng @ congratulation wishes Chinese style. The louder the yam seng, the better luck for the couple.