A very simple chinese banquet

A fellowship dinner was celebrated by the members of the La Chaine des Rotisseurs called the August Moon Festival at the Cebu Grand Convention Center. In China and Vietnam, this event, also called the Mid-Autumn Festival, is a popular lunar harvest celebration. It also commemorates a revolution in China against the Mongol Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty (1280-1368).

Accompanying the festivities is the custom of eating moon cakes (Mongols do not eat moon cake) and according to popular folklore, messages about the uprising was smuggled in this popular Chinese pastry (no text messaging then!) leading to the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. If one Mongol at that time acquired the habit of eating it, the Chinese people today would still be riding horses and drinking airag or koumiss (fermented mare's milk).

Electrical Engineer Winglip Chang, proprietor of the Grand Majestic Restaurant, prepared the menu for the celebration and the officers of La Chaine came to perform their sworn duties to approve all the dishes. Later, the board decided to appoint Engr. Chang as the Vice Conseiller Culinaire of this prestigious group.

The menu for the August Moon was limited to only eight dishes, starting from the appetizers to the dessert and this puts an emphasis on the choice, quality and preparation of the ingredients to satisfy the standards of this gourmet society.

The first course was the Roast Peking Duck Slices and Deep Fried Seafood Spring Roll, paired with a white wine, the Emina Rueda from Valladolid Spain. It looked like your regular spring rolls but deep inside were the hidden treasures – fresh harvest from the sea like the scallops, an elegance of taste that could only come from the kitchen of Grand Majestic.

This was followed by the soup, heirloom recipe of the Chang family. The ingredients were very simple: dried bean curd skin, dried scallops and shitake mushroom, easily available from your Chinese grocer. The secret is in the stock preparation; native chicken, pork and probably Yunnan Ham and the cooking is laborious, over the lowest flame to extract all those delicious flavors over a period of at least four hours. The mixture of spices is contained in a closed bag, contents known only to Winglip Chang and his Executive Chef. It was not a surprise that among many diners, including your favorite food columnist, that it was the best dish that night.

Stir Fried Prawns with French Beans & Nori came next followed by the Pan Fried Scallops with Toasted Pine Nuts. Again, what were required to prepare these two dishes are the fresh ingredients and only the freshest of them all are used in cooking.

We then had the Braised Pork and Yam in Lotus Leaf Wrapper, a specialty from the cosmopolitan city of Shanghai. It looks like a mere bundle of leaves but when you open it, the smell of the delicious goodness of pork and yam combination makes you forget, excuse me, your diet regimen.

For beef disciples, they enjoyed the Angus Beef Cubes in Black Pepper Sauce paired with a red wine, Arviza Rioja. The wrap, sweet pepper, slightly roasted to release its flavors, added to the deliciousness of the beef. Next dish served was the Soy King Noodles and the finally, the dessert: Mandarin Orange, White Fungus & Nuts accompanied by Sesame Balls.

Appearances can indeed be deceiving. These dishes really looked so simple but once you taste them, the dishes could qualify to be served even to an Emperor.