Snake, rattle andspring rolls

This is last of the 3-part series of the celebration of the Spring Festival 2013 and this time, the rattle of the snake sounded from the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort & Spa to usher in the start of the Chinese New Year.

Opening the festivities was the Hoi Gong ceremony or dotting the eyes of the Chinese lion to awaken it, followed by red ribbons tied around the lion's horn to represent power and life force. Fireworks were then lit and drums were beaten to a crescendo because it is believed that loud noise drive out all those unfriendly ghosts and malignant spirits. These are rituals of the People from the Middle Kingdom and for the last 5,000 thousand years, such tradition has been faithfully followed.

An hour later, we were seated at the Tea of Spring and again strict protocol must be observed in the preparation of the menu for the banquet that followed. It is all about success, abundance, power and wealth and the names, ingredients and the sequence of dishes must be related to it.

You simply cannot start a Chinese banquet celebration with the service of rice as the first dish. That would be an insult to your guest as if they cannot afford to eat rice at home. The usual practice is to serve it last. Many Filipinos need rice to complete a meal and you must ask permission from your host to have rice served with the dishes. It shows that you understand, excuse me, Chinese etiquette!

We began the lavish lunch with the Yee Shang Tossing ritual using Pears and Salmon salad. All the ingredients are julienned; the ingredients are then mixed then tossed and efforts are made to make a higher toss which symbolizes substantial fortune.

This was followed by Stuffed Seafood Dumpling in Pumpkin Soup. Then quickly followed by the main dishes: Braised Scallops with Taiwan Pechay and Hair-like Vegetable, Steamed Live Lapu-lapu in Superior Soy Sauce and the Wok fried Prawn with Walnut and Chinese Tea Leaf.

The vegetable which appeared like curly human hair is also known as Fat Choy (Nostoc flagelliforme) or black moss, harvested from the ground in the Gobi Desert and the Qinghai Plateau. In Cantonese, the name sounds like "struck it rich" and it is this reason it is a popular ingredient in dishes used for the Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, demand is so strong and supplies are diminishing, so that unscrupulous vendors are selling fake Fat Choy.

Crowd's favourite dish was the Crispy Duck and many years ago, I tried to cook ducks, a favourite among the Chinese but disliked by many Cebuanos because ducks do smell more "gamier" than chicken. Duck has to be marinated overnight with spring onions, ginger & Szechuan peppercorns then steamed (about two hours) and deep fried to be crispy. Some recipes require it to be smoked with camphor wood chips, tea or sugar. By the time my cooking lessons were over, our camphor chest disappeared!)

We also had a veggie dish, the Braised Mushroom Abalone Tofu with Golden Brown Oyster Sauce, Tea of Spring fried rice with XO sauce and a dessert: Homemade Mochi and Chilled Mango Puree with Pomelo and Sago. But your favourite food columnist did miss the spring rolls which symbolize wealth and prosperity because of its appearance as a gold bar. [email protected]