Such lovely spring festival food, Part 4

Destination for our Spring Festival culinary accounting program, part 4, was the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort & Spa when they celebrated the most important Chinese holiday, the Chinese Lunar New Year. Opening ceremonies began at 10:00 AM with the Hoi Gong ceremony or dotting the eye of the Chinese lion to “awaken the spirit of the lion.” Red ribbons were tied around the lion’s horn which symbolize power and life force. Once the lions were awakened, fireworks were lit and drums were beaten because it is believed that loud noise drive out all those ghosts and evil spirits.

Part two of the celebrations was the Yee Shang Tossing Ceremony (Yee or fish, Shang or toss), a salad utilizing strips of raw fish as the primary ingredient and the rest of the ingredients are mixed and tossed together; the higher the toss, the bigger the fortune. It was held at the Tea of Spring. Your favourite food columnist had arrived at 11:30 and was unfortunately late for both Hoi Gong and Yee Shang but present for the luncheon that followed. To provide my beloved readers the documentary evidence about the impeachment…errr, the pears and salmon used in the tossing ceremony and the dishes served...very quick was the response of the Shangri-La ladies, Cassandra Cuevas and Rica Rellon, to email the photos.

Tea of Spring followed tradition in preparing a menu with names, ingredients or appearance of dishes that must be a homonym or symbol about success, abundance, power and wealth. Besides the

Yee Sang Platter, appetizer were as follows: Fresh Shrimp Dumplings

 Pan Fried Pork Dumplings, Pan Fried Bean Curd Roll, Steamed Pork & Shrimp Dumplings and the Xiao Long Bao.

The latter is steamed bun with soup inside and must be careful handled (very hot!) when served or the precious liquid will be lost. We were fortunate to have a tourist guide in Shanghai way back in 1985 to guide us in the correct way of handling it with a soup teaspoon. Plus tips on how it is prepared. It all starts with the soup stock with a secret ingredient, agar-agar or gelatine. At room temperature, it turns solid, then mix with other ingredients (20 grams) and placed inside the dough wrapper (six grams); when steamed, the filling turns into a hot soup.

It is indeed an advantage if a food writer also knows how to cook. You have to know your ingredients, acquire the necessary cooking tools and equipment, and understand the pain and effort that go with the preparation of the dish. In cooking bah ho, called rousing or meat floss, pork is usually used. I want something different and I used chicken instead. I began to dress one dozen culled chickens (18 kilos) at 6:00 A.M. and the actual cooking started at 10:00 using a wok with wood fire. After 4 1/2 hours, total yield of chicken bah ho was 1 ½ kilos. Next time, excuse me, I would rather buy!

Main dishes served during the Spring Festival were the following: Crispy Roast Chicken, Stewed Mushrooms, Sea Moss and Bean, Wok Fried Fish Fillet, Kung Pao Prawns and Yang Chow Fried Rice. I did miss the soup, the Dried Scallops with Seafood in Thick Soup because of tardiness. My luncheon mates were all in agreement that the Kung Pao Prawns was truly exceptional. Dessert was the Honey Sea Coconut and Mango Mochi.

After all these Chinese food during the Spring Festival, I had planned to skip this cuisine for a while. But somehow, I was back to Tea of Spring in less than two weeks, eating all that delicious food... again!