I know, the title sounds a little unwieldy but it’s actually very accurate. We had dinner at Hong Fu Seafood Restaurant last night. There were 12 of us and we took the largest table available and could barely fit everyone in.
This dinner is supposed to be a “meet the parents” kind of thing for my cousin’s fiancé (and his mom) before their wedding at the end of the year. It morphed into a “meet the extended family” coz that’s just how we roll. Two of the uncles I’m closest with were there, as well as my dad, my grandma and several of my cousins and aunties to round things up.
Hong Fu Seafood Restaurant in Sibu is actually known for their crabs. It used to be RM 13 / kg which is an amazing price for Sibu (we’re a landlocked town). Here’s what we had:
Philippines Pork Leg (Crispy Pata)
I’ve always found it amusing that people from Sibu refer to this iconic Filipino dish as “Philippines pork leg” when so many other places have a similar implementation e.g. Germany. The proper term for this dish is crispy pata.
It’s deep fried pork leg (with trotters) that’s been simmered in water along with spices beforehand. There’s usually a dipping sauce made with some combination of acidic, sweet and sour elements e.g. vinegar, sugar, soy sauce. Hong Fu makes one of the best implementations of this in Sibu. It came in two huge platters to accommodate our late party.
Midin (Local Fiddlehead Fern)
This is a Sibu classic, fiddlehead ferns called midin that’s cooked with a bit of chilli. I quite like it, it’s one of my favorite dishes.
Signature House Tofu
The large slabs (about the size of a CD case) of tofu is made in-house and lightly fried before a thick pork mince gravy is poured over it. I have been eating more tofu lately (get your mind out of the gutter) and I’m starting to enjoy it.
Stir Fried Vegetables
This the obligatory green dish. I’ve also been eating more vegetables lately and I’ve been developing a fondness for it too, thanks to my better half. I did not grow up eating veggies – in fact I hardly ever ate vegetables until I was in my late 20’s.
Mongolian Chicken
This is really yummy. I like sweet & sour pork and this tastes a little like that, but better! Everyone does this slightly differently, and it’s been bastardized in so many Chinese restaurants abroad. The chicken is fried so there’s a bit of crunch and the sauce is sweet, sour and spicy. Lovely stuff – I can just eat this dish alone with rice.
Braised Sea Cucumber
I don’t know why restaurants in Sibu always pair sea cucumber with broccoli but I ain’t complaining about Hong Fu’s implementation. The sea cucumber is wonderfully tender and flavorful from the sauce. There’s just something very visceral about slurping the slippery things into your gob.
Steamed Red Snapper
My uncle brought this fish to the restaurant. You can actually do that here if you have a better or fresher specimen that you want to eat. You’ll be charged for the cooking but not the fish – it’s a similar concept to a corkage charge for wine in BYOB restaurants.
I actually came back to Sibu for several reasons – I needed to meet with my first client for Pulse Consulting, open up my company bank account, discuss a new project that’s in the pipeline (potential new client, yay), celebrate Father’s Day with my dad, and hang out with my bro Eddy whose mom just passed last week and I’m glad I managed to catch my cousin Yih Wen and her fiancé too.
It’s very rare that we all get together like this in one big family. 🙂
always fun to have family meals together. always a great time spent. been long since i had one.
Yeah, it’s always good! 🙂
I don’t come back very often, maybe 3-4 times max a year so it’s great to catch up.
Interview with the whole family? The fiance must have shat bricks. Lol
Haha! It’s not like that. 🙂
They just wanted to come over to get to know us and us them.
What a fruitful trip for you like killing 5 birds with one stone!
So you will be a taukeh soon and don’t forget me yeah…..
I am very tempted to eat this Mongolian Chicken as it looks and sounds delicious.
Why you have similarities that loathed vegetables and needed our better halves to turn us into healthy goats today! Meeehhhh!
Yeah, it was the perfect time to come back! 🙂
Everything kinda synched up so that’s good. I thought the Mongolian Chicken was really good too. Hmm…good question, a lot of people don’t eat veggies until they’re old and now I know it’s okay coz I’m okay.
Congrats to your cousin and her other half! Do say hi to your dad! Looking good. Haven’t seen him around for a while.
Thanks mate! 🙂
Will do! Yup, been pretty busy this trip with work, will convey your regards to my dad. Cheers!
Nice timing. Just in time to catch up with your cousin ☺
Your dad mustbe very happy that you went back to celebrate Father’s Day with him especially this year .
Have a great weekend
Thanks Kathy! 🙂
Yup, it’s good to spend time with my dad, for at least a few days and on Father’s Day at least. Happy Father’s Day to your husband too.
That sure sounds like it was a happy gathering! =)
Yup, it was fun! 🙂
We went back the second day for the festival (summer solstice?) for dinner at their place (my uncle’s place, that is).
Don’t get the Tofu bit, is it supposed to refer to boobs or something
It’s Chinese slang, not just boobs, anything. 🙂
It actually means something very, very serious – sexual assault would be the proper term to describe it now, or at least sexual harassment, but back in the days (and in this context) it’s used in jest to describe taking advantage of someone by (not entirely) unwanted touching. However, times have changed and it doesn’t mean that anymore. I just meant it as a double entendre.