That Jess Ho

I have a lot of family.

As in my father is the youngest of…I can’t really tell you how many siblings.  All I can say is, that I haven’t met all of my cousins and aunties yet.  I have cousins that are more than 10 years older than me and kids who are 10 years younger that I only really just found out about.

But when do you expect when they all live in California.  I mean…GOVERNATOR!

Also, it is really strange for me to hear an 8 year old Chinese kid yelling with an American accent, it’s feels like I am in my own ridiculous movie.

Some of the cousins and aunties which I hadn’t met yet flew over on stoopid-cheap, recession flights a couple of weeks back and we had a meeting.  It was stupid though, because there turned out to be an “Australian family table” and an “American table.”  So, we really only just said hi to one another before respective tables started gorging on land, grass and sea…literally.

They’re all from my dad’s side of the family and I finally realise where my dark skin, big bones and huge round head comes from.

Thanks, dad.

Oh, and I don’t know about you, but when I am in a room and the tallest one, I know that it is a family shindig.  If only there were photos…

We ate at Fu Long Seafood Restaurant, which is the place where you “go out” to eat when you’re in those parts of the burbs.  I have never been there before, but it was funny to see the food come out.  The Australian table had steamed things, and everything on the American table was the deep-fried version.  I am beginning to believe in stereotypes.

Also, I have to apologise about not taking photos of all the food.  Things would hit the table and go before I even had a chance to pull out my camera.  We’re vultures, it’s in our blood.

Oysters for each table, steamed.  There were more than 2 per person in the end, and there were 20 of us.  This is part of a set banquet and there is the garlic, spring onion and ginger one with oil and the other has a mild chili paste on it.

Here’s a closer look.  I usually don’t dig on my oysters cooked, but these were quite good and had a great smack of fresh saltiness to it which usually gets cooked out, or hidden by the condiments.

Then, came the crabs which had been stir-fried with ginger, spring onions and garlic in a light sauce and served on top of fresh egg noodles.  Everyone honed into it before I did anything so, I got the best part of the crab to make up for it, apparnetly.  Actually, this is all I ate of the crab because I knew I would die if I ate anymore…it was a HUGE banquet.  This is the roe and so, so deliciously tasty.  There were 3 crabs per platter.  Personally, the meal could have stopped here for me, but…

the mixed BBQ platter came.  Soy sauce chicken, poached chicken, BBQ pork, crispy BBQ pork and roast duck.  It was pretty darn good, oh and this is when the rice started to roll in.  They just bring big steamed buckets to the table, sit it in an ice-bucket stand and let you serve it youselves.

Our table had the steamed Barramundi in a soy broth finished with ginger and spring onions.  Beautiful and perfectly cooked.  The American table had a deep-fried flounder covered in fried chili and shallots instead.

We also had a chicken dish with a spiced salt that had been roasted…the Americans had deep-fried chicken pieces on the bone.

Juicy, springy prawns and scallops with mushrooms and gai larn.  I adore this for its simplicity and how it isn’t covered in a ridiculous sauce, so you can taste the freshness of the ingredients…if it is at all.  This is the kind of place that has all the seafood in tanks and fishes them out and presents it to your table before they kill and cook it, so yes…this was very fresh.

There was also this braised beef-ribs dish in a thick sweet sauce on broccoli.  I didn’t have any of the beef and I had given up eating a long time before, but it was meltingly tender as I saw the meat fall off as people served it to themselves.  I had a piece of broccoli with the sauce though and I found the flavours waaaaaaay too strong.

And finally, the vegetarian dish, which I wished they had brought out earlier.  Mixed mushrooms, stir fried with bok choi.  I love this dish, but this time, I couldn’t have any.

Then, came the two varieties of desserts, of sweet soups and fruit platters with ice cream.  I didn’t get to take a photo as they got taken out while I went to make pee-pees and again…vultures.

In the end, between both the tables, I think we only ate half of the food, so, in true Chinese-family style, the elders packed the leftovers away in take away containers for their lunches for the rest of the week.  Serious food action for those guys.  The bill came to just under $800 with tea included, which I think is pretty fucking good value for 20.

Me-thinks the next bloggers meet up should be a banquet, where we order the dishes off-menu, because people are generally flexible.  Hmm, just a thought…

Fu Long Seafood Restaurant