I know you're probably gonna ask me why CNY Makan Pt. 0 and not Pt. 2... well, that's coz I forgot to post up the reunion dinner that dear KW's family invited me to on 29 'meh' (Jan 24th), and I absolutely have reasons for it!
It's coz I was using my faithful Olympus FE 230 to take the pics for the final night before switching to my new Sony Skinny T hence I totally forgot about the pics... until... like now :|
Let's move on to the makan! KW's elder brother made a reservation for 2 tables at Golden Gate - a pretty famous steamboat establishment near Silverton @ Gurney Drive
We were seated at the tables pretty near to the kitchen but it was pretty alright coz we know we're definitely near where the food are :)
KW's brother chose the steamboat package upon recommendation by the waitress, but the package was a pretty basic one without 'extravagant' stuff like beef, pork belly, etc so his brother ordered some of the stuff that the family liked on top of the package.
We were served Spring Rolls with Worcestershire sauce for dipping as appetizer..
The spring rolls were pretty good - crunchy and goes very well with the Worcestershire sauce
And here's different views of the 'Lor' (steamboat) - before and during makan time :P
I didn't really take lotsa pics during this dinner coz... it's KW's family dinner and it's a bit embarrasing to be snapping pics away on every food that's on the table :S so I did it pretty discreetly with limited shots only
To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of steamboat coz I've always felt strongly that we should pay for a culinary experience that you can't really find at home or one that is hard to DIY... and paying for steamboat is just like paying money to have our own meals cooked ourselves!
Hmmm.... but I must say that this particular experience at Golden Gate definitely changed my perception on steamboat.. as I truly enjoyed the whole experience of it...! The whole steamboat meal was not dragged overly long, everyone tucked in once the food were cooked, the ingredients were fresh and clean, and above all, the soup base was really good!
I guess I felt really warm knowing that KW's family always counted me in on all their family meals, especially their early reunion dinner - and I do count my blessings to have both KW and my own family with such sense of belongings, apart from all my friends whom I dearly love :)
I know it's a bit 'late' to post up CNY food but hey, I'm not gonna let that dampen my spirit! Me still gonna put up all the good stuff I've been consuming for the past .. erm.. week? (felt like eating non-stop for few weeks already!)
First up! Mom's home cooked reunion dinner! This year, I've decided to sneak a peek of the lengthy and labor-intensive preparation work for the ultimate Hokkien dish - Joo Hoo Char!
Mom very busy preparing the ingredients... (it took her 2 days to slowly peel, dice, slice the ingredients)
This year, my brother and my sister-in-law couldn't make it back home as their son has just been born about a month ago, so they had to stick around with the baby, and so KW was invited by mom to sit in with us! ^ v ^
After all the hard work...... A sumptuous reunion dinner is served!
Golden hoh liao (good stuff) :
Joo Hoo Char (best taken with Sang Choi)
Hoh liao #2 :
Prawns cooked in mom's secret sauce :)
Hoh liao #3 :
Seo Bak (roasted pork) - this one is bought from Pulau Tikus market (need to pre-order ok!)
Hoh liao #4 :
Steamed Fish (mom said fish is a must have coz it contains the meaning of 'nin nin yau yu' [always abundance year in and year out])
Hoh liao #5 : (which I don't dare to take pics coz my grandma or my dad will think I'm crazy)
Too Tor Th'ng (pork belly soup) with Abalone
Hoh liao #6 : (which I don't dare to take pics... again)Pak Cham Kai (steamed chicken) .......
.......which goes very very well with this authentic Cantonese-style condiment, made of garlic, ginger, sesame oil and oyster sauce - YummmMMmmmyyyYYyy~!
We all ate til we were so full that there were not even a tiny bit of room left for longan dessert - that's how good the food were! :D
* in case anyone's wondering why I can take pics of the food above but not the chicken and the soup, that's because I secretly zoomed in the food one by one from afar when I took them! And that time, the chicken and the soup were not served yet *
