The Wedding Banquet

Most of my friends know that this trip to Asia is centered around a wedding reception for my Brother and his Wife. (They were married last spring in New York, where they live. This reception was for her Father, family and friends back home in Taiwan.)

In the photo, my Brother and his Wife enter the banquet hall amid a cloud of steam. (Not dry ice smoke, but steam, presumably to ensure wrinke free garments.)

I know you're waiting with baited breath for the Banquet Menu -

It was -

Appetizers including Braised Pork Tendon, Dried Shrimp, Crispy Walnuts, Salted Peanuts and Fava beans, and unidentifiable sticky things.

and then seven more courses, plated as follows -

Roast Suckling Pig, Dried Mullet Caviar on Daikon-ish squares, Jellyfish Salad, Tuna Sushi and Bean Curd Rolls (not like egg rolls, but wrinkly bean curd skin like in western Honshu in Japan rolled up in a sauce.)

Fried Rice Dumplings (These had a soft texture like moochi balls, the rice must be ground into a powder) rolled in peanut dust.) YUM!

Steamed Sharksfin soup with Hasma Crabmeat. Very delicious, but extremely rich and a tad gelatinous for western tastes.

Braised abalone with black mushrooms in oyster sauce. Very good, and a special thrill since harvesting Abalone is illegal at home.

Cracked lobster (more like GIANT crabs) with scallions and fish sauce. Tragically, this got cold as we made our introductions.

Steamed Star Garoupa (a tender whitefish, steamed whole but plated in chunks.) This was subtly accented with Yunnan Ham, Bean Curd and red dates on a mess o’ braised lotus leaf. (Incredibly good!)

Baked Seafood (shrimp, fish, unidentifiable oceanic creatures) in a thai-ish curry fried rice.

The banquet finished with a tripartite dessert, including something that I can only describe as a pomegranate cobbler, (Indescribably good!) Cherry ice cream, and an orange infused flannish - custard.

It took nearly five hours, including synchronized dancing waiters bearing flaming trays into the dining room to the Vangelis "Chariots of Fire" theme, smoke effects, lighting cues, columns of fire, slide shows (film noir-ish Shanghai private eye wedding photos, with my Brother’s Wife looking like a much sexier Mother Gin Sling and honorable Brother looking mortified.) There were also three bride / groom costume changes. Again, shy and honorable Brother looking simultaneously tickled pink and completely mortified.

I am told that the reception drew on Taiwanese weddign tradition, but mixed in western elements. (Like an enourmous plaster wedding cake on the platform, and the white dresses etc. A lot of the razzle-dazzle is stuff that is currently popular in Taiwan.

During dinner, we were escorted around the room and introduced individually to the 300 guests, toasting with each of them. The amazing thing is, this event was about half the size of some banquets.