A Simple Dinner

Jen here. Here are a few photos of the handiwork on a Chinese temple. Enjoy while you read.

The parents of a Chess student invited Roy and me for "a simple dinner" recently and I just have to post about it. :) Before I begin, I realize the term "simple dinner" may be used in order to allow for flexibility for the host. Simple dinner could mean anything from finger foods to pizza to a bowl of soup. And if one is expecting a simple dinner, it's hard to be disappointed. On the other hand, if one is expecting dinner and only a simple dinner is provided, one may be disappointed. I just found this situation humorous.

Our host poured all adults present a glass of white wine and brought out a bowl of salad and plate of fruit and thinly sliced ham. Simple, but nice.

Their helper brought out a plate of sashimi (various types of raw fish, salmon, tuna, shrimp) and some tempura (shrimp, pumpkin, peppers and egg plant, prepared in a way similar to deep frying). Mmm...I love tempura, I thought. We munched and conversed and enjoyed getting to know some of the Chess parents in a better way. As the plate of tempura got eaten, it was replenished by a fresh batch (this happened maybe 3 or 4 times). But not to worry, with four adults and two kids (and the two kids were gobbling up the tempura shrimp in a fury) you need a larger portion.

And out came some escargot in shells, topped with butter and garlic. We tried some and they weren't bad! They were actually similar to the conch we had at Lei Yue Mun. I asked the host how she prepared them and she actually bought the escargot and the shells separately and then put them together. Interesting! I could make escargot (if I can find the canned meat...and the shells...).

As our host told us earlier, out came two scallops for each person. Everyone's scallops were raw ("fresh") except mine...the host asked me earlier if I would prefer to have them seared. I definitely said yes. :) These scallops were huge--about 2.5 inches in diameter. And they were delicious. Around this time, the husband poured each of us a glass of red wine, and earlier in the meal, the wife poured us a glass of mineral water as well. So here we are, eating deluxe scallops and we have three beverages to choose from: white wine, mineral water and red wine. I've never had so many options at once. :)

So, are we finished? Is the simple meal complete? Almost. The last entree was linguine pasta with mussels and a cream sauce (delicious). Once we seemed finished, our host brought out some Chinese tea, cherries and blueberries for dessert.

What a meal! We enjoyed the conversation and time to get to know people more. And the meal was extravagant! :)