Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Food at Grandma's Birthday
25-MAY-2010:
This post is very overdue. Grandma's birthday bash was on May 1, 2010 and we all went back to Ipoh to celebrate it with her. As per tradition, we had dinner at the same Tai Thong restaurant, which has recently moved to a new location this year. I think I overheard my uncle saying that the cost of the dinner that night was RM300 per person. We had our own room with an en-suite wash room and karaoke system.
First dish was shark's fin soup. Please, don't talk to me about the cruelty of killing sharks and cutting off their fins and whether they will extinct very soon. But one question though - does the high mercury content of shark meat apply to the fin as well? Anyway, what we had that night was no ordinary shark's fin soup. There were two parts of it, (1) the fin and the gravy, (2) The soup. Basically the fin and gravy was tasteless, but the soup was tasty. I'm not sure we were meant to eat it. Were we supposed to mix the soup and fin? Or eat the fin and drink the soup separately? In the following photo, you can see that the fin is in one piece, not miserably thin strands.
Next on the menu was the standard suckling pig dish. Again, I know it's cruel to kill and eat baby piglets but it wasn't me who ordered the food. By the way, I don't eat this dish at all (don't like the pork smell) and I don't eat roast pork (siu yuk) unless it's been stir fried with vegetables and soya sauce. However, this time, everyone was saying how delicious this suckling pig was, and I took a bite and it was true, it didn't have that awful piggy smell.
What came next was this 'peach bun'? Basically, it was a huge bun made into the shape of a peach. I understand that this is a traditional birthday dish. No one was allowed to dig in until grandma had officiated the 'opening ceremony'.
After the 'opening ceremony', I saw that inside the huge peach was actually many small little peach buns. This represents the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. :-)
After that, we had all the usual stuffs - fish, mushrooms broccoli, prawns, etc, which were all divided into individual portions, which means that you get only one prawn, one mushroom, etc. No fun at all. :p
I had caviar for the first time - those black stuffs by the side of the prawn dish. Not sure what is so nice about it - do not know how to appreciate. :p
The 'long life noodle' is also a standard birthday dish.
For dessert, we had this - something (snow jelly or something) cooked in coconut. This was good but too much of it. It was the thing that finally filled up my stomach.
Of course, we also ate the birthday cake.
When the dinner was almost over, the chef came out to wish my grandma a happy birthday. The chef was quite an old man himself. Does anyone know why chefs wear tall hats?
Yes, of course it does. Wishful thinking won't make it go away.
I'm kind of appalled that you know about finning yet you still eat the soup. If you were ignorant about it then at least you would have an excuse. If you don't want people to talk to you about it... don't blog about it.
I hope "Grandma" enjoyed her birthday because your kids or perhaps even you will not not even know what a shark is. Because of your ignorant act you are contributing to the demise of these beautiful animal and teaching future generations everything is disposable.
By the way, EVERY part of a shark, fins, cartage, liver, etc. contain toxins including Mercury from our pollution.
2) Eat up fast because you probably won't ever be able to eat shark fin soup again by the end of the decade. The oceans will be empty by then. If you do not care about other animals, then you are cruel. But if you do not care that there will be no food left in the oceans for any human to eat, you are stupid and even crueller.
: May 25, 2010 5:02 pm : May 25, 2010 5:09 pm Your forebears have just about killed every shark in the ocean...just so they can eat a tasteless soup. Now honestly...don't you think that's a bit silly??
It is up to YOU to stop this barbaric and outdated practice.
: May 25, 2010 10:39 pm Anyway, I agree that it is an outdated barbaric action. I have not ordered shark's fin myself but have kept quiet in occassions when somebody else did. I don't feel strongly enough about that topic to start an argument with my friends and family. And it's also not in my nature to be highly opinioned and argumentative.
: May 26, 2010 2:48 am While you may not have wanted to cause an argument with your grandmother on her 'special day', by posting a blog about eating the soup and writing "Please, don't talk to me about the cruelty of killing sharks and cutting off their fins and whether they will extinct very soon", you are, by association encouraging this barbaric and outdated practice.
As Duncan says, if you were ignorant about it it would be slightly excusable, but you actually KNOW about it and yet go right ahead and talk all about the experience of eating it!!
The fact is, your logic was flawed: the shark may already be dead, the people have their cuts etc - but as long as the attitude "well it's there I may as well eat it" continues, it perpetuates the situation. If, on the other hand, when a dish is brought to the table, people start REFUSING to eat it (or better yet boycotting the restaurant and telling them that you will spread the word to others to boycott), restaurants will be forced to start reconsidering what they serve...
It's all very well claiming to not like confrontation and arguments but this is a lazy and ultimately selfish standpoint to take - "all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men (people) to do nothing".
I too HATE confrontation, but there comes a time when enough is enough and we must stand up for what is right...
All this said, I hope that the reactions to your post encourage you to change your stance - I am not here to hurl abuse/belittle you for your actions - this is not conducive to constructive debate... this is all about education and if our generation does not begin to take action then it is already too late... what kind of world would you like your child to live in? One full of natural beauty and wonder, or a grey, desolate wasteland?
You have the power to shape the future!!!
FYI the Mercury levels are in fact CONCENTRATED to an even higher level in the fin during the drying process, so you're effectively poisoning yourself while enjoying something that is purely there as a status symbol - the equivalent of parading around in a fur coat that was made through the slaughter of thousands of animals - and dousing it in poisonous chemicals before you put it on!!! - when another material would be just as warm...
It is true what Duncan said - the more we read about the topic, the more worrying it becomes. To be honest, I wasn't aware of the severity of the situation but have been doing some reading on the Internet and now I know. So in fact, I should thank you for giving me that insight.
I welcome constructive feedback. After all, we should help each other to become better people.
cheers!
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