Lost Dishes

This video really caught my attention. Lost homemade dishes recovered from a series of books published during the 1950s. Lost from the dinner table at home, these dishes are now resurrected in a Chinese restaurant. Chua Lam gives some pretty frank comments. His 好玩多过好吃 refers to 肉心蛋. I can’t understand this one. Why go through the trouble of draining the contents of the egg and then refilling it with meat and egg white? I don’t see how all this trouble can enhance the taste of the egg white or the meat. Perhaps a good April Fool trick.

Actually, I’m most impressed with how the chef managed to make some really tasty fishes out of cheap fish. The olive marinate is especially educational, but I’ll probably have trouble finding the raw olives. The most interesting dish which I plan to make myself, is the stuff snow peas. I believe this one will taste good. Watch this space.

Grand Dining

蔡澜 or Chua Lam is a Singaporean author who is now Hongkong’s Foreign Talent.

In this video, Chua Lam shows us the ultimate in luxury and indulgence in Macau. I’m not against a little enjoyment once in a while. Having truffles shaved into your mouth is really a dream come true.

Undeniably, it’s a great eye-opener, but beyond that, it’s all hollow extravagance. How long can one sustain the wow factor? If you don’t know how to spend your “excess” money, for Buddha’s sake, use it to help the less fortunate. Notice that I mention “less fortunate” and not “poor”. People can be poor for a variety of reasons. To my mind, the less fortunate are the ones who deserve to be helped – not necessarily those who are poor.