summer dinner party - 2014

I held a dinner part for 4 guests a week ago on Sunday. Choosing between Western and Asian cuisine my out of town guest chose Asian.

I went shopping for the ingredients on Saturday. The selection of ingredients was great being an early summer weekend.

i came home with a big box of grocery from An Dong Market and ABC Seafood

I wanted to get some live seafood and I was not disappointed. I came home with a medium size three star grouper 三星班, some clams, and some mussels.

that is the three star grouper 三星班 that was live when i bought it

Eventually I settled on the dinner menu only hours before the guests arrive

• pork bone daikon soup with clams 豬骨蛤蜊蘿蔔湯
• steamed pork belly with taro in red bean curd sauce 香芋扣肉
• thai hot and sour steamed grouper
• fresh young coconut refreshment or water melon
• thai basil pork with long beans
• stir fry of prawns, fish maw, pig stomach with celery, shitake, and black fungus
• oyster sauce beef with chinese broccoli (i skipped this dish as there were already plenty of food)

     *served with thai jasmine rice

      home roasted coffee - choice of espresso or cappuccino or chinese tea

i wanted the dinner to have a Thai theme so i serve with Thai street food services

I planned to host the dinner in the backyard but the forecast was upper 80s Fahrenheit threaten with scattered thunderstorms and lightning. In the early afternoon downpours, thunders and lightning we had. I was biting nails as I have no fallback plan to host the dinner indoors. My one and only dinning table with a slab travertine top (weighting a few hundred pounds) has been placed in the yard for outdoor use.

As the afternoon worn on, the very unstable weather steadily improved. The thunderstorms brought much cooling air. By the time the guests arrived it was a very pleasant lower 70s.

I wanted to take photos of all the dishes. Unfortunately being the only host/cook I had a handful. Next time I will make a point of taking a photo before I bring the dish out to the guests.

daikon pork bone soup with fresh clams 豬骨蛤蜊蘿蔔湯 - this starts the dinner course

each guest gets a piece of meaty pork neck bone, two piece of daikon, and two clams

i learnt to keep the portion of the soup small as there are a lot of food to follow

thai hot and sour steamed grouper

steamed pork belly with taro

thai basil pork with long beans

there must had been over one hundred pieces of service to be washed; i hand wash all the thai melamine bowls and all the cooking pots, pans, and woks

Leftover Ingredients:
When I went shopping for the dinner party I set out to let the found ingredients determine the menu of dishes that I would prepare. Even when I was shopping I didn't think that hard on what dishes I would make. I only had a rough notion. To ensure I would have a well matched dishes I over-bought the ingredients to err on the safe side. I can always use up the excess for my own meals in the ensuring days.

stir fried morning glory with shrimp paste, and oyster sauce beef with chinese broccoli

a few photos of the preparation of steamed pork belly with taro in fermented bean curd sauce

a bit of pork belly goes a long way - i have this half piece of pork belly left over so i made another batch of
steamed pork belly with taro in red bean curd sauce 香芋扣肉

leftover pork bone daikon soup with clams

basil clams - thai style

basil mussels - thai style