Chris used to have this arbitrary “six person maximum” policy when we would host friends over for meals in the past. I decided to do away with this and basically invited all my friends I could think of to our Lunar New Year party today. I invited 14 people to our place today; two were out of town, one had a baby shower, and one had to work, so in the end, we had 10 guests plus the three of us. This is the most number of people we’ve ever had in our place at a single time.
“It’s going to be a zoo!” Chris grumbled the night before.
This was what I made and served:
Starters:
Luo bo gao – Pan-fried Chinese turnip cake slices
Goi cuon – Garlic shrimp summer rolls with Vietnamese herbs, dipped in nuoc cham
Nem nuong cuon – Nha Trang-style pork paste sausage summer rolls with Vietnamese herbs, dipped in peanut-hoisin sauce
Mains:
Burmese tea leaf salad
Thit kho – Vietnamese braised pork ribs and eggs in coconut water, with a side of pickled carrot and daikon
Chinese whole steamed black sea bass with fermented black beans and garlic
Nuo mi fan – Chinese sticky rice
Yi mian – Longevity noodles with carrot, bell peppers, chives, and king oyster/shiitake mushrooms
Stir-fried garlicky gai lan
Desserts:
Hei zhi ma tang yuan – Glutinous rice balls filled with sweet black sesame served in a brown sugar-ginger soup
Black sesame-swirled ube nian gao / Chinese New Year sticky rice cake
Chinese almond cookies
Other than the cha siu in the sticky rice, I made everything myself, from scratch. It was an endeavor, but I loved every minute of it!
It was boisterous, chaotic, loud, and lots of fun with lots of food, people, and laughter. Kaia had her little friend over to play and run around with. Everyone had plenty of savory and sweet food. I was shocked repeatedly when I found out how much people enjoyed dishes like my black sesame tang yuan; even people like my friend’s husband, who usually scoffs at Asian sweets for being “not too sweet” (“Desserts are supposed to be ‘too sweet’; it’s DESSERT!” he exclaimed). I had people who either don’t eat dessert or don’t eat Asian desserts ask for seconds and even thirds. In the end, I had to boil a second batch of tang yuan! I thought I’d have a ton of frozen tang yuan left over, but I actually only have about six or seven left.
I love preparing food for my people. I spent the last week cooking and preparing food for this. I devised my menu about a month ago with my list of ingredients and action plan. And I loved hearing the comments people made, which included:
“This shit is terrible (referring to my black sesame tang yuan), but if you have more of this shit, can I have some more, please?”
“I don’t normally like desserts, but these (black sesame tang yuan) are incredible. Can I have some more? (Then, when asked how many more): “How many more do you have ready?”
“This sticky rice is so good. It’s like being at dim sum, but even better because yours is packed with all the good stuff!”
“These almond cookies are so addictive! Could you share the recipe?”
“The sea bass was so good! It tasted like the steamed fish I had with black beans in Flushing when I went!”
“I just couldn’t stop eating! I can’t even decide what I liked best!”
“If I ate any more, I definitely would have regretted it. It was like being at a restaurant!”
It was a smart move to get disposable paper plates; it made cleanup so much easier. At the end of the night, the dishwasher was mostly filled with utensils, small serving bowls, and glasses. Now, I’m wondering when the next time will be when I can host another meal at home…