One main reason that I chose to visit Hong Kong in early July, even though it’s the hottest and probably most uncomfortable time to be in Hong Kong, was because I wanted to be with my Dad on his birthday.
Dad’s birthday this year was a landmark birthday according to Chinese customs (I won’t say how old he is!). So our family took it a little bit more seriously.
Since Dad loves eating out, the three of us - Dad, Mom, and I – went to a fancy restaurant on his birthday. But we also had a special dinner at home a few days earlier, and invited my two grandmas and two young cousins to come.
Between the two meals, the home-cooked dinner was more memorable to me. Part of it was I hadn’t eaten at home for nearly 3 years; more important, getting the extended family together is not an easy feat.
We put out an impressive spread. I wasn’t involved in the cooking, and the meal wasn’t all-vegetarian. Dad likes seafood, and the only two vegetarians at the table were Mom and I. We had steamed fish, slow-braised sea cucumbers with shiitake mushrooms and dried scallops, and sliced abalone stir-fried with vegetables. Both sea cucumbers and abalone are considered luxury ingredients in Cantonese cooking.
But there were many vegetarian dishes too. They included stir-fried Chinese broccoli, braised tofu and brown mushrooms, a stir-fry medley of mung bean sprouts and several other ingredients, and ready-to-eat mock meat (wheat gluten) one of my Grandmas bought from a Chinese vegetarian restaurant. For soup, essential in a Cantonese meal, we had a clear vegetable soup that had simmered for hours.
I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner because of the familiar, comforting flavors I had missed since I lived on my own in the US. Also the intimate chatter over the table. It amazed me how the simple joys of family life, once seemed so remote, resurfaced as if I had never left.
To round up the dinner, we ate cherries imported from California (!) and steamed Chinese birthday buns with egg yolk and lotus seed filling, accompanied by hot tea. I later bought a cheesecake, Dad's favorite, as the birthday cake for our restaurant dinner.
Behind Dad’s unassuming demeanor, he loves Mom and me and is committed to our family’s well-being fervently. I know it's a small gesture, but I’m glad that I could spend Dad’s birthday with him. I hope it won’t be long before we see each other again.
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