Phuoc Hue Fundraising Dinner

On Saturday, we attended a Fundraising Dinner at Phuoc Hue Buddhist Monastery (more information can be found here at http://sukhavati.org/phuochue/sukhavati/foreword.html). The tickets were $35 each for a delightful 9 course meal (vegetarian of course), cooked by three chefs from a restaurant in Chinatown. The atmosphere was vibrant and joyous and there was lion dancing along with a number of different Chinese and Vietnamese performances. On stage, there were also both Chinese and Vietnamese MC's as the dinner was organised by the Chinese Buddhist association, however held at a Vietnamese temple. It was a fun night with a harmonious marriage of the two cultures, and I'm familiar with both as my parents are Vietnamese born of Chinese origin. In any case, even with these great performances, all Tubs and I could think of was food, food, food!

Lion dancing (those 2 heads belong to me and Tubs)

After much anticipation and belly rumbling, the food finally arrived with the first course of a wonderfully fragrant soup. There was the delicate sweetness of the longans, the crispness of the green leaves (called ky tu according to the menu) and the tenderness of the tofu and those orange seed-shaped...things (called dau phu cao again from the menu). I'm afraid I couldn't track down what they actually were so finding their English names was quite impossible. Nevertheless, the soup was delicious.

First course: soup

Soon after, Sweet & Sour and Curry Vegetarian 'meat' (made of gluten I believe) was served. This too was delicious.

2nd course: Sweet & Sour (left) and Curry (right)

Then came a beautifully arranged dish of Vegetable stir-fry (mushrooms, baby corn, carrots, tofu and other yummies I can't name) encased within a golden, flavoursome dome of delicate tofu skin. This was one of the highlights for me as it was just divine.

The golden, heavenly dome mmm...

Inside the beauty

Uighur dancing (from the region of Xinjiang in China)

Then came the Vegetarian spring rolls drizzled in a light, gorgeous sauce. The carnivores on our table were pleased that it quite sufficiently tasted somewhat like real meat.

4th course: Vegetarian spring rolls

Vietnamese performers

Then came the 2nd highlight for me...Fried taro 'fish'. Golden and crisp on the outside, the 'fish' was made of fluffy, soft taro inside, and it was topped off with a lovely mushroom sauce.

5th course: Fried taro 'fish' with mushroom sauce

Mongolian dancing by the same Chinese performers

Next was a dish of Sugar bean Combination Stir-fry with 'fish' fillets.

6th course: Sugar bean & 'fish' fillet combo

Then came an interesting mushroom dish with random queer Asian vegetables and whatnot. It was delicious definately but also very different and unknown to me.

7th course: Mystery dish

By this time, we were well filled up but it didn't end yet. Chinese style fried sticky rice arrived just in time to add that extra lump in our bellies.

8th course: Fried sticky rice

And finally, the curtains drew with our end of meal dessert: Sticky Coconut sweets with red bean filling.

Final course: Coconut sweets with red bean filling