Recently I was invited by my classmate June Li (Ku),
who happens to be a Chinese, for dinner, along with our other classmate
Sudeshna, to the most renowned Chinese areas in Kolkata, Tangra, which used to
be dotted with tanneries owned by the Chinese who had migrated to India many
moons ago. Most of the remnant families residing in this area have been there
for at least 3 generations, if not more. With their prime business having been
shifted away from that area they resorted to converting part of their
properties into eateries, which incidentally have shifted focus from catering
to a predominantly non-vegetarian palate to a vegetarian palate.
Earlier these eateries were not as expensive as those
within the city and offered a very different menu than those found in the city.
My first visit to Tangra was way back in the early 90’s when not only did very
few know of eateries in that locality but even fewer resorted to visiting them.
However, today things are fairly different. The cost is almost at par with
those found within city limits and even on a weekday they are teeming with food
lovers from all over the city.
When my friend June, her husband Fui Chung Li along
with June’s elder sister Fong Hsiung invited me for dinner to one of the well
known restaurants, Golden Joy, in Tangra, I expected that we would be seated in
the usual areas of the restaurant. I was taken quite by surprise when we were
ushered to an area which was beyond the restaurant area. I later discovered
that this area was used by the owner Mr. Robert Liao for entertaining his
friends and family.
I was even more surprised by the way the table was
laid out for the dinner. It was a round table which had quarter plates with a
bowl, chopsticks and a soup spoon placed on each cover. I then realised that
the food served would be very different from what we normally ate at Chinese
restaurants.
Once all of us were there the waiters brought in a
huge bowl of soup (which was super tasty, except I hadn’t asked what it was).
Then came Golden Fried Prawns, Steamed Chicken, Roast Chicken, Sauteed Chinese
Greens and Hakka Chow. At that point I thought “Oh my God! What a spread!!” But
was told by June’s cousin Micheal Liu and his wife Mary that more was to come.
The Steamed Chicken and the Roast Chicken are items one wouldn’t find normally
in the run of the mill kind menu. Both were super delicious and hardly oily.
The waiters then brought what is called Hakka Chicken
(essentially Chilli Chicken but without the gravy or the fried onions which one
normally finds in the restaurants), followed by Steamed Dumplings, and Steamed
Tofu (filled with pork and fish). The grand finale was the Steamed Prawns
served with a sauce, simple and delicious.
I follow a fair bit of cookery shows on TLC and the
like on TV and especially love watching Kylie Kwong’s shows. It is through
watching such shows that I have gathered my knowledge on Chinese food. Apart
from this I had gained some knowledge earlier in my college days, which have
gone all rusty now, when we had Mr. Deh-Ta Hsuing, an author and chef from
Great Britain, give us valuable inputs on the cuisine. But to savour authentic
Chinese food was not just a priviledge but also a pleasure and a fair bit of
learning. I feel that if one wants to enjoy Chinese food it should be in the
company of friends and family eaten the way the community does!
Thank you June, Fui, Fong, Robert, Micheal and Mary
for giving me an insight to this wonderful world of Chinese cuisine!!
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| The wonderful spread attacked by all of us |
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