people who eat together are....happy together!

After our garden visit, the group boards the bus and we go check in to our hotel, the Sheraton Shunde.  The first five star hotel in Shunde, is luxurious and modern.  We have about two hours before have to meet in the lobby to ..... eat again!

I'm finally able to shower, and wash away all the grime and exhaustion from travel.  I am soooooo happy!!!  Lucky for us, the Sheraton has spacious bathrooms with great water pressure.  I want to stay in the shower forever.  But I need to be considerate to my roommate, and we have more eating to do!

Dinner is at Happy Together Restaurant.  It is more like a small village dedicated to eating vs. "just a restaurant."  The entire Happy Together compound stretches over several acres - there are several restaurants, a few banquet halls, and private dining rooms.  There is so much area to cover, that the wait staff actually wears rollerblades to deliver meals from the kitchen to the various private dining rooms.

There is a large fountain and large tanks near the entry full of live seafood - several types of fish (big ones!), lobsters, crabs, snakes, shrimp.....  This is food at its freshest!!  When an order comes through, the chef would grab a live snake, or any type of fish, and proceed to kill and prep it - with the same knife.  For Chinese chefs - one knife fits all!

Dinner on our first day in China is VIP all the way.  In our private dining room, we have the executive chef and the restaurant manager demonstrating and preparing several of our courses right in front of us.  The Executive Chef is still on duty.  He is wearing an earpiece, and is giving instructions to the kitchen staff preparing food for a 2000-person banquet, as well as several other private parties.  Voices buzz over the intercom, and we can see him mumble orders.  (Check out video below!)

Dinner, has 16 courses: Shunde's Own Fish Chowder, Jiang Jiang Vinegar Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs, Steamed Fish with Pomelo Peel, Fragrant Lemongrass Prawns, Wok-Sauteed Pumpkin, Bitter Melon and Wood Ear, Pan-Fried Lotus Cake

Salt and Pepper Fresh Water Fish, Shunde-Style Creamy Seafood Stir-fry, Golden Crispy Scallops, Braised Fisherman's Farm-Raised Fish, Steamed Beef Shank with Bitter Squash, Stir-Fried Chinese Greens of the Day, Baked White Mountain Almond Buns, Crispy Purple Sweet Potato Rolls, BBQ Pork Puffs

For dinner, a very famous Shunde specialty - Special Ginger Milk Custard.  This is made of a sweet syrup of old starchy ginger - ginger that has been harvested after many of the sugars have already turned to starch, with the milk of water buffalo that has been heated to about 95 C degrees.  The process startes with the ginger syrup in a bowl, then ladle in warm water buffalo milk by starting close to the bowl, and slowly elevating the ladle up above the bowl to agitate and combine the mixture.  Wait about 60 seconds, and the mixture will harden into custard that will float a ceramic soup spoon.  Martin explained what is happening is a similar process to adding cornstarch to thicken sauces.  I love this dessert -sweet, creamy and gingery spicy.  I was almost going to lick my bowl, when Martin offered me his portion -Lucky me!!  We also had plates of local fruits that Martin and his Staff had purchased from street vendors we saw during the day.

The evening ended with a fiery wok show in the kitchen for the VIP audience.

Our group left the restaurant, feeling very "Happy Together" - Happy to be eating such delicious, unique food together with wonderful new friends!!