Chinese New Year Banquet at China 46, Feb 12, 2005

[Rachel Perlow]

The title pretty well sums it up. We are planning the next Chinese New Year banquet at China 46 restaurant in Ridgefield Park, NJ. Last year, 46 eGullet members partied it up with a huge dragon. We haven't yet set the menu, but the food is always excellent, and I'm sure the cost will be under $50 pp. They are planning on having the dragon in on two evenings, so we have our choice of Saturday, February 12 or Sunday the 13th. Please RSVP here and let us know if you have a preference as to dates.

Note: The date has been set for Saturday, February 12, 2005. 5:30 PM.

Note: Click here for the menu.

Edited January 19, 2005 by Rachel Perlow (log)

[Rachel Perlow]

OK so the semi-official title for this shindig is now:

The NJ eGullet Society Fundraising Chinese New Year Valentine Weekend Banquet!

Yes, fundraising, ladies and gentlemen. 10-20% of the price for this event will be donated to the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. I'll figure that out more exactly after working out the menu. You may, of course, contribute additional money at the banquet, if you wish.

In addition, the China 46 dragon dance is a fundraiser for a local school. Little red envelopes are passed around the restaurant and it is customary to put a dollar or more in them for the dragon to collect, so it would be nice if, in addition to bringing money for the dinner, you could make sure to have a single or three to contribute to the dragon.

[Rachel Perlow]

The menu:

Hors d’oeuvres:

• Two Kinds of Steamed Dumplings: Lamb and Vegetable
  Cold Appetizer, including Spicy Shredded Chicken
  

Soup:

• Shanghai Casserole - assorted seafood, vegetables and meat with tofu and cellophane noodles
  

Appetizer:

• Pork Soup Dumplings paired with Fried Soupy Shrimp Balls
  

Main Courses:

• Szechuan Duckling – Sauteed sliced duck meat with with vegetables in a spicy brown sauce
  Shanghai Shrimp Wou-ba – Shrimp and assorted vegetables in a white sauce will be poured over crispy rice patties at the table, listen for the sizzle
  Braised Whole Chicken stuffed with Sticky Rice
  Dong-Poo Pork – traditional Shanghai regional dish; braised pork belly and butt, served with steamed white buns
  Seasonal Sauteed Green Vegetable
  Fish Two Ways - Sauteed Spicy Capsicum Fish and Flounder wrapped in Crispy Tofu Skin
  Rice Cake with fresh bamboo and vegetables
  

Dessert:

• Fresh Fruit platter
  

My thanks to Rosie, Jo-Mel and Jason for their input into the menu selections. - Rachel

[ejebud]

WOW!! What a feast. Beth and I had a really great time tonight at China 46 with all of you. The food was superb and the company was wonderful. Pictures of the food

Enjoy the pictures. BTW, the non food pics will follow soon.

Eric

[Jason Perlow]

Seaweed Appetizer

Lamb Dumplings

Vegetable Dumplings

Spicy Shredded Chicken

Spicy Shredded Chicken

Shanghai Casserole (portion)

Shanghai Casserole (the whole pot)

Fried Soupy Shrimp Balls

Fried Soupy Shrimp Balls

Pork Soup Dumplings

Fish Two Ways - Sauteed Spicy Capsicum Fish and Flounder wrapped in Crispy Tofu Skin

Szechuan Duckling

Dong Poo Pork

Steamed White Buns for Dong Poo Pork

Braised Whole Chicken stuffed with Sticky Rice

Braised Whole Chicken stuffed with Sticky Rice (cut up)

Shanghai Shrimp Wou-Ba

Sauteed Shanghai Bokchoy and Fresh Shitakke

Rice Cake with fresh bamboo and vegetables

Fruit Platter

[rooftop1000]

ok Jason and Eric seem to have the food covered so here are the guests and entertainment

Edited February 13, 2005 by Jason Perlow (log)

[philadining]

Either the food or the comraderie alone would have been worth the drive up from Philadelphia, so the combination of the two made for an especially enjoyable evening.

All the food was terrific. (I never thought I would utter a phrase like this, but I loved the Dong Poo.)

Big thanks to Rachel and Jason for putting this together, and letting a couple of "southerners" crash the party. It was great to meet everybody, and I hope it won't be the last time!

--jeff

[chefreit]

Either the food or the comraderie alone would have been worth the drive up from Philadelphia, so the combination of the two made for an especially enjoyable evening.

All the food was terrific. (I never thought I would utter a phrase like this, but I loved the Dong Poo.)

Big thanks to Rachel and Jason for putting this together, and letting a couple of "southerners" crash the party. It was great to meet everybody, and I hope it won't be the last time!

--jeff

←

Hey Jeff & Katie!

My wife and I, also enjoyed the the Phila-comraderie.

Harry

[howard88]

What a party it was.

The seaweed and chicken appetizer outstanding.

Loved the variety of all of the dumplings.

The fish, the duck, the chicken, the soup, wow

it was all so good.

The egulleters and company at our table was the best.

Smiles, great food and conversation and oh yeah the wine

and pumpkin beer made for a terrific new years celebration.

China 46 truly puts out some of the best food you can eat with

chopsticks.

Thanks to Rachel and Jason for another great gathering.

What a pleasure to spend time with people I have seen before

and new faces I hope to see again.

Howard

[Marlene]

It was amazing! The food and company were the best. What I didn't get to say in my remarks last night was; it might seem a little strange that I would fly down from Canada for a dinner in New York.

How could I possibly have missed the Society's first fundraiser? We are doing wonderful things, and I hope all of you are as proud to be a part of it as I am.

I look forward to seeing you all again at the next eG Society event.

Thank you Rachel and Jason for organizing a terrific evening!

[jhlurie]

Okay, this was obviously Jason's plate. Did he let anyone else have even one?

[jo-mel]

Oh those pictures!! It brought back aromas and tastes! Thanks, Jason!

What a wonderful evening we had, and how nice to be with great people who enjoy good Chinese food, good conversation, and ---- were so generous with their potables --- as were others from other tables

I wish I could make a list of what I liked best, but alas, I can't! However the flavor of the fresh bamboo in the noodle dish stands out, as well as that first bite into the Fried Shrimp Ball. How about that Stuffed Chicken with the wonderful, flavorful sticky rice? And I can't forget the welcomed lightness of the vegetable dish or the lightness of the fruit as a last course. Wonderful flavors and textures all around. Each dish could stand on its own.

A great night and a hand to Rachel and Jason. Good job! But I also have to mention Cecil and his staff. They were busy!! But, as usual, always attentive and ready to please. And---- how about those masters in the kitchen? I wish they could have come out and taken a bow! Next time???

[Chefjerry40]

Either the food or the comraderie alone would have been worth the drive up from Philadelphia, so the combination of the two made for an especially enjoyable evening.

All the food was terrific. (I never thought I would utter a phrase like this, but I loved the Dong Poo.)

Big thanks to Rachel and Jason for putting this together, and letting a couple of "southerners" crash the party. It was great to meet everybody, and I hope it won't be the last time!

--jeff

←

Hey Jeff & Katie!

My wife and I, also enjoyed the the Phila-comraderie.

Harry

←

←

Jeff & Katie,

My wife and I had a great time last night.

Jerry & Karen

[KatieLoeb]

Wow - I'm just barely recovered. I had such sweet dreams last night after such a truly lovely afternoon. My sated belly and I slept like heros after a battle. My personal thanks to Jeff for being such a great dining companion and playing chauffeur for me. The ride home seemed to go by really quickly!

Rachel and Jason are wonderful hosts, as are Cecil and his staff. It was a great time. I can't even decide what my favorite dish was as everything was so tasty. I'd have to give an edge to the lamb dumplings, spicy shredded chicken and the Capiscum fish. And the Dong Poo pork (gotta work on that name!!) was as yummy as Jeff said, and fun too because the little buns made for amusing edible Mick Jagger lips to play with after a few glasses of wine. There was a LOT of wine and giggling going on at our table and it was a pleasure meeting Chefs Jerry and Harry, their lovely spouses and their friends that really kept the conversation lively. Hoping to see all of them again if they decide to come visit Philly! We did our fair share of damage to about 9 or 10 bottles of wine at our table, but it was fun to play around and pair up the different wines with the various dishes. As silly as we were, we still managed some fairly academic discussion about wine, so I felt I was in my element.

I also have to say it was great to meet the Buxbaums, and to see Marlene and Dave. I think we need to have more get togethers of the Site Management and Forum Hosts! It's always lots of fun!!!

[pbrodsky]

Jason and Rachel. You did a wonderful job organizing the meal, and very good menu choices. Wonderful evening.