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2014-07-27
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To briefly summarise, the first part includes the mission of the luncheon, while the second part talks about the food in The Banqueting House.Recently, charitable organisation FINished With Fins organised a luncheon to educate fellow Hong Kong foodies on how to respect lives in any forms by eating with consciousness. They are advocating people especially in Asia to stop hurting sharks by putting shark fins into one of the ingredients used in luxurious meals that are usually for festive or celebr
To briefly summarise, the first part includes the mission of the luncheon, while the second part talks about the food in The Banqueting House.
Recently, charitable organisation FINished With Fins organised a luncheon to educate fellow Hong Kong foodies on how to respect lives in any forms by eating with consciousness. They are advocating people especially in Asia to stop hurting sharks by putting shark fins into one of the ingredients used in luxurious meals that are usually for festive or celebrative reasons. I must also thank FINished with FINS to introduce me the Banqueting House. This chain of restaurants combine doing good for the society to their 'delicious business'. That is rare in Hong Kong. They have a program that encourages customers to buy pre-paid meals in Tin Shui Wai, and I bought one. I definitely wish businesses in Hong Kong don't just feed themselves with greedy money; they should organize and promote moral events like these to make the world more harmonic, to shift the resources they gained to those in need. Just as Hong Kong born Hollywood star Mr Chow Yun Fat once said, the money he earned were never his. He donates most of his fortune not because he is a good person, it's simply because he needs to shift the resources that somehow flew to his pocket by working back to the society.
FINished with Fins made such brilliant presentation with facts and figures on why NOT to eat fins. They claim there are like 5 people being killed by sharks every year, but an astonishing 100 000 000 sharks killed by humans for their fins. The sharks need to struggle desperately until death because the fishermen throw them back into the sea after cutting their fins. I know sharks seem not really related to our lives, they are not as close as pets such as dogs and cats, but dogs do kill more people than sharks per year. For me, human being should have more empathy towards not only among themselves but also other species in the animal kingdom. Empathy is the only way of human revolution to a better future. Not only shall we pay attention to the last painful moments of sharks' lives, but also re-think what we are eating every day. We eat them just because we are used to eating them, and we are not the guys responsible for slaughtering the animals. We do not care if pigs are actually smarter than dogs, and they know their fate when they are being trsnsported to slaughter houses after one year from birth living in terrible animal farms, let alone the pain they experience when their flesh are being cut open to pull out their testicles to prevent unpleasant smell when they grow up, without using any anesthetics. By the time their corpse pieces reach us, they will already be beautifully decorated, fully cooked and well-seasoned on a plate in one of our favourite restaurants you used to go. Their torturing lives in animal farms don't seem to relate to us, yet we are eating them.
In order to eat with consciousness, the first step you and I can do is STOP EATING SHARK FINS, and yes, please try vegetarian days. Being half or full vegetarian doesn't mean there will never be good meals for you.
The luncheon aims to provide us festive normal and vegetarian meal options with no and NO SHARK FINS, at the same time ensuring us they are as good as traditional dishes. Afterall, insensible traditions are meant to be broken.
AMAZING FOODS: The shrimp dumplings, mushroom and fat choi vegetarian stew in pumpkin bowl, as well as crystal buns with milky egg yolk or smashed red beans inside are particularly amazing. The transparent skin of the dumplings are excellent in thickness and moisture, it doesn't fall apart when being clipped by the chopsticks.
The vegetarian pumpkin bowl is beautiful in generous amount, and the mushroom stew are not at all oily, the saltiness is well-balanced. You do not need to eat rice as the pumpkin pieces are big enough as a replacement, and they are much healthier!
Crystal buns is a kind of sweet dim sum when you go to yum cha in Guang Dong area (having dim sums in the morning or lunch, ad drink tea as you go). The sticky bouncy exterior texture is smooth and opaque, you can see the bright color of the smashed bean stuffing inside. In The Banquet House they use egg yolk and red bean paste, they look full and lustrous, and the texture is so soft!
It's a pleasure to lunch in such a restaurant with decoration of grandeur. I am sure I will go back again as the Banquet House has a mission to share love and care consciously through every yummy Chinese dish they make. They serve with heart.
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