Tempting Chinese Delicacy

Very large abalone and fish maw surrounding sea cucumbers

The first time I ate the classic dish Buddha jumps over the wall was back in the late 1990s in Hong Kong in Shang Palace in the Kowloon Shangri-la.

Still relatively new in journalism but keen to try new things, I did a story about Buddha jumps over the wall, interviewing the chef at the restaurant about the ingredients and how the soup got its name.

The broth (top left), with shark's fin (top right)

As the story goes, the smells from kitchen near a Buddhist monastery tempted a monk to "jump over the wall" to eat the dish, which contains meat.

And it's understandable why someone would find it hard to resist with such premium ingredients as sea cucumber, shark's fin, abalone, conpoy, fish maw, chicken, Jinhua ham, ginseng and mushrooms. Some varieties include taro and quail eggs.

The version I tried had thin slices of deer penis in it, geared towards boosting mens' testosterone... The hotel public relations woman and I giggled at the thought of having this ingredient in our soup and we thoroughly enjoyed the dish.

However that evening I find it practically impossible to sleep. I was tossing and turning for hours and by morning was a sleep-deprived wreck.

I called the public relations woman to tell her about my sleepless night and she immediately exclaimed, "Me too!" We had a good laugh.

Conpoy with slices of Jinhua ham

We still have fond memories of this experience decades later.

Fast forward to a few days ago and I got a chance to eat the same dish again in Vancouver, well Burnaby. At Grand Crystal Seafood Restaurant in Crystal Mall, the chef there makes Buddha jumps over the wall that is not presented in individual pots, but in a giant soup tureen and the ingredients carefully arranged and presented on platters.

There were large abalone and fish maw too, but thin sea cucumber, and tiny scraps of shark's fin -- I was surprised to even see that there. We were given two rounds of the soup, one with conpoy and Jinhua ham, the other with a very large, meaty mushroom.

Next came the abalone, fish maw and sea cucumber presented with abalone sauce. 

Needless to say after two bowls of soup and this dish, we were half full already.

Sea cucumber, fish maw and abalone

As Coca-Cola was available I got a glass and was glad I did -- there was quite a bit of MSG in the dishes, and the Coke helped counteract feeling thirsty.

I can say despite the caffeinated Coke I slept quite well that night...

Picture of the Day: Mid-Autumn Moon

The full moon peeking through the trees

Happy Mid Autumn! 中秋節快樂!

It really is a sign of fall when the Mid-Autumn Festival comes around. In Vancouver the leaves on some of the trees have begun changing colour to yellow, orange or red, and chestnut trees have released their prickly green round cases that break open and reveal the dark brown hard seed on the ground.

Tonight the moon is particularly full and after dinner around 8.30pm we snapped a picture of it as it began to rise in the sky.

After that we ate some slices of mooncakes. We got boxes of mooncakes this year from The Boss Bakery & Restaurant in Chinatown, where they make traditional ones with two salted egg yolks that are pretty darn good.

We also scored the famous Peninsula Hotel's egg custard mooncakes. They are not as heavy, and have a slight coconut taste.

My favourite is still the ones from the Kowloon Shangri-La, with red bean paste mixed with 25-year-old mandarin peel. The combination is so well balanced!