Traditional Chinese Weddings?

[*NikkiBell*]

Has anyone gone to a traditional Chinese wedding before? What can I expect from the reception in terms of food? I've heard a few horror stories and am concerned as I tend to get food poisoning easier than most.

[Gigi22]

NikkiBell--my DSis was a bridesmaid at a Chinese wedding a number of years ago. I think what left a lasting impressing on her, more than the menu, was the fact that the bride had two wedding dresses! One was the traditional Chinese red dress, the other was a western style white dress. For her the oddest part of the menu was either chicken or duck webs. Other than that, I believe she managed just fine. You can always tuck some granola bars in your purse for discrete snacking if you are anxious about the menu.

[sshaw10060]

We went to a traditional Chinese wedding a few years ago. We were the only English speaking table. Everyone else spoke Chinese. I am happy to eat almost anything and tried a lot of different food. Can't say I liked all of it, but it was a culinary adventure. We stopped at McDonalds on the way home since Pam and some of our friends were still hungry.

Prepare yourself for a 10+ course meal. Ours was punctuated with Karaoke. Not sure if that is normal or not. The most "different" courses included braised duck tongue and duck feet, stewed jelly fish, A not half bad chicken dish topped with the head of the aforementioned chicken, and soup dotted with fish eyes. There were also several courses that were quite good and appreciated by all including a ginger stir-fried lobster and steamed fish.

Go with an open mind and have fun. Everyone else at the wedding appreciated our being there and understood some of the items are an acquired taste. Suffice it to say the food is pretty different than what you might find at your corner Chinese restaurant.

[*NikkiBell*]

Is now the right time to also mention that I'm a picky eater? Rofl

[DisneyKevin]

Most Chinese weddings only serve lox.

[*NikkiBell*]

Then I ain't eating, Kevin!!!

I dont eat pig, duck, quail, pigeon, ostrich, shark, buffalo, LOX, or anything else weird. I stick with pasta, chicken, beef, rice, potatoes, some beans, and veggies. Something tells me this wedding on Saturday is going to be rough foodwise.

[DisneyKevin]

I tthink the food at a Chinese wedding is just called.....food.

I'm guessing the Chinese dont refer to it as Chinese food.

[catycatcat4]

Then I ain't eating, Kevin!!!

I dont eat pig, duck, quail, pigeon, ostrich, shark, buffalo, LOX, or anything else weird. I stick with pasta, chicken, beef, rice, potatoes, some beans, and veggies. Something tells me this wedding on Saturday is going to be rough foodwise.
Then no desert for you nikki!

[*NikkiBell*]

Lol my stomach is already gurgling from the thought of Scotts post above. Ewwwww.

[ratherbeatdisney]

Then I ain't eating, Kevin!!!

I dont eat pig, duck, quail, pigeon, ostrich, shark, buffalo, LOX, or anything else weird. I stick with pasta, chicken, beef, rice, potatoes, some beans, and veggies. Something tells me this wedding on Saturday is going to be rough foodwise.

open your mind and try something new. They are not eating it because it tastes like Krud. they are eating it because it tastes good, its your mind that is having the problems with it. You think its gross and weird before you ever try it. they have what like a Billion people in china? a billion people cant be wrong ! give it a shot, if you try it and dont like it, then at least you can say you tried. and for the record Buffalo is almost exactly like beef. Even milder flavored in a lot of cases. i guarantee if someone made you a buffalo burger and didnt tell you it wasnt hamburger you wouldnt even know that difference. At least that has been my experience with it. Be adventurous !!

[mainegal]

and for the record Buffalo is almost exactly like beef.

I bought locally raised and butchered ground buffalo (bison) at the farmer's market Saturday and made bugers.
They were delicious! If you did not know it was buffalo, you would have said it was the best hamburger you had ever eaten. Better than Fuddrucker's or Five Guys.

Enjoy the Chinese wedding.

[TeriofTerror]

No pig? The thought of no bacon, ham, sausage, pork chops, or pork ribs just makes me sad. "Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry; they'll end up in my pot in a hurry...":music:

[sshaw10060]

Nikki,

We want pictures and a narrative of every course.

[thatslygirl]

I am not Chinese but it seems that every Vietnamese wedding reception has theirs in a Chinese restaurant. Typically they serve 7-10 courses and it is a set menu.

Common foods include:
- crab asparagus soup
- a huge fried lobster claw that is breaded on the outside--this is popular with kids
- shrimp papaya salad served with a vinaigrette. We call it "goi" in Vietnamese and comes with the shrimp chips that Kevin likes
- house fried rice
- either fish, peking duck, or lobster

All come with white rice, of course.

In the middle of the lazy Susan there is usually a 2 liter bottle of Sprite and Coke. They do serve champagne.

Asian wedding cakes tend to be really light compared to Western wedding cakes. Think sponge cake with a fresh fruit filling... it's very yummy but after eating the same cakes all my life I am tired of them and crave "American" cakes for special occasions. :rotfl:

It's typical for the bride to have 2-3 wedding dresses. She may start out with the Western wedding dress then later change into others. Also another popular thing to do is when the bride and groom make their rounds, you can bang your chopsticks on your glasses to see them kiss :)

Additionally, Asian people generally prefer to give cash/check as gifts. They will usually give this to the bride and groom as they go from table to table. Not unusual to spend x amount on money on the reception and get most of it back or even make a little "profit"... I think my parents usually gave $50 if they knew the bride/groom or their family well but I imagine others give more.

[kaligal]

My only piece of advice regarding foreign food is this:

Beware foreigners who say, "It isn't spicy."

[Launchpad11B]

Order a #38. I'm pretty sure that's the general tso's chicken! :thumbsup2

[k5jmh]

Then no desert for you nikki!

That would be the Chilled Monkey Brain.:lmao:

[Disney Dad Canada]

I've been to many different weddings, and all my advice is to enjoy. Weddings are a great way to understand different cultures. Always great to learn differences when celebrating.

[georgemoe]

Can you brown bag this wedding? :rotfl:

[NC Belle]

One of NC Beast's cousin married in China. The apartment is measured in pings (dion't recall the number of pings or their current home location).

It is the year of the tiger in Vietnam.

[OKW Lover]

My only piece of advice regarding foreign food is this:

Beware foreigners who say, "It isn't spicy."

Beware a Cajun that says "it isn't spicy" too!
I'm married to one and she is spicy!

[*NikkiBell*]

Oh boy. This is not looking promising. Anyone want to come and film this for America's Funniest Home Videos? ROFL

[quikah]

I had a wedding banquet in China (wife is from there) a couple of years ago.

Don't ask what it is. Just eat it. :)

I can't remember what exactly we had at our wedding, we spent most of the time wandering between tables toasting people. Vegetables, pork, duck, fish. It was all really good.

If there are little tiny cups (thimble size) that is for baijiu, it is extremely strong (80-120 proof), tastes kind of like vodka. There will be a lot of toasts. You DO NOT have to drink it, but you should always participate in a toast with whatever you ARE drinking.

This may be a regional thing, but at mine the guests paid a fee at the entrance instead of giving gifts.

It is just a big party, have fun.

[Mish19]

Eat before you go! I went to a co-workers wedding a couple of years ago and all I can say is wow! LOL, we stopped to eat something on the way home. The bride did change into 2-3 wedding dresses, which was nice. Everything else was nice, except the food. But you should still go, it is a nice way to learn different cultures.

[eeyorelvr09]

Is now the right time to also mention that I'm a picky eater? Rofl

Hi Nikki,
It's Christine. To say you are a picky eater is an understatement. Lol. Good luck at the wedding and like someone had mentioned just bring a stash of food. Or go eat before the wedding. Just a suggestion. Good luck, again.

[thatslygirl]

I just read the list of stuff that you won't eat, and suggest eating before you go to the wedding. If it was my wedding and my guests snuck in their own stash of food, I would think it was incredibly rude (except if they had allergies or something). Not paying $35/head so you can bring in some Mickey D's, ya know?

I would take a small helping of every course to be polite but most Asian people understand that non-Asian people may not take to our food... just like when you go to a Chinese restaurant and the native people are eating something completely different than what's offered on the menu.

I've had ostrich and bison burgers and they are incredibly juicy and delicious. Ostrich is like eating a turkey burger. And did you know that the reason why avocado became a popular fixture in sushi in CA was because its texture was similar to fatty tuna? Only avocado is cheaper and more abundant! Quail eggs are the size of a quarter, but they pretty much taste like chicken eggs, only smaller. A whole quail is like a mini-me version of a Cornish game hen, which is a smaller version of a chicken. All about perspective, yo.

I do recall eating Orange Beef at several weddings... perhaps you won't go hungry after all, LOL.

[daneenm]

We attended my friend's wedding and had a full out 10 course banquet. Some of the things I recall are...

• shark fin soup
• sea cucumber (not my favorite)
• Whole fish (head on)
• fried and steamed rice
• chicken feet
• duck

It was a fun experience, but I will admit that we stopped for food for DH on the way home.

The bride had three dresses, as mentioned before. Western (white), Chinese (red) and a beaded floor length cocktail dress. She was lovely.

Two things stick with me.... the waiters had every table served each course within a minute of each other (there must have been 40 tables of 12, at least) and the bride and groom came around and had a toast with EVERY table (and they were still standing at the end).

[sshaw10060]

We attended my friend's wedding and had a full out 10 course banquet. Some of the things I recall are...

• shark fin soup
• sea cucumber (not my favorite)
• Whole fish (head on)
• fried and steamed rice
• chicken feet
• duck

I had forgotten about the sea cucumbers. One little bite was all I could muster. Blech!

[nll007]

Hey Nikki,

This is a tough one to answer because it will depend on how traditional the couple and their families are. Budget can play a role too, especially with food. Most likely you won't see too many dishes that you may have seen in a fast food chinese restaurant either.

Yes, sharks fin soup is possible but is one of the most expensive dishes on a menu along with Birds nest soup. Again, it depends on what the wedding family decides to do. Another common dish is Walnut Prawns [pan fried shrimp in a mayo based sauce over candied walnuts], roasted chicken, steamed sea bass in soy sauce and oil and as mentioned already many odd dishes like abalone and sea cucumber. I'm not a fan of those exotic dishes and quite frankly they are usually served to show off. Our wedding consisted of all meat dishes, [duck, chicken, beef, shrimp and pork] because that is what we like to eat.

Most wedding usually have a tea ceremony that can be held at the church or banquet room. Basically, the wedding couple serves tea to family members in a private ceremony in exchange for a 'lucky' red envelope with cash. We looked at it as a way to recoup the wedding costs. Yea, we aren't that traditional.

As far as dresses are concerned if they are really traditional the bride will change her dress after each and everyone of the 10 courses. I've only seen that once. There is also a chance they will play games that to me embarrass the bride and groom. Anyway, If you want me to elaborate, please ask but that is roughly what I have seen at Chinese weddings. i hope that helps.

[GAN]

Wow.... all these years and I never knew there was a link to Chinese food and food poisoning --well, we learn something new every day. Does Thai count?

[OKW Lover]

Once you've recovered, we need a full report. popcorn::

[*NikkiBell*]

:rotfl2: Jeff.

Well, I am here. I think I stopped at around the third course because I just could not take it anymore. I mean absolutely no disrespect to anyone, but I honestly found the food to be :crazy2:. The thought of it still makes me :sick:.

Everything was served family style. The first course was a bowl full of cold meats. I don't know what the majority were, but somebody pointed to something that looked like a rind of a really bad lemon and said it was pork belly (why, people, why?) Apparently there was chicken and beef in there, too. I picked up a slice of something that looked like cheese. I tasted it and, well, it was NOT cheese. :eek: I was fearful from thereon that I tasted the gut of some indigenous species or even the eyeballs that Tara was counting on. I later found out it was abalone.

The second course looked like an undercooked burrito. Somebody said that it was Pekking Duck. Well, let's just say I was not "pekking" inside that burrito to find out. I employed the tactics I used as a child to make it appear as if I ate it. I cut things here, hid things there, ate identifiable veggies in the interim, etc. I was very proud of my attempts.

The next course was shark fin soup. I tasted it all the while thinking of Sea World and pushed it away shortly thereafter. After that I was pretty much done. I skipped the rest of the courses including the cake (yes, I was that :crazy2: that I could not even eat cake). I did try a piece of lobster during the fourth course, but it didn't taste like any lobster I had tried before. I don't really know what the other dishes were. Somebody did say there was steak at one point, but that certainly didn't look like steak. Oh! And there was duck. Sean made me try it. In an effort to win points, I did and :crazy2:.

Everyone else raved about the food being so good. I'm glad that they are more adventurous than I am. For me though, it just wasn't up my alley. So here I am with a digestive system that is ready to sue me, but a good experience nonetheless. There's one last thing though. Nobody warned me about the amount of ABBA being played. I swear it was the greatest hits CD. Once they hit "Mama Mia" I nearly fell over in a fit of laughter imagining Yvette and Kevin's karaoke debut.

What was my favorite part of the night, you ask? The favors. They gave shot glasses decorated with beautiful lucky bamboo. I'm loving them. :)

[mainegal]

And I assume the happy couple will live happily ever after? Once they digest their food?

[YukiPhnx]

Um.....has any Chinese person actually responded to this thread?

I'm sorry I picked up on this so late. I personally LOVE Chinese weddings. With all the festivities and all the special food I only get to eat at special dinners.

I think the main thing to know about Chinese food, is that we don't like wasting things. Which means we like eating most parts of the animal. One of my favourite dishes is pig's stomache. We're a big fan of the pig. We eat almost every part of it!

It doesn't sound like you had any suckling pig. That's a big must at a Chinese wedding. It's basically BBQ pig, Chinese style, with a very crispy skin and comes with a sweet black sticky sauce.

It's too bad you didn't enjoy the Peking duck. That's one of my favourites. If you wrap it up with a piece of the duck, some of the cucumbers that come with the dish, and some of that sweet sauce, YUM!

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it as much as you could've. But at least you gave it a shot, right? :thumbsup2

[thatslygirl]

Mmmm pork belly is the greatest thing ever... I always try to get it when I have Korean BBQ. It pretty much looks like bacon in the supermarket!

Peking duck tastes really good if they serve the pancakes (like with mooshoo pork). You can put the skin in with some green onion and some hoisin sauce. So good!

I'm sitting here eating ciabatta with butter and goat cheese provecal and wishing I had pork belly instead :(

[Sweet]

Then I ain't eating, Kevin!!!

I dont eat pig, duck, quail, pigeon, ostrich, shark, buffalo, LOX, or anything else weird. I stick with pasta, chicken, beef, rice, potatoes, some beans, and veggies. Something tells me this wedding on Saturday is going to be rough foodwise.
Don't worry, most of the food are veggies. Of course, there is also a lot of meat, but if you don't like, you can choose not to eat these, no one care, pasta and rice are both avaliable, just eat what you like and enjoy. Chinese food tastes good!:flower3: