SAMI’S BLOG: Chinese

You know what my secret desire is for Mother’s Day?

To order a Combination Phoenix Nest Deluxe. What is this you ask?

Its king prawns, Chinese barbecued pork, straw mushrooms and bamboo shoots served in a golden fried potato nest topped with cashew nuts and quail eggs. Okay. You can hold the quail eggs. But this is bucket list dish I have wanted to eat since I was a kid because it was the most expensive thing on the menu.

I will also be partaking in lemon chicken, prawn toast and sizzling steak. Forget chocolates and chrysanthemums, I would eat Chinese for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If it is good enough for billions in China why do we have to ration ourselves of this tasty treat?

The other big activity I have planned for Mother’s Day (can you tell I am over invested in this one perfect day of the year?) is to read the actual newspaper in bed. Remember the days when you felt smugly up to date because you read the paper from back to front. These days there is no start or finish to the news cycle. Endless doom scrolling makes me feel anxious and overwhelmed as I know I will never get to the end. Oh, for the sense of completion of a finished newspaper.

OK, back to happier thoughts. Yes. Chinese. My local favourite is in Caloundra. It has dragons, red and gold wall paper, and little chubby buddhas scattered everywhere (very 1985). Some of the tables even have Lazy Susans! When we celebrated our first baby, we got the lazy Susan table and I thought I had hit the jackpot. Over the years we have gone for just about every family celebration you can imagine. We embrace the authentic aesthetic and we just love the menu. Give me MSG not Gluten Free!

So, whether it’s a newspaper or rice paper roll, here’s to all our beautiful Mums. Happy Mother’s Day!

Thank You for all that you do. You nurture and inspire us, run around, worry and protect us. We are your biggest cheerleaders. My Mum did a great job raising 3 kids all by herself even if she never did splurge on that phoenix nest deluxe.