Chinese Dinner at Sonja's

Saturday 7 February

Poor Sonja has been up and down under the weather since New Year's, so was unable to join us at various social occasions.  Luckily, now she's feeling better, so invited a group of us over to her cosy house for a grand Chinese feast.  She has been to China, speaks Mandarin, and knows what's what in the Chinese kitchen, so this was something special.

We started with suitably Asian dumplings, pork shu mai and mushroom mochi, though they were washed down with prosecco, rather than tea.  When we proceeded to the table, the also-non-traditional red wine went very well with Sonja's hearty Ma Po Tofu with pork, accompanied by rice (of course), scallion pancakes, stir-fried green beans, and a dish we've never seen before, Szechuan shredded potatoes, like Chinese hashbrowns but spicy.

Dessert was again non-traditional, chocolate and vanilla ice cream, but as you can tell, we don't let tradition stand in the way of enjoyment.  So thanks, Sonja, for a fantastic feast.