The Haymarket Chamber of Commerce hosted the Year of the Dragon Lunar New Year Banquet on Thursday, the 15th of February 2024 at The Eight Restaurant in Haymarket. As one of the biggest and most loved Chinese/Lunar New Year celebrations in Sydney, Kent and I were thrilled to be attending.
For this festive occasion, Kent chose a joyful pink shirt and a red tie to go with his beige suit. My contemporary chipao (qipao) was my top choice for this Chinese New Year gathering. This summer has been hot and extremely humid in Sydney. We were blessed to have a cool change on the 15th of February, and that was when my pink velvet cardigan came in handy!
Red For Good Fortune
The banquet was held at The Eight Restaurant, a renowned modern Cantonese Chinese restaurant in Haymarket. When we arrived, our mood was straight away lightened up when we saw the enormous venue decorated in festive red! Red lanterns, red tablecloths, red napkins, red menus, red programs, and of course, red envelopes (紅包/hongbao).
Red in Chinese culture is a symbol of joy, celebration, high-spiritedness, and good fortune. Red is also the luckiest colour in our tradition. Red is commonly used in significant events such as weddings and festivals like Chinese New Year. If you ever noticed and wondered why the Chinese wear more red outfits than usual during the Lunar New Year period (which lasts 15 days!), now you know why.
Welcome To Country, Lion Dance
We were humbled to have a Welcome to Country by Uncle Michael West at the beginning of the event, followed by the loud sounds of gongs and drums from the Choy Lee Fut Lion Dance Troupe. In Chinese culture, the Lion Dance is performed to chase away evil spirits, and since ghosts, evil spirits and giants like Nian (年) are afraid of loud noises, gongs and drums usually perform with this lively scene. It is one of the most important traditions of Chinese New Year, performed to bring prosperity for the upcoming year.
There was no shortage of red envelopes being ‘fed’ into the lions’ mouths during the Lion Dance. This act is supposed to bring good luck and is considered a contribution, a gift for the martial arts troupe. Everyone was cheering or photographing this festive moment, while many generous guests waved their hongbao (紅包) in the air excitedly to lure the lion to come get it!
Banquet Commences
If you have Chinese friends or have been a guest to a Chinese household, you would know how important food is to Chinese and Chinese hospitality. Here’s the sumptuous 10-course menu with a complimentary fruit platter for the evening:
春節大利湯 Lotus Root and Pork Rib Soup
燒味拼盤 The Eight’s Barbecue Mix Platter
翡翠蝦仁 Stir Fried Prawns with Snow Peas
薑蔥蟹 Stir Fried Mud Crab with Ginger, Shallots, and Noodles
黑椒牛柳粒 Beef Fillet in Black Pepper Sauce and Broccoli
清蒸星斑 Steam Live Coral Trout
紅燒豆腐 Braised Bean Curd with Vegetables
招牌炒飯 The Eight’s Special Fried Rice
美點雙輝 Golden Cakes Two Styles
是日甜點 Chinese Dessert Soup
精美果盤 Fresh Fruit Platter
The food was delicious! Each table also had choices of red, white, and rosé from HCC member, the award-winning Millon Wines. The Lotus Root and Pork Rib Soup was moreish. The flavourful soup stock was made of pork bone, pork rib, oysters, and chicken. The lotus root added the elements of sweetness, earthiness, and a unique texture to the dish. I went for a second bowl and Kent reminded me: ‘Save some room for more food to come!’
The Eight’s Barbecue Mix Platter: Roast Duck and BBQ Pork made up this mouth-watering Cantonese-style mixed BBQ platter. It was no doubt a popular dish. The additional green seaweed was a clever idea, it added a vivid colour and a different texture to the course.
Judging by how green the snow peas were and how plump the prawns looked from this photo, you would know they were cooked to perfection. Stir-fried Prawns with Snow Peas was a winning dish. The slightly firm and resilient textures of the prawns when took a bite to it, just tell you how fresh they were!
The speeches were about to start. We put our chopsticks down to give a nice round of applause to the event host and Guests of Honour.
Speeches, Photo Sessions, And Entertainment
First to take the stage to give guests a warm welcome was the President of the Haymarket Chamber of Commerce Vincent Lim. ‘Each year, it is an honour and privilege for us to be able to bring our members, friends, and supporters of the Chamber together for a “Haymarket family reunion dinner”,’ said Vincent. ‘…The Dragon is considered to be the most revered and auspicious of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac and is said to symbolise power, nobility, wisdom, strength, honour, luck, and success. On behalf of the Chamber, I wish you and your family good health, prosperity and great success in an auspicious year ahead.’ Vincent’s speech received a loud round of applause.
Other Guests of Honour who gave a speech at the event include:
The Hon. Andrew Giles MP – Federal Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs
The Hon. Prue Car MP – Deputy Premier of New South Wales
Robyn Preston MP – Deputy Leader of the Opposition
The Rt. Hon. Cr Clover Moore AO – Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney
Alex Greenwich MP – Member for Sydney, NSW Legislative Assembly
Jenny Leong MP – Member for Newtown, NSW Legislative Assembly
One important message that was expressed throughout all speeches. And that is, how blessed we are to embrace multicultural living in Australia. With wars and so much racial hatred happening around the world, we should not take it for granted.
Then came the photo sessions for the Guests of Honour. Most of these special guests were elected representatives. Besides Simon Chan AM (Immediate Past President of HCC), who we know of from attending art and culture activities at his Art Atrium Gallery. Kent and I met Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore AO, Deputy Sydney Lord Mayor Robert Kok, and Alex Greenwich MP from various events in the past. Watching the photographers jostle for shots of the VIPs was unplanned entertainment!
After the group photos, two of the best drummers from Da Hung Lion Dance & Martial Arts Australia gave us a special Chinese/Lunar New Year drumming performance called ‘Enter the Dragon’, pushing the atmosphere to a new high.
Banquet Continues
Stir-fried Mud Crab with Ginger, Shallots, and Noodles: The Mud crabs were meaty and very fresh. What impressed me too was the Longevity Noodles – 伊麵, also known as yi mein, yee mein, or e-fu noodles. Not only did the noodles soak up the cooking liquid from crab, ginger and shallot, but their spongy and chewy textures made me keep going back for more. Another top-shelf dish! Thank you, Chef!
Kent loves beef, and this Beef Fillet in Black Pepper Sauce and Broccoli was his favourite course from the banquet. ‘The beef was good.’ he said. When I asked him to describe ‘good’, his feedback was: ‘Tender, peppery, and verging on melting in your mouth!’
One of the must-have dishes in Chinese New Year is a whole fish, especially on New Year’s Eve. In Chinese, ‘having fish’ (有魚/yeouyu) is pronounced the same as ‘surplus’ (有餘/yeouyu). Chinese always like to have a surplus at the end of the year, because we believe if we have more than full, it’s a good sign for the year to come. The flesh of Steam Live Coral Trout was moist, succulent and tender. Another superb seafood dish from The Eight.
While I could not fill in any more food, I noticed the Braised Bean Curd with Vegetables was a crowd-pleaser – it was gone in no time! The Chinese Dessert Soup happened to be Sweet Red Bean Soup. It is one of my favourites among all Chinese desserts. Even being so full, I still managed to have not one but two servings of it.
Raffle Draw
Last but not least, lucky draw and raffle prizes! This year, prize donors handed out wine, discounted hotel stays, jewellery and more. Although we left empty-handed, we are happy for the lucky winners. Kent and I happily caught up with our friends Marcus Reubenstein, Dion Woo, and Michael Thompson. The atmosphere was relaxed and sociable. The HCC President Vincent Lim referred to this banquet as like a ‘Haymarket family reunion dinner’, and it did feel like a big family reunion in many ways. Families, friends, peers, people with the same background and culture, and people with different backgrounds who believed in a harmonious multicultural society all gathered under the same roof to celebrate and cherish. With the challenging time the world is facing right now, we hope to extend and spread this spirit and message.
Thank you again to the Haymarket Chamber of Commerce for organising this wonderful celebration. We look forward to seeing you soon. 新年快樂! 恭喜發財! Happy New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai!
