Quattroporco

It's my last dinner in Hong Kong, and my friends knew just where to take me - back to the Kimberley Chinese Restaurant (君怡閣).  This time we really went overboard... Dyson 2000 ordered FOUR of my favorite stuffed suckling pigs.  FOUR.  Quattro.  Quatre.

Anyone else would have been turned down.  The restaurant staff has a habit of not letting customers ordering too many pigs, and normally each table is only allowed to order one pig.  Dyson 2000 did, however, manage to get us two piggies last time after showing her true colors as a bil jie (表姐).  This time around she was about to be rejected outright, when she was recognized by a manager - who allegedly said something to the effect of: "for this one, yeah... she can finish four pigs!"

Naturally the group got all excited for this dinner, since this was a lot of pig!  We were making lots of comments on FB and email about outdoing each other and getting a head start on the pigs...  Nobody's done this before, I think... at least no one who has all their marbles...

Due to late arrivals by some people, we decided to change the order of service and started with a pig.  This was quickly chopped up into the appropriate number of cross sections, and inhaled within the blink of an eye.  It's been 6 months since I had my last slice, and that is just waaay too long...

Once again we ordered the clear ox bone soup (清燉牛骨湯).  This was nice, but I didn't get much collagen this time...

I actually started to feel a little full after the bowl of soup, which is kinda weak... But I managed to take down a second slice with a little effort.  I was pretty glad that I didn't get anything from the third pig, because I honestly needed a little break...

The fourth pig was rolled out, and most of us got slices at half the normal thickness.  Honestly, I was more than happy just to have the thin slice.  Any more would be stepping into the realm of overkill.  Of course, the same logic doesn't apply for everyone...

1997 Joseph Phelps Insignia from magnum - minty, smoky, sweet fruit, dried herbs, cedar and chocolate notes on the nose.  Very full-bodied, and tannins are still there.  Drinking nicely now, this would no doubt get even better.  I think I've got another magnum lying around somewhere, from the original batch I bought back in 2000.

We finished with some "light" dessert:  the deep-fried egg cuillers (蛋散) were still pretty good, and I wish I had grabbed some more.

The sponge cake (馬拉糕) no longer came in big, impressive bamboo steamers, and the taste was only OK.  But no matter... we were already satiated anyway.

This was truly a dinner like no other, and I'm glad I could share it with my foodie friends on my last night in Hong Kong.  There were some piggy virgins tonight, and I hope they all got to enjoy the pig, and realize there's a good reason that I've been raving about this for the last 4 years...