Attending the Moose Jaw Chinese Community Network’s New Year’s banquet was a good experience for Kim Churko, who not only enjoyed the food and conversations but won the top door prize.
Churko was one of 122 people who filled the Jade Garden Restaurant on Feb. 12 to enjoy a dozen sumptuous dishes that the chefs prepared.
Chinese New Year officially launched on Feb. 10 and, after two weeks of celebrations, ends on Saturday, Feb. 24, with the Lantern Festival.
This year celebrates the dragon, one of 12 signs in the Zodiac. However, in Chinese culture, this animal is also known as the loong, which is not a fearsome beast as in Western culture but one that symbolizes nobility, good fortune and vitality.
Of the special guests in attendance, two notable people included former network president Kim Chow and retired business owner Chuey Quan, 97, a resident since 1954.
This was Churko’s first time attending a banquet that the Moose Jaw Chinese Community Network (MJCCN) — formerly the Moose Jaw Chinese Association — organized. She thought the food was “fantastic,” while her tablemates were friendly.
Specifically, she was excited to see people she hadn’t seen in decades, such as the owner of the Uptown Café. In fact, the last Chinese New Year banquet she attended was one the Café hosted over 15 years ago.
Meanwhile, Churko works for Hopkins’ Dining Parlour and has met many Chinese people through her boss, while she also met banquet co-MC Lian Ning on another occasion.
“I’m just really excited to have so many newcomers and people in the Chinese community (come here) and I welcome them,” she said, adding it’s great seeing residents and immigrants come together in harmony.
Churko was thrilled to win the top door prize, which included several kitchenware items. Meanwhile, she encouraged residents to attend next year’s banquet and jokingly suggested they avoid eating the entire day because they will face a wonderful 10-course meal.
Her favourite dish was mushrooms with vegetables, while she appreciated the other selections since they had tasty and flavourful sauces.
The dishes included crab meat and fish maw soup, deep-fried chicken, black truffle and bacon fried rice, honey-glazed roast pork, crystal peach ribs Kyoto style, amber walnuts with crispy shrimp, stir-fried fish fillets with kidney beans and pine nuts, braised Shanghai bok choy with shiitake mushrooms, chu hou beef brisket pot, button mushrooms with vegetables, a fruit plate and brownies.
“Don’t be afraid to try anything. If it looks different than what you’re used to eating normally, try it because it is so good,” Churko added. “And support the (Chinese-owned) businesses throughout the year. Don’t just wait for one time throughout the year.”
William Campbell was another attendee who thought the banquet — his first — was great and appreciated sitting with new people, such as Moose Jaw North MLA Tim McLeod and his wife.
“It was a really, really nice event. (We) got to try some Chinese cuisine that we’ve never tried before,” he said, noting the pork dish was his favourite. “And we’re going home with a prize (a calendar).”
Campbell learned some new things about Chinese culture during the banquet, although he had been watching educational videos weeks in advance.
Chuckling, he said he shouldn’t have washed his hair because that washed away good luck. However, he wore red — a lucky colour — to the banquet, so that evened things out.
Qiang (Kelvin) Hu, MJCCN president, was excited about how the evening went, although he was somewhat disappointed it wasn’t a full house. Yet, that proved a good thing since there was more room to move around the restaurant.
Hu was so busy as event co-MC that he barely had time to enjoy the tasty dishes. Furthermore, through his conversations with attendees, he learned many people missed the lion dance. That prompted him to consider replacing the old costume with a new one for 2025.
The network president thanked all the businesses that contributed to the door prizes and sponsored the event.
