Monday, September 22, 2008

Friday night peking duck

I was obviously feeling ambitious on Friday afternoon when I suggested to a couple of colleagues that they should pop round to my place for Peking duck.

"Already have the pancakes", I said. "I'll just go and get the roast duck."

Two problems...Didn't factor in (1) leaving work late and (2) being caught up in hail storm which delayed the trains. And seeing as I had a bucket of live fish with me (don't ask), I had to head off home first before going to Chinatown to get the ducks. Anyhoo...managed to eventually get back to my apartment, offload the bucket of fish and then hopped onto the tram to get back into the city.

At 6.30pm, as I got off the tram at Flinders Street, I realised that there was no way in hell that I was going to get the ducks and be back home in time to prepare it. No problem. I postponed the dinner by half an hour. This gave me just enough time (to the nearest second) to pick up the various condiments I needed from the asian grocery shop (which was packed!) and to pick up two roast ducks from my favourite chinese BBQ place.

Got home, dropped groceries all over the kitchen bench and got straight into deboning the duck (no...I didn't masticate the bones). Of course the guests arrived on time; damn those scandinavians and their punctuality (why can't they be more like Germans?). Made guests entertain themselves while I completed the deboning, chopping, assembly process and by 8.45pm we were chowing down on the ducks. Guests left satiated around 11pm.

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