Once again, the Filipino-Chinese community in Laoag gathered together to celebrate the Feast of St. Santiago Temple (located at the City Lunch Building) on the opening of four consecutive nights of Chinese lauriat. Lauriat is a Chinese tradition of serving a banquet on a lazy Susan turntable, the most common nowadays is a 10-course lauriat dinner. In the olden times, lavish lauriat dinners, exceeding 12 courses, were so common among the Chinoys; they always accompanied special occasions such as New Year’s, feasts, weddings, engagements and birthdays.
Good blessings are believed to come back a hundred fold to the generous people who sponsor the Chinese temple festivities. (Read my feature on last year’s event)
Braised noodles
Assorted appetizers — kikiam, taro cake, pork cabbage rolls, sweet and sour pork
Squash soup
Steamed prawns with garlic
Deep fried fruit salad roll with pickled radish
Steamed fish
Steamed crabs
Braised abalone with broccoli
Braised pork, or homa, with buns
Flattened rice balls with garlic in syrup
Almond jelly with mixed fruits
After the 2-part dessert, I badly needed a cup of tea, but there was no tea in sight. Maybe, I’ll have to sponsor tea the next time around…
BlauEarth 
salivating…
Hey, I wish I know how you ladies could maintain your figures after taking all the food treats, plus two servings of desserts!! If it were me, I would burp so loud I might burst my tummy after taking all these salivating treats!!!
A bit of trivia, rice is never served at lauriat dinners. The secret is trying a little bit of everything, so there is still room ’til the last serving. Many first timers make the mistake of gorging on the first dishes served… gosh, until… you know what’s happens next☺
Anyway, that was a tough deal, only 7 of us on the table, and for the first time, I asked for a take-home bag at a party. I can still rehash some like the braised pork… coming up next☺☺☺