More Shunde Cuisine I continue to be impressed with 順 峰 漁 村 (seun6 fung1 yu4 chun1) Asian Pearl, the newly-opened restaurant in Pacific East Mall in Richmond. Friday night, I go there again to try some more 順 德 (seun6 dak1) Shunde cuisine. I order three dishes, two of which I had noticed last time. One is 大 良 鮮 奶 炒 魚 滑 (daai6 leung4 sin1 laai5 chaau2 yu4 waat6), an interesting Shunde dish made with stir-fried fresh milk and fish balls. As you might guess, it has a mild taste and a white color from the fresh milk. The second one is a Hangzhou dish called 杭 州 鹹 魚 白 切 鴨 (hong4 jau1 haam4 yu2 baak6 chit3 ngaap3), which consists of steamed duck pieces served with slices of salted fish. When I first noticed this dish last week, I thought it was 白 切 雞 steamed chicken, which is much more common. My mistake. According to the waitress, who is from 廣 州 (gong2 jau1) Guangzhou, this dish has enough flavor to go well with rice (好 送 得 飯). She is right. The salted fish has an intense, salty flavor, which also adds flavor to the duck. To balance the duck and fish, I order a vegetable dish--鮑 汁 菜 膽 扒 鮑 菇 (baau1 jap1 choi3 daam2 pa4 baau1 gu1). It consists of 清 江 菜 (ching1 gong1 choi3) Shanghai bok choi served in an abalone or oyster sauce with sliced abalone mushrooms. I have never even heard of abalone mushrooms before. They look like abalone slices and have a similar texture (口 感), but not quite as firm or rubbery as real abalone.

There still are lots of dishes on the menu that interest me, so I plan to go back again soon. As I leave the restaurant, I pick up a card that lists the company that owns Asian Pearl--美 食 天 地 雜 團 Culinary Wonderland Inc. They also have three restaurants in Sacramento--順 風 海 鮮 茶 寮 New Canton, 順 峰 美 食 Hong Kong Wok, and 澳 門 街 Macau Cafe.

After dinner, I finish up the evening with a concert at the Freight & Salvage Coffee House in Berkeley. Tonight's show is Perfect Strangers, a traditional bluegrass band with five members (violin, mandolin, banjo, flatpick guitar, and string bass). I try to catch their show whenever they're in the Bay Area. Tonight is the fourth year in a row that I have seen them at the Freight. Toward the end of the show, they play a song that I requested--Mason's Lament. It's a soulful, peaceful song with a gospel sound.  ¶ 8:00 PM