Oh my goodness, Joseph Hieu Dinh must of been bored or something, but he bumped into this review of the Cabramatta Moon Festival event! Check out Grab Your Fork Blogspot
Moon festival, Cabramatta
It was a weekend filled with food.My weekend started with a Friday night gluttony of two-hour all-you-can-eat yakiniku at
Suminoya. It wasn't the first time I'd eaten myself into oblivion amidst a haze of charcoal, but I'd never before eaten with
people who still had room for more - not just a snack, but chicken satay, roti tisu and roti kaya at
Mamak immediately afterwards.
The theme of excessive eating continued throughout the weekend. It was highly appropriate then that on Sunday we ended up at the
Cabramatta Moon Festival, lured not only by the promise of stalls and snacking, but a spark of interest by
Suze to enter the annual
mooncake eating competition.
Having just come from the Malaysia Festival in Darling Harbour, the crowds and happy chaos at Cabramatta was an invigorating sight. The main drag of John Street and Freedom Plaza mall were filled with lantern-toting children, pram-pushing parents, and the hubbub of celebration.
Lian / lion figurine
Vegetarian stall
I was intrigued by the French tinned butter $5.50 each
Selling trinkets
Giant lantern in Freedom PlazaWe made it to the stage just in time to catch the
pho eating competition. The Vietnamese staple of slippery rice noodles in a clear beef broth is always welcomed, but slurping these down at speed is another artform altogether. Five young males battled it out...
The pho noodle eating competition begins
After two minutes, contestant #5 finished his noodles first
Contestant #2 wasn't far behind
Contestant #3 tries to catch up
Contestant #5 seems to have it in the bag
And everyone's eyes soon turn to contestant #5
Contestant #5 wins!
Contestant #5 is triumphant, but in pain- apparently he's now the back-to-back titleholder.
Forty-five minutes later, it was time for the
mooncake eating competition. It may as well have been renamed as food blogger battle royale -
Suze managed to convince
Karen,
Howard and
Simon to join her on stage meaning that food bloggers had a four-in-six chance of winning!
Howard, Suze, Karen and Simon on stage
Karen is asked about her mooncake-eating strategy
Howard and Suze
Howard gets introduced and interviewedOne mooncake each. Lotus paste with one egg yolk. Six contestants. Four food bloggers.
Let the battle begin!
Suze races out of the starting blocks whilst Karen still struggles to open her mooncake packet
The other two contestants alongside a chewing Howard
Karen finally gets the mooncake packet open!
Simon is down to his last mouthful - Karen has just had her first
The body language reads "What were we thinking?"
Simon on his final mouthful
Simon wins!Word is that trying to eat a mooncake without any liquid is like trying to eat peanut butter straight - the lotus paste sticks to the roof of your mouth and refuses to budge.
And what does a food blogger do after eating a whole mooncake? Eat more, of course.
Kung Fu Action at The Aus Film Fest!!
