A Birthday Dinner
For Christmas last year, my wife and I gave my mother a dinner voucher. More specifically, we offered to cook a dinner party for her and her friends whenever she wanted. This past weekend, she cashed in the voucher in order to celebrate her best friend’s birthday.
We hosted 7 people and cooked them a 5 course meal. We started with a Thai Pomelo Salad with Prawns that we learnt how to make at Chiva-Som. Next, we served what I like to call a Deconstructed California Roll, a dish inspired by a visit to an amazing restaurant in Melbourne called Yuu. This was followed with a dish my wife and I came up with this past week, Pan-fried Butterfish Medallions with Noodles served in a Laksa Broth. Our last main was an Oven-roasted Rack of Lamb plated with Lentils Du Puy. The lentils recipe came from the Balthazar cookbook. For dessert, we had homemade Carrot Cake, pictured up top.
Pictured here are the “California Roll” course and the Butterfish. Both are actually pretty easy to make, with the right ingredients. The former is composed of fresh crabmeat mixed with wakame, ikura, tobiko, and avocado. It’s tossed in a sauce made from mirin, white miso, mustard, Japanese mayonnaise, and wasabi. The latter course depends on the quality of the fish (which we bought at Swiss Butchery) and the broth. We used a store-bought laksa paste, but the broth was homemade. My wonderful wife whipped up the stock using crab shells, prawn heads and fish bones. The dinner was complimented with a 2003 Madfish Premium White and a 1999 Reserve de la Comtesse.
About Aun Koh
Aun has always loved food and travel, passions passed down to him from his parents. This foundation, plus a background in media, pushed him to start Chubby Hubby in 2005. He loves that this site allows him to write about the things he adores--food, style, travel, his wife and his three kids!





What a fabulous idea for a gift! I think I’m going to start dropping hints to all my friends who cook well…!
the deconstructed california roll looks and sounds interesting, i think i shall try serving that at my next dinner party!
Wow! What a great blog – btw. your blog title cracked me up (made me think about my diet plans…). Very lovely pictures and content! Just added your blog to my daily reading routine 🙂
Jeanne, Joone, Oliver,
Thanks so much for the comments. (Your own blogs, by the way, are awesome.)
Oliver, love the design and your pix are fantastic!
Not only a fabulous idea, but a gorgeous execution of a gift. From start to finish, what a well-planned (and photogenic) meal! A perfect balance of inovation and classic combinations. Your mother and her friends must have been thrilled with the result.
Hi chubby hubby – I can’t believe I didn’t find your site until now, the photos are absolutely stunning! (and your dog is such a sweetie…)
It was really sweet of you and your wife to give your mom such a generous present. The butterfish in laksa looks and sounds wonderfully fusion. Gorgeous blog you’ve got here! 🙂
Keiko and Julia,
Thanks so much for your kind words.
Keiko: I can’t believe I hadn’t seen your site until today either!
Julia: The gift was my wife’s idea, she being the more sensitive and smarter one between us.