No mean feet
Shane Lee | May 22, 2023
Like many men my age, I love a good Yum Cha. Salty, spicy and fast! This food is instant gratification served on a cart with a cold beer. Amongst the prawn dumplings, salt and pepper calamari and football shaped treats are Fung Jiao or better known to the Yum Cha expert as Chicken's feet! Are they serious? Surely we are scraping the bottom of the barrel or chicken coup to be more precise if this is our only option. We may as well eat its arse whilst we are it. No one can be that hungry that they are happy to eat at chooks foot. YUCK!
I was first introduced to the world of Yum Cha by one of my best mates, Richard Chee Quee. Cheeks is half Chinese, half Fijian and ‘fully' Australian! A superb combination and example of how assimilation works best. Cheeks has often stated that an upside of our multi-cultural society allows him the freedom to choose and celebrate different parts of his heritage when it suits him best. He said, on one hand, I am happy to celebrate Chinese New Year with a Yum Cha, chase a big red dragon around China Town and then claim to be a dinky-di Aussie following the COVID 19 outbreak. By the way, for all you ‘do-gooders', we are both joking!
Cheeks was the first Chinese decedent to play first class cricket in Australia. An amazing story on many fronts. His parents ran the local fish and chip shop in Kingsford and encouraged their three kids to assimilate into the Australian culture and lifestyle. Sport was the perfect vehicle to achieve this goal. Cricket, soccer, golf and tennis were played with passion and commitment earning the Chee Quee’s respect and acceptance amongst their peers at a young age.
This culminated in the 1993/94 Mercantile Mutual Cup final at the SCG vs West Australia. Our opposition from the West was littered with past and present Australian representatives, whilst our NSW team was made up of ‘leftovers’ to use a culinary term.
In unbelievable fashion and against all odds, the Blues won the match convincingly. Lead by none other than our Chinese/Fijian/Australian opening batsmen Richard Chee Quee with 131 majestical runs. I don’t think I have ever been happier for a team mate’s success. Without going into detail, the sledging he copped during that innings was second to none. His pure grit and determination ultimately shining through as the young multicultural kid became a recognised Australian cricketer.
Richard Chee Quee celebrating with Michael Bevan after their 199 second wicket partnership to set up the Blues victory
We celebrated the following day with Yum Cha of course. Cheeks as our new head of Chinese Cuisine and Man of the Match recipient took total control by ordering lunch. First course, Fung Jiao! “What is Fung Jiao Cheeks?” “Chickens feet”. He replied.
“No way in the world I am eating that. I’d rather stick needles in my eyes Cheeks than eat a toe.”
“Fine by me,’ Cheeks said, “but whoever doesn’t eat ’the foot’ pays for lunch - its Chinese tradition”.
Chinese tradition? You were making us eat food buried in your friggin back garden last week, claiming that was a Fijian tradition! I could make do with a little Aussie tradition and just have a meat pie.
Cheeks and I still enjoy a Yum Cha lunch. Under the existing Chee Quee Yum Cha law, if you don’t eat ’the foot’ you still have to pay. In other words, eat the crusty foot smothered in sauce, spit out its toenails or cough up the cash for lunch.
Twenty-six years have passed and we are still searching for Sydney’s best Yum Cha . In that time, our Victory against Western Australia and Richard's 131 gets better with every year that passes.
I’m also very comfortable paying for lunch every time instead of contracting foot and mouth disease.
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