{"id":6408,"date":"2013-05-30T09:05:21","date_gmt":"2013-05-30T01:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/?p=6408"},"modified":"2016-02-25T12:39:39","modified_gmt":"2016-02-25T04:39:39","slug":"the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/","title":{"rendered":"The Meaning Behind Your Wedding Banquet Dishes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i>If you\u2019ve attended your fair share of wedding banquets, you\u2019ll know that every Chinese wedding banquet consists at least an eight-course dinner. You probably also noticed that certain dishes are always served during a Chinese wedding. We&#8217;ve found out the significance behind these dishes so if you want to load up your menu with auspicious blessings, you can make an informed selection.<\/i><\/p><p><b class=\"special\">E<\/b>ach and every dish served at a Chinese wedding banquet is carefully selected for its meaning. These dishes often symbolise blessings of happiness, prosperity, longevity or fertility for the couple and their marriage. With the help of Mandarin Oriental, Singapore and Peach Garden at Hotel Miramar, we\u2019ve compiled a friendly list of commonly seen wedding banquet dishes and the blessings they carry for the couple and their marriage.<\/p><div class=\"banner\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">OA_show(5);<\/script><\/div><p><b><b>Lobster and Chicken Feet<\/b><\/b><\/p><p>Lobster and chicken feet are commonly served during the cold appetizer dish along with other sliced meat and jellyfish to represent the Yin and Yang aspects of a marriage. Traditionally, the bride (the Yin) is represented by a phoenix and the groom (the Yang) is represented by a dragon in a Chinese marriage. And since lobster translates literally to \u201cdragon shrimp\u201d while chicken feet is commonly referred to as \u201cphoenix feet\u201d in Mandarin, these two are often included in a Chinese wedding banquet as a representation of the bride and groom.<\/p><p><b><b>Scallops<\/b><\/b><\/p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  alt=\"WeddingBanquetDishes\" src=\"http:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/WeddingBanquetDishes-e1369103647992.jpg\"\/><i class=\"special\">Wok Fried Scallops with Asparagus in XO Sauce (\u9171 \u7206 \u5e26 \u5b50 \u7092 \u82a6 \u7b0b)<\/i><p>Because the Chinese pronunciation of scallops is a homophone for the phrase \u201craising children\u201d, the inclusion of scallops into a wedding banquet menu is a symbol of fertility \u2013 of blessing the couple with plenty of children.<\/p><p><b><b>Abalone and Sea Cucumber<\/b><\/b><\/p><p>In Mandarin, abalone is pronounced similarly as the word \u201cabundance\u201d while sea cucumber is a homophone for \u201cgood heart\u201d in Cantonese. Thus, the inclusion of these ingredients in a wedding banquet dish is symbolic of blessing the couple with yearly abundance and a reminder to the couple to keep a good heart to avoid conflicts. The use of abalone and sea cucumber is also representative of a smooth sailing relationship between the couple and their family.<\/p><p><b><b>Roasted Duck<\/b><\/b><\/p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  alt=\"WeddingBanquetDishes1\" src=\"http:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/WeddingBanquetDishes1-e1369103700657.jpg\"\/><i class=\"special\">Roasted Whole Duck with House Special Sauce (\u91d1 \u7089 \u4e00 \u54c1 \u660e \u706b \u9e2d)<\/i><p>In Chinese culture, ducks are a symbol of fidelity and when served whole, represent peace, unity and completeness in a couple\u2019s marriage. Serving a whole roasted duck at a wedding also represents happiness and good tidings, since the Chinese culture consider red to be a colour of good luck.<\/p><p><b><b>Noodles<\/b><\/b><\/p><p>A common Asian staple, noodles have long been symbols of longevity in Chinese culture because they come in long strands. So the inclusion of noodles in a wedding banquet menu is symbolic of blessing the couple with a long and happy marriage and life together.<\/p><p><b><b>Fish<\/b><\/b><\/p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  alt=\"WeddingBanquetDishes2\" src=\"http:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/WeddingBanquetDishes2-e1369103693536.jpg\"\/><i class=\"special\">Steamed Garoupa with Superior Soya Sauce (\u6e05 \u84b8 \u539f \u6761 \u5927 \u77f3 \u6591)<\/i><p>Fish also has a similar pronunciation as the word \u201cabundance\u201d in Chinese and is always included in a wedding banquet menu to represent abundance in the couple\u2019s marriage. A fish served whole with its head and tail intact also symbolises that the couple\u2019s marriage will come to a successful completion.<\/p><p><b><b>Dessert<\/b><\/b><\/p><p>Dessert is not just a dish served to signal an end of a meal. In a Chinese wedding banquet, a sweet dessert is usually served as a symbol of a sweet marriage for the couple. The type of dessert served also has a meaning to it. Yam pudding is symbolic of fertility and growth as represented by the beans, seeds and ginko nuts used.<\/p><p>Aside from the type of dishes served, the number of dishes served during a Chinese wedding banquet is also symbolic. The number eight is regarded as a lucky number to the Chinese and Cantonese-speaking Asians because the pronunciations of the number in Chinese and Cantonese sounds like the word \u201cprosper\u201d. Thus, you\u2019ll often find that a Chinese wedding banquet consists of eight courses, excluding the last dish of dessert, to bring luck to the couple and their marriage. Pair this knowledge with our guide on <a href=\"http:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/your-friendly-guide-to-choosing-wedding-banquet-packages\/\">choosing a wedding banquet package<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/a-guide-on-selecting-wedding-banquet-venues\/\">how to select a wedding banquet venue<\/a> for the perfect wedding you&#8217;ve always dreamt of.<\/p><hr \/><p><i>Image credit: Mandarin Oriental, Singapore<\/i><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve attended your fair share of wedding banquets, you\u2019ll know that every Chinese wedding banquet consists at least an eight-course dinner. You probably also noticed that certain dishes are&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":6414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[109,110],"class_list":["post-6408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fine-dining","tag-mandarin-oriental-singapore","tag-peach-garden-at-hotel-miramar"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Meaning Behind Your Wedding Banquet Dishes - SingaporeBrides<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Meaning Behind Your Wedding Banquet Dishes - SingaporeBrides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you\u2019ve attended your fair share of wedding banquets, you\u2019ll know that every Chinese wedding banquet consists at least an eight-course dinner. You probably also noticed that certain dishes are...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SingaporeBrides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SingaporeBrides\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-30T01:05:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-02-25T04:39:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/WeddingBanquetDishesFeatureImage.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"633\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Audrie Soh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@singaporebrides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@singaporebrides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Audrie Soh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/\",\"name\":\"The Meaning Behind Your Wedding Banquet Dishes - SingaporeBrides\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/WeddingBanquetDishesFeatureImage.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-30T01:05:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-25T04:39:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/320b2ea256b379cdd97418eef2cb6a46\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/WeddingBanquetDishesFeatureImage.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/WeddingBanquetDishesFeatureImage.jpg\",\"width\":633,\"height\":300},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Meaning Behind Your Wedding Banquet Dishes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/\",\"name\":\"SingaporeBrides\",\"description\":\"Articles\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/320b2ea256b379cdd97418eef2cb6a46\",\"name\":\"Audrie Soh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/563fc1c48823afda43f797bb9549b135?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/563fc1c48823afda43f797bb9549b135?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Audrie Soh\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/author\/audrie-soh\/\"},false]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Meaning Behind Your Wedding Banquet Dishes - SingaporeBrides","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Meaning Behind Your Wedding Banquet Dishes - SingaporeBrides","og_description":"If you\u2019ve attended your fair share of wedding banquets, you\u2019ll know that every Chinese wedding banquet consists at least an eight-course dinner. You probably also noticed that certain dishes are...","og_url":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/","og_site_name":"SingaporeBrides","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SingaporeBrides\/","article_published_time":"2013-05-30T01:05:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-02-25T04:39:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":633,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/WeddingBanquetDishesFeatureImage.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Audrie Soh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@singaporebrides","twitter_site":"@singaporebrides","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Audrie Soh","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/","url":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/","name":"The Meaning Behind Your Wedding Banquet Dishes - SingaporeBrides","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/WeddingBanquetDishesFeatureImage.jpg","datePublished":"2013-05-30T01:05:21+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-25T04:39:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/320b2ea256b379cdd97418eef2cb6a46"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/WeddingBanquetDishesFeatureImage.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/WeddingBanquetDishesFeatureImage.jpg","width":633,"height":300},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/2013\/05\/the-meaning-behind-your-wedding-banquet-dishes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Meaning Behind Your Wedding Banquet Dishes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/","name":"SingaporeBrides","description":"Articles","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/320b2ea256b379cdd97418eef2cb6a46","name":"Audrie Soh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/563fc1c48823afda43f797bb9549b135?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/563fc1c48823afda43f797bb9549b135?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Audrie Soh"},"url":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/author\/audrie-soh\/"},false]}},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6408"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27559,"href":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6408\/revisions\/27559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singaporebrides.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}