Chinese people cannot live without pork. If you have ever been to a Chinese wedding banquet, then you would know what a suckling pig march-in is. While traditionally, it is considered to represent the bride's purity, these days it simply symbolizes the beginning of the banquet! Although roast whole pigs also exist in other pork-loving cultures - Spanish, Balinese, Portuguese, etc. - I dare say the Chinese has perfected the roast suckling pig.

First of all, don't be fool by the name; the mother pig suckles and the baby pig sucks. Suckling pigs are piglets. They are usually 30 days' old and weigh less than 20 pounds. The taste of suckling pigs is more delicate and delectable than the meat from a full-grown pig because these babies have yet to take on the more distinctive "pork" flavour that solid feed produces. As with all young meats, the tender meat falls off the tiny bones and almost disintegrates in your mouth without much chewing if prepared properly. There is a bit of fat, not too much, that adheres to the crispy skin. It is this optimal proportion and combination of crispness, smoothness and tenderness that makes roast suckling pig an irresistible delicacy.

There are a couple ways of devouring suckling pigs. The most common one is to eat it as the appetizer. This is best when there is a large group of people and there are many other dishes to follow. Many diners who go to Fook Lam Moon adopt this approach. You can even order it for take-away if you wish to eat at home. Preparing roast suckling pigs can be a daunting process; it is a dish that you would order at restaurants but not the kind of thing you would attempt to make to impress someone at home. The idea of cooking this cute little pig makes it a much less enjoyable process to some. So let the restaurant do the work for you!

Let the waitstaff know how you want your piglet to be cut up; some people prefer to eat the crispy skin with a very thin layer of fat underneath first. The rest of the meat and bones are then torn up by hand. Just a few grains of sugar and a swab of hoi sin sauce dress up the blushing skin beautifully; when those are gone, work on the scabs of meat that are stuck to the bones. The bones are smothered

Alternatively, the pig can be cut up in big chunks. For some reasons, although it is the same pig, cutting it up alters the taste and texture. If you prefer big chunks of meat, this is for you.

The other way is to make it the centre of the meal, which is also my recommended approach, especially for suckling pig lovers. If you choose to go down this route, do so at Kimberly Chinese Restaurant, tucked away at the nondescript Kimberly Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. Make a bee line through the tatty lobby to the Chinese restaurant on the first floor. While it looks like an ordinary old-school Chinese restaurant, it is famous for the stuffed boneless suckling pig. That's right, no bones. Once you try this, it's hard to go back to simple roast suckling pigs.

The piglet is first gutted, de-boned and stuffed with glutinous rice. It is then tightly rolled up and roasted slowly so that the rice soaks up all the flavour and grease while the skin stays crisp. The piglet is cut into 1-inch discs - the crispy skin encompasses a thin layer of fat, a thicker layer of tender meat and dollop of glutinous rice. The sharp contrast between the crispy skin and chewy, sticky glutinous rice makes one wonder which is the star of the show: the pig or the rice. Such a clever combination! Any other dishes that follow become obsolete.

If you are still wondering what the suckling pig march-in is, that's when a team of waiters, each holding a roast suckling pig on a silver platter, march into the ballroom of a hotel or a banquet hall, very often with loud music playing in the background. Sometimes there are two red lightbulbs placed in the eye sockets too. That is the first dish, and also one of the most important dishes of the evening. That is when the banquet begins!