Tepee

Thanks, Infernooo. Yee Sang is one dish that I've heard many try to make themselves at least once, us included. But that's usually the last time. Too much grating and prep work. Have fun! Click and click Those bits are just finely chopped garlic fried in oil.

I had fried fun see with minced pork last night at 2nd SIL's house.

Don't get them here...or they could be known by some other un-alphabet name. Pix? Or can I just google?

Scrumptious meal! The cold platter looks very good, and I'd like a pancake with some Peking duck and scallions please. Question about the nian gao. Is the color in the picture the actual color? I've never seen nian gao this color or with filling. We do use it to make other sweets, but never like this. Interesting. I didn't make them this year...ours are made from coconut milk, glutinous rice flour, palm sugar and flavored with pandan leaves. Here's a pic of one. They come in all sorts of creative shapes and containers now, but my personal preference is for those in banana leaves...more fragrant.

It was reserved for you, Michael, lol. Since you didn't show up, the pet labrador had the honors. Edit: Oops. Just read how ill you were. No wonder you didn't show up! Yes, there's a chinese new year wish for health and this is my wish for you...It's keen hong fai lok (cantonese) or jian kang kwai le (mandarin) = 'healthy and happy' or sun tai keen hong © or shen ti jian kang (M) = Good Health.

lol, Pontormo, tks. I need a bigger wok, though. I have a stainless steel steamer, which I use to steam rice, and smaller plates, and bamboo baskets for dimsums. My bad, about the sauce. Happens when you're posting past your bedtime. Pouring soy sauce during steaming isn't good only for skinless fish, like steak cuts, as the sauce also gets soaked into the meat...too salty. I'll go dig up the pictorial I did on the curly scallion (though, I think you know how to do it now) and the tomato flower.

Hmm....adding soy sauce while the fish steams...will discolour the flesh of the fish. It should be added after the fish is done, whether by steaming or frying. Sesame oil is fine, a slight drizzle will do. Cooked sesame oil smells a bit off, pungent. I do use it to lightly oil my dish though.

I always steam the fish stuffed with slivered ginger-rootas well as have it all over. You may fry the oil with more ginger-root to 'lo' (pour) over the fish, but leave the scallions fresh. Tastes zingy-er for steamed fish dishes. Shredding ginger-root is a matter of preference. I like mine shredded fine....makes for a more delicate presentation. However, if you intend to mince the ginger-root, use that for placing on top of the fish, not for stuffing...a bit messy. There's a pix here. For this style the minced ginger is slightly salted.

I considered making this my mission... to trace the restaurant which is using these skins for some dish. I don't think it will be sheetz's nor mai gai (good one, Dai Gah Jeh! ) as these skins will be too dry, no? However, hubby and I have some reservations, as these were hung to dry near a busy road. I don't think I'd appreciate the taste of added fumes and grime to my crispy something. No, thank you.

A thing of horror* to some (or a majority here?) is a thing of beauty to others. I admit when I saw them from inside the car, they did present a somewhat morbid sight...I could just see the back view, with the heads dangling. And these were hung up 9 feet high. Curiosity got the better of me, and I went closer and balanced myself, shakily, on a ledge...and was rewarded with staring straight at the Art of Skinning. (Should I have pasted a warning note to queasy tummies?) * since I gather there are problems getting animals with heads intact for some of you.

Aahh...ms racheld, we, at this forum, are warmed by your ever gracious and generous words. Thank you for visiting. Ask and you will receive. Steamboat = Hotpot = Da Peen Lo

Kung Hei Fatt Choy, Peony and Karen! Peony, looks as if it's the trend to have steamboat for CNY nowadays. SHEETZ!!!!!! I got so excited. I just snapped this a while ago. While we dropped my BIL to ta-pau some lunch packet for my MIL, I noticed these hanging outside some stalls. Is this the way you do it? Is it difficult not to tear some skin? Wow.

Both of you are too funny! If I can afford it, I'd pay to have you guys here. Such a wealth of knowledge and experience....definitely worth more than a hundred banquets in price.

What oranges are available there? We have a choice of teochew mandarin oranges, honey mandarins, lokam, and, in recent years, tiny little kums have been featuring in the markets. Here, my eldest brother's MIL made this 'gourd' for my mother, out of a little kum and a large kum. I don't buy sugar-encrusted treats either...I snapped this at my parent's.

Shucks. More pampering from mom. We hoi neen-ed ('start' the new year) at my parent's. MIL doesn't cook much. Dinner will be with the in-laws, somewhere out, I think. We arrived a bit late, so the dishes have already been 'violated', that's why I am photographing in very shallow depth of field. BOO!!! My mother doesn't like tomato sauce, so prawns are mostly cooked with dark soy sauce. Sea cucumber cooked with yuen tai (pig thighs). Broccoli, mushrooms and abalone. Funny thing is, we had fake abalone for the steamboat the other day, and it was unanimously agreed the fake one tasted better and it costs 10 times cheaper! White cut chicken. Has to be a kampung (village in Malay) chicken, ie, free-range, so the meat has more chew in it. There was also neen ngow tong (lotus root soup) with groundnuts. For dessert, we had cendol, a local sweet cold dessert soup with pandan-flavoured green pea noodles in a soup made with palm sugar and coconut milk.

Breakfast today. Hubby made pancakes filled with neen go. The pineapple tarts were made by me around 4 days ago. I refuse to buy those which sell outside because of the freshness issue and most of the pastry are made with margarine (I prefer butter).

A rice vermicelli is tied around each tightly rolled fuchook. Yes, SIL stirfried the arrowhead. Erm....not a great dish, she's not much of a cook, but points for effort made. The dish could have been improved by steamcooking it for 10 15 minutes in the sauce. Yes, the vegetarian mix is yummy. Mom adds some nam yue (red fermented bean curd) to it. My mother added fatt choi too, despite our warning. Yut neen yut pai mah (one year once).

Sheetz, that chicken is awesome!!! So's the rest of the meal.

I hadn't had time to read the posts prior to mine until now. Wha...? All handled by one person? I salute you, muichoi! I'm thinking of hosting a lunch this Saturday...just popiah with tong sui, and maybe a meat dish or 2. With 15 ingredients to prepare for the popiah alone, I'm going to have my hands full. So, I can't imagine, in a thousand years, how I would be able to conjure up a lunch like muichoi's. Amazing. Ben-sook, the above are rather simple dishes. It must be our age, because, siblings and I much prefer a 'plainer' tasting menu these days. Besides, those who go to work, will no doubt get their fill of auspicious-sounding restaurant dishes.

Awww...I feel your pain. We had salmon both times.

LOL, at the end of this, you'll feel as 'full' as I am. Tonight, we had leftovers packed from both homes. Vegetarian meal as traditional in my parent's home on the first day of new year. Jai Dai-Gah Jeh...here's your prawns. Bought. Delicious curry made by mom. She made a stock out of soy beans and something else to give the curry more flavour. Sweet and Sour...piggie Sausages and char siu Goose OK, that's it....I've hogged the computer long enough. Kids want their turn.

Sorry for zipping through... ok, I'll slow down a little to describe the dishes. This was the eve's potluck dinner at MIL's. We already had a traditional meal exactly a week before when 2nd SIL was around. 2nd eldest BIL's contribution...more yee sang. I don't mind, because I love it. Eldest BIL cooked this prawn dish. He had some very superior-sounding name for it...can't remember it, though. MIL made this black bean chicken. Blanched bok choy also contributed by MIL. Oh, she did a sour soup too, with lots of goodies in it...no pix. Eldest SIL made this arrowhead dish. Last but not least, our contribution. No, we didn't cook it, this was a quarter roast lamb with their special rice from a saudi arabian restaurant. The lamb is absolutely delicious with meat so flavourful and tender that there is a reverent silence when all of us were eating it. Youngest BIL contributed wine and beer and we had ice-cream and lychee drink for dessert.

Munchies gathered from 2 homes and the church refreshment table. I haven't had time to take photos from my own home!

Koong Hei Fatt Choy!! Would have posted earlier but I haven't been home much, shunting between the in-law's and my parent's home....eating. Here's some pix from yesterday's steamboat lunch at my parent's. A very simple one. But full of hei fun as all members from 3 generations were present. Taufu and prawns not shown...was busy eating. Yee Sang - Raw Fish Salad

First of all, Ah Leung Gaw, here's my wishes for you. Pix shows a flurry of hands lo-hei-ing in my parent's home yesterday. 3 meals down... lol, living in the future, I'm 2 ahead of you. Your teun neen meal looks scrumptious, I'm sure each dish has a ho yee tau (good connotation). Yum! I've tons of pix to process and post at the chinese forum. Will be ding-donging between your blog and there.