Chinese New Year's Home Celebrations

[Susan G]

Happy New Year everyone! (Gong He Fa Cai!)

What are you making for tonight?

I'm cooking for friends - - most of whom dislike seafood (so no whole, steamed fish!) and the menu is:

cucumber pickles

peanuts fried with chili oil

golden needles in sesame oil

lotus root

potstickers (pork only - sigh)

BBQ pork buns (OK, not so traditional, but I had to beef up the menu somehow!)

bok choy with mushrooms (ditto)

hot and sour soup

mandarin oranges

[Gastro888]

Unfortunately, since it's just my parents and me, the dinner will not be big.

We will have:

Bak jum gai (whole steamed chicken w/ scallion and ginger dip)

Fried whole fish

Sea cucumber

A soup (perhaps shark fin)

Jai

Roasted pig

Loh bak goh (store bought)

Vegetables

Right now I'm at work. Why can't CNY be a designated holiday?

[Dejah]

I can't go to my Mom's for the feast , so hubby, our daughter and I are going out to a Chinese restaurant ( our old friendly competitor, owned by a relative) for their 22- item special buffet. It's $13.99 per person, including dessert and beverage. The list had a lot of the things we like: BBQ duck, BBQ pork, salt/pepper shrimp, spicy squid, Chinese mushrooms in oyster sauce, black bean garlic mussels, mapo tofu, shrimp and cashews, lotus root, etc. etc. We thought this would save me a lot of work.

We're going at 5 so the stuff will be fresh!

The only problem with goign to this restaurant is that they never let us pay! So, I always go prepared with Hong Baos for their 4 kids. I already wanred the owners: NO ARGUMENTS TODAY!

I am having friends in on Sat. I think we will do mostly dim sum items along with sizzling hot plates. One of the couples is bringing a curry dish.

[Ben Hong]

Dunno Gastro, looks pretty elaborate to me.

I am again eating solo tonight (wife works evenings), so it's just a master sauced chicken quarter, snowpeas w/dried mushrooms/chives, a bottle of Moosehead lager, a postprandial nap.

[Gastro888]

The only problem with goign to this restaurant is that they never let us pay! So, I always go prepared with Hong Baos for their 4 kids. I already wanred the owners: NO ARGUMENTS TODAY! 

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That's the hardest part of CNY!!! Especially when you have to work today.

[herbacidal]

Right now I'm at work.  Why can't CNY be a designated holiday?

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It can be. Religious and cultural holidays are allowed in some workplaces.

Whether or not they'll count against your vacation days is another thing. Check the employee handbook.

[Gastro888]

I was thinking of calling in sick but I feared the karmic effects further down the line during this year. Ha!

[Transparent]

Hehe, I took the day off from school today.

I thought that the meal for CNY was on the eve of the actual new years? New Years day is supposed to be all vegetarian, right? Well, my "feast" was a small meal with my family, but the dishes were wonderful, with dishes I haven't tasted in a while. Mmm. Leftovers tonight.

[Gastro888]

Due to circumstances beyond my control, we had the dinner tonight instead of last night. Today is supposed to be vegetarian but my family never followed that rule. Told you we weren't very strict! I completely violated that rule today.

Shoot, then I should've called in sick anyways. I'm already in the negative karma point section having eaten meat today...

[Yuki]

Um... we only have 2 people but it is okay, we still cooked like it was for the whole family.

-Baked Five Spice Chicken

-Steamed Whole Fish(don't even know what type it is....)

-Steamed Shrimp

-Stewed Pork feet with mushroom, dried oysters, and fai choy, all served on lettuce

-Roasted Pork and bbq pork, brought them from the store

-Vegetarian Combo with lots of bean curd, sui choy, vermicelli, and lots more ingredients

-Mapo Tofu

-Stir Fried Asparagus with lots of garlic

-Soup with abalone, chicken, and some more unknown ingredients

Yeah, I think that's it. Probably will be eating left over for the next couple of days.

[Dejah]

Just got back from CNY supper at Kam Lung restaurant.

They had a special buffet:

wonton soup, hot and sour soup

roast duck, salty chicken, lightly breaded shrimp, spicy squid,

Chinese mushrooms in oyster sauce, Hawaiian pork, mapo tofu,

nice and crispy mixed vegetables, lotus root, wood ear, snow peas and chicken,

sesame chicken and ginger beef for the more timid,

Shanghai noodles, Yangchow fried rice, shrimp and cashews, BBQ pork,

kung po chicken and a couple more items I can't remember!

They had red bean lotus seed soup, mini custard tarts, mini fruit tarts, fruit in custard. I really enjoyed the soup.

It was ok for buffet...certainly not like the feasts you guys have been showcasing.

[Tepee]

Great lists, ideas for future CNY meals.

For the first day, we went vegetarian as is traditional. Went (again) to parent's home. I don't have to cook because mom is such an excellent one. She has trained 2nd SIL who stays with them well.

Hoong loh bak (carrot) and Pak loh bak (radish) clear soup

Char Yoke (Hakka Braised Pork)

Char Siu

Chai

Mushroom/Carrot/Fatt Choy

Sweet Sour Pork

Goose

Curry Chicken

Edited: All the above are Vegetarian. Mock Meats.

Edited February 10, 2005 by Tepee (log)

[hzrt8w]

I thought that the meal for CNY was on the eve of the actual new years? New Years day is supposed to be all vegetarian, right?

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Why is the first day of CNY a vegetarian day?

Where I came from (Hong Kong), tradition has it there's gotta be a chicken dish on the first day of the CNY. (Hoi Nin) [Cantonese] (let the year begin).

I believe it is the third day that is vegetarian.

[hzrt8w]

We will have:

Bak jum gai (whole steamed chicken w/ scallion and ginger dip)

Fried whole fish

Sea cucumber

A soup (perhaps shark fin)

Jai

Roasted pig

Loh bak goh (store bought)

Vegetables

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You have loh bak goh with other dinner dishes? Just a bit unusual.

[Tepee]

I thought that the meal for CNY was on the eve of the actual new years? New Years day is supposed to be all vegetarian, right?

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Why is the first day of CNY a vegetarian day?

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This is probably for practising Taoists/Buddhists...that it is bad luck to slaughter animals on the first day of NY.

[LT Wong]

I thought that the meal for CNY was on the eve of the actual new years? New Years day is supposed to be all vegetarian, right?

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Why is the first day of CNY a vegetarian day?

Where I came from (Hong Kong), tradition has it there's gotta be a chicken dish on the first day of the CNY. (Hoi Nin) [Cantonese] (let the year begin).

I believe it is the third day that is vegetarian.

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We've eaten vegetarian on the first day of the CNY for as long as I can remember. My late grandmother always ate vegetarian on the 1st and 15th of each lunar month (the 15th of the 8th lunar month is the only exception). The usual dishes are 18 lo han jai (there are 18 ingredients not counting the seasonings), sweet and sour mock pork, braised mock chicken, lettuce (san choi), sweetened salted vegetable. Black pepper chicken is a recent addition.

We 'hoi nin' on the 2nd day, and we have shrimp, fish, chicken, duck, pork, abalone. Vegetables are accompanying ingredients in some of the dishes. Usually there is soup (lotus root with dried octopus), but too much food (and too tired) this year.

Within at least a couple of the 15 days, we will have lap mei fan. Because everyone has a cholesterol problem at home, we try not to eat too much of this. I love eating this dish, but it doesn't go down well with the younger generation.

[Ben Hong]

[Gastro888]

Yau fan is GOOD! Extra lap yuk and salted duck, please.

We were supposed to have loh bak goh last night but didn't. Boo.

Ah, my family's a bit odd anyways. No worries.

[bobmac]

My wife being Catholic and it also being Ash Wednesday, I has to put off the planned spicy braised ribs and switch to fish with black bean sauce.

[Gastro888]

Hey, does anyone know what we're supposed to do for the rest of the days?

[LT Wong]

On the 7th day, which is yan yat (everybody's birthday), the family comes together to eat again (!). And the next big feast is the 15th day, which is yun siew. This day is especially important to my Fujian friends, and they have an even bigger feast than we do! They call it chap goh mei, and lots of prayers and rituals before feasting.

And in between, we 'lo hei'. Which is tossing a raw fish salad peculiar to Singapore and possibly South East Asia. During the 15 days of CNY, we eat with different groups of people - colleagues, friends, business associates - at restaurants, which during this period suspend their normal menus and have only CNY dishes with ingredients of symbolic significance and atrocious prices!

[hzrt8w]

This is probably for practising Taoists/Buddhists...that it is bad luck to slaughter animals on the first day of NY.

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I see... show some respect for all life forms on the first day of the year.

As for the rest of the year, anything goes!