CHINESE NEW YEAR 2007

[stuart_s]

That sweet rice looks delicious. We had that for the first time yesterday and ours tasted delicious.

For our entree we had braised spring lamb. I think it had some red dates. We also had braised sea cucumber. Are lamb and red dates and sea cucumber traditional New Year ingredients?

On Tuesday we had two other dishes from Siam Cafe's special New Year menu. Fried custard with shrimp and stir fried pork. The pork had delicious Chinese sausage and bacon on top of that. Are these traditional New Year dishes?

[sheetz]

Beautiful pics, Stuart!

From what I know the rice pudding and red dates are traditional CNY foods. I don't think lamb is, but from the photo is looks like the dish also contained bean curd skins, which are traditional. Not sure if sea cucumber has any specific connotation wrt CNY except that it's a prized delicacy and having them would promote greater prosperity in the coming year.

[Tepee]

Happy Yun Yut, everybody!

Thanks for sharing your pix, Stuart. Somehow, that sweet rice dessert didn't quite make it to our waters. I've never seen it here.

Sea cucumber = hoi sum...sounds like happy => auspicious CNY ingredient

Very tired. We just had our Open House. It's a Malaysian term meaning our house will serve food to visitors who are invited or not. Yesterday, I counted 43 guests, up from the original 30. 69 turned up today (I could have missed a few).

Was too busy to take pix or even think of taking pix. We had DIY style popiah which are vegetable rolls, as the main dish...well, not entirely, there's lup cheong (chinese sausage) as one of the ingredients. 6 kgs of yam bean were processed as base ingredient for the popiah. I had many guests tell me what a welcomed dish this was..after all the CNY excesses. Then, there was yee sang, curry chicken, beef rendang, mixed veg, tofu and minced pork, 2 kinds of jellies, ang koo kuih, date honey cake covered in marzipan...oh...this one I have a pix...because I snapped it earlier. Will post tomorrow. Also had woo tau go (taro cake), roast lamb shanks, fried noodles, roast duck, arabian rice, ice cream potong, red bean soup with lotus seeds and sago. All sorts of packet and bottled non-alcoholic drinks, and chinese tea were served for drinks. Visitors were split up into 2 main sessions, but there was the inevitable overlap. Half the above food was potluck. There was A LOT of food...we'll be eating leftovers the whole day tomorrow.

[sheetz]

Sea cucumber = hoi sum...sounds like happy => auspicious CNY ingredient

Haha, that never occured to me because in Toisanese it's called "hoi taam," which isn't a homophone for "happy."

Edited February 24, 2007 by sheetz (log)

[hzrt8w]

Very tired. We just had our Open House. It's a Malaysian term meaning our house will serve food to visitors who are invited or not. Yesterday, I counted 43 guests, up from the original 30. 69 turned up today (I could have missed a few).

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Wow! Those who came were in luck! What a treat! Is this a custom done once a year in CNY?

[Dejah]

Very tired. We just had our Open House. It's a Malaysian term meaning our house will serve food to visitors who are invited or not. Yesterday, I counted 43 guests, up from the original 30. 69 turned up today (I could have missed a few).

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Wow! Those who came were in luck! What a treat! Is this a custom done once a year in CNY?

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Jeeze, Tepee! I'm tired just from reading the menu, never mind thinking about 100 or so guests!

[Pan]

Happy Yun Yut, everybody!

Thanks for sharing your pix, Stuart. Somehow, that sweet rice dessert didn't quite make it to our waters. I've never seen it here.

Sea cucumber = hoi sum...sounds like happy => auspicious CNY ingredient

Very tired. We just had our Open House. It's a Malaysian term meaning our house will serve food to visitors who are invited or not. Yesterday, I counted 43 guests, up from the original 30. 69 turned up today (I could have missed a few).

Was too busy to take pix or even think of taking pix. We had DIY style popiah which are vegetable rolls, as the main dish...well, not entirely, there's lup cheong (chinese sausage) as one of the ingredients. 6 kgs of yam bean were processed as base ingredient for the popiah. I had many guests tell me what a welcomed dish this was..after all the CNY excesses. Then, there was yee sang, curry chicken, beef rendang, mixed veg, tofu and minced pork, 2 kinds of jellies, ang koo kuih, date honey cake covered in marzipan...oh...this one I have a pix...because I snapped it earlier. Will post tomorrow. Also had woo tau go (taro cake), roast lamb shanks, fried noodles, roast duck, arabian rice, ice cream potong, red bean soup with lotus seeds and sago. All sorts of packet and bottled non-alcoholic drinks, and chinese tea were served for drinks. Visitors were split up into 2 main sessions, but there was the inevitable overlap. Half the above food was potluck. There was A LOT of food...we'll be eating leftovers the whole day tomorrow. 

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A welcome rest for you!

What's ang koo kuih, and what's ice cream potong (I know potong means cut, but I still don't know what that phrase means).

[Dejah]

Welcome to our home!

Some mah-li goh for tea time before supper?

Some of the dishes we had for supper:

Summer rolls, siu yok, char siu, fuzzy melon fun see

Siu gnap (purchased)

Vietnamese lemongrass grilled ribs, clams in brown bean sauce, and a corner of the beef and mixed vegetables:

Spicy shrimp in tamarind sauce

Dessert was mango pudding. The picture was too blurred to post. Must have been because I was too full!

[hzrt8w]

Some of the dishes we had for supper:

Summer rolls, siu yok, char siu, fuzzy melon fun see

[...]

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You made "summer" roll in -50C weather?

[C. sapidus]

Some of the dishes we had for supper:

Summer rolls, siu yok, char siu, fuzzy melon fun see

[...]

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You made "summer" roll in -50C weather?

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Ah Leung: I'm sitting in front of my computer, flipping through a thesaurus for the proper superlatives to describe Dejah's amazing display of food, while you give her a hard time. I hope this means that I get invited over for dinner before you do.

[hzrt8w]

Nevermind me. I am just a comedian wannabe. Building computers all day is too boring.

[Tepee]

Rested. And all the leftovers taken care off. One SIL invited herself over specially for the leftovers.

Here's the pix of the cake. Honey Date Cake covered in marzipan. No time to write 'fook' on the red packet.

Some ingredients of the popiah...

Lettuce is used to line so that the skin doesn't break from the wetter ingredients inside. Sweet sauce made from hoisin sauce, juice from cooking the yam bean, sugar and bean sauce.

From top left: garlic, dried prawns, choy bo (preserved radish), peanuts, shallots - all toasted. A pain to process because everything shrinks to a fifth of its size. Dai Gah Jeh, that's why I had to chop so much garlic etc...

From top left: bean sprouts, omelette, french beans, fried firm tofu

No pix taken of the rest of the ingredients which are: Stewed finely shredded yam beans, toasted lup cheong, coriander.

Michael, here's something on ang koo and ais krim potong.

Dai Gah Jeh...I'd like to be a guest to your dinner, please.

Edited February 25, 2007 by Tepee (log)

[Dejah]

Rested. And all the leftovers taken care off. One SIL invited herself over specially for the leftovers.

Dai Gah Jeh...I'd like to be a guest to your dinner, please.

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Only if I can come to your "open house"!

I really think we need to have a cookboree/jamboree. Can you imagine the food we'd have?

Irving Berling:

Heaven, I'm in heaven

And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak

And I seem to find the happiness I seek

When we're out together filling our mouths from cheek to ckeek.

[Pan]

[...]Michael, here's something on ang koo and ais krim potong.

Dai Gah Jeh...I'd like to be a guest to your dinner, please.

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Wouldn't we all!

So it looks like ais krim potong is a popsicle.

[peony]

The 7th day of CNY is everybody's birthday. We had a small gathering at my aunt's home. Just my family, my aunt and her son.

We had

Lohan Chai - a vegetarian dish

Abacus Beads - a Hakka CNY dish, but we are cantonese

the rest of the food spread,

Yusheng

Steamed Chicken

Roast Pork and for dessert,

Black Sesame Paste

[Tepee]

So it looks like ais krim potong is a popsicle.

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The original ais krim potong versions were homemade, and they came in flavours like solidified red bean soup, black bean soup, cendol etc... Well, it's been commercialised and it's alright, though, not quite homemade 'quality'.

Great meal, peony!

[Gastro888]

Oooh, looks yummy peony! How do you make black sesame paste? Can you make black sesame baos, too?

I've this new obsession with black sesame ever since I tried "gee mah gow" here in NYC. Oh so yummy.

[Ben Hong]

Great meal, peony!

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And I wasn't invited!! Absolutely gorgeous looking spread.

[Dejah]

Great meal, peony!

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And I wasn't invited!! Absolutely gorgeous looking spread.

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Mmmmmm....gee mah woo. Haven't had that since my daughter was born.

[peony]

thanks ladies n gentlemen for your kind comments..

Ben Hong, would def. be honour to have you as our guest...but aren't I inviting you visually to our food ?

and how come I never see what you have been eating during the CNY ah ?

make some auspicious snacks during the CNY period too

Fish Nian Gao - steamed glutinous rice cake

Fatt Gao, but sadly, these didn't really 'fatt' - open up

Osmanthus Waterchestnut Jelly

[peony]

Oooh, looks yummy peony!  How do you make black sesame paste?  Can you make black sesame baos, too?

I've this new obsession with black sesame ever since I tried "gee mah gow" here in NYC.  Oh so yummy.

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same way as I make almond paste

ya, I do make black sesame paste bao, but I ' cheated ' cos bought the black sesame paste jam ( look like peanut butter ) from Japan, so use it to make filling for bao, tang yuen, mooncake

[Tepee]

Peony, do you mind sharing the recipe for osmanthus waterchestnut jelly? I love that...it must be so refreshing!

Here's our last binge for the season. Occasion being my mother's birthday (actually falls on the day I leave for Oz so they brought it forward) and to celebrate the end of CNY (today is preferred over tomorrow for convenience). My eldest bro chose the restaurant (Ang Kee in SS2) which is new to us, but I've been hearing good things about them...especially their lap ngap fan (waxed duck rice). The Choo clan occupied 2 tables and, so, we had 2 styles for some dishes.

House tofu

Pomfret done 2 styles. Skin and fins, on the left, fried to a crisp...delicious.

[hzrt8w]

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Hey... there is a big piece of flesh missing on this fish!

You keep torturing us with your beautiful pictures of gorgeous looking food! So unfair!

[Dejah]

Teepe: Everything look luscious! That's the only word I can think of at the moment to describe the fresh, moist, flavourful, looking dishes you were served. They still can't touch your cooking tho.

OZ? Did I see that you are going to OZ? Another cooking/baking class related trip?

Remember to take pictures.

I want to ask about the osmanthus: What is the Chinese name for it? The pictures I googled look like our honeysuckle flowers.

Peony: I, too, am interested in your osmanthus waterchestnut jelly. My s-i-l makes waterchestnut goh, but this would be a nice change. That fish shaped nian goh is amazing!

You young'uns are leaving this Old Fart way behind in your ingenuity! Wonderful cooking; beautiful presentations; incredible torture!

Edited March 3, 2007 by Dejah (log)

[Ben Hong]

**Sighhh**

Here I am stuck in the frozen Great White North with no access to fine restaurants and good eats. Now you are telling me you are going to be embraced by the warmth of OZ.

Cruel, I tell ya. Just cruel.

Ahh, what the hay, enjoy your trip TP Mui.