Yam Cake

My neighbour gave us this steamed yam cake which contains a big, delicious helping of these ingredients - yam, sausage, dried shrimps and mushrooms. Yummy! :D

CNY 2012 Lunch

We celebrated CNY (Chinese New Year) with my cousins and their kids yesterday.









Besides these, my chef also cooked red bean soup with lotus seeds and mandarin orange peel.

Fried Fish Balls?

Yes, they do look like fried fish balls... but they're not. They're actually sesame* balls (or 煎堆 in Chinese) with peanut and grated coconut fillings.

p/s: My chef did not coat them with sesame seeds. ;p

Simple CNY Lunch Affair

We had a simple CNY (Chinese New Year) lunch with my cousins and their kids today....








oops... forgot to take a pic of the soup! ;p

Crystal Jade Savoury Glutinous Pancake

Recently tried this pancake from Crystal Jade My Bread. Unlike their other pancakes (e.g. black sesame, pumpkin and chocolate) which are sweet, this one is savoury and contains ingredients like dried shrimps, turnip and preserved radish.

p/s: unable to show you the inside of the pancake since it is quite sticky. ;p

Ang Paus (Sweet Red Buns)

Home-made Ang Paus

My chef made these ang paus (sweet red* buns; 红包) with wheat flour, glutinous rice flour, yeast, rice wine biscuit (酒饼) and sugar. [*They're not exactly red, but pink.]

Home-made Ang Pau

Such buns are also available in markets but no rice wine biscuit is added:

Ang Paus sold in markets

Guan Yin's Birthday

Today is Guan Yin's (Goddess of Mercy; 观音) birthday. According to the Chinese culture, Guan Yin's birthday is celebrated on the 19th day of the 2nd, 6th and 9th lunar months.

This year, the first Guan Yin's birthday celebration falls on 15 March 2009 (or the 19th day of 2nd lunar month). To celebrate her birthday, many buddhists offer longevity buns (寿桃) to Guan Yin. Besides longevity buns (with lotus seed paste), some buddhists also offer huat kuehs ("prosperity cake"; 发糕) and mee sua (wheat vermicelli; 面线).

Longevity Buns (red), Huat Kueh (orange) & Mee Sua (white)

More pictures of longevity buns:

Mugwort Glutinous Pancake

Hope the sight of these pics don't make u feel gross!

Mugwort Glutinous Pancake

This is a glutinous rice kueh made using Mugwort (艾草) which is a herbal plant and has useful medicinal uses such as treating digestive disorders, expelling intestinal worms, and alleviating menstrual pain.

Mugwort

Initially, I don't know the name of this plant until i watched the Korean drama Golden Bride (黄金新娘) which features the Vietnamese bride Nguyen Jin Joo (珍珠) using mugwort to make Korean rice cakes.

My chef loves mugwort very much (she even add it to the Hakka Lei Cha!) but I don't really like it due to its strong smell.

CNY Special - IV

In today's CNY Special (IV edition) writeup, I will touch on 1 Teochew dish and 1 Hakka Kueh prepared using China or Chinese leeks (中国大蒜) which symbolise abundance.

China Leeks

1. Stir Fried Pek Tor He with China Leeks [Teochew]

Traditionally, many Teochews love to stir fry Pek Tor He (Rabbit Fish / 白肚鱼; a.k.a Prosperity Fish / 发财鱼 or CNY Fish / 拜年鱼) with China leeks during CNY.

Pek Tor He

Stir Fried Pek Tor He with China Leeks

2. China Leek Kueh [Hakka]

The Hakkas love China leek kuehs (客家蒜粄)! The ingredients used include chopped China leeks, bean curd and dried shrimps.

China Leek Kueh

Today is the 1st day of Chinese (Lunar) New Year. I wish everyone Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin) or Keong Hee Huat Chai (Teochew) or Kung He Fatt Choy (Hakka).

Giam Chye Kueh

My chef has prepared some Giam Chye Kueh (Preserved Vegetables Kueh, Hum Choi Ban, or 咸菜粄) yesterday using chopped Giam Chye and minced pork as the main ingredients. Like the case of the Hakka Peanut Kueh, it is also uncommon too see the Giam Chye Kueh at food stalls.




Hakka 101
Hum2: Salty; 咸
Choi4: Vegetables; 菜
Ban3: Kueh; 粄

Pumpkin Glutinous Pancake

Did Dora make this yummy pumpkin glutinous pancake using the pumpkins from the supermarket?

The answer is nope! I bought it from Crystal Jade My Bread. ;p It's soft & chewy and the pumpkin paste is not too sweet.

Happy Halloween!

Teochew Ku Chye Kueh

The Ku Chye (Chinese Chives; 韭菜) Kueh is another well known Teochew delicacy. This kueh is made of Ku Chye and dried shrimps as fillings.