Tag Archives: Chinese food

Reunion Dinner 2024

9 Feb

Today is the eve of the Lunar New Year, and the Chinese community will gather with their loved ones for the ever-important Reunion Dinner. This year, we are not traveling North to hubby’s hometown. So, no long six hours or more drive to endure along the Plus Highway. Phew.

Instead, we are staying in town to celebrate the occasion with my brother’s family and Mom with a home-cooked sumptuous spread. Sometimes, families eat at a restaurant if they don’t want to cook up a storm. We tried this before but did not like the time restriction imposed.

As restaurants find this a lucrative business opportunity, Reunion Dinners with set menus are often allotted a two-hour session. Typically, there are two slots – an early session at 5.30 pm or a later session at 7.30 pm. And diners have to rush through the meal in a noisy atmosphere. You can’t eat at a leisurely pace with the clock ticking!

So eating at home is best. The family will gather this evening for our Reunion Dinner 2024. Here’s a toast to usher in the Year of the Dragon to bring peace and bless us with prosperity, good health, and much happiness.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

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Where’s the Fish? Part 2

7 Feb

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So on Tuesday when we were out with our friends for dinner, there was the ‘Yee Sang’ dish to toss right before the rest of the other dishes were served. But no raw salmon topping on it! Again, where’s the fish? We had slices of abalone instead…

With the Lunar New Year celebration coming to an end soon, I guess we won’t be tossing anymore ‘Yee Sang’ because there’s no more dinners to attend except the final one – the family Chap Goh Meh dinner on Saturday night.

Chap Goh Meh literally means the 15th night of Chinese New Year and it’s the last day of the festive period and celebration. For some (like my side of the family), the dinner on this night is equally important as the Reunion Dinner. So we will, as always, have a final family dinner at home to mark the occasion.

And most likely no ‘Yee Sang’ although there will be a steamed fish on the menu. Looks like we will have to wait until next year for a ‘Yee Sang’ topped with raw salmon.

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Where’s the Fish?

4 Feb

We are midway into the Lunar New Year celebration. During this time, eating sumptuous Chinese meals and tossing the ‘Yee Sang’- a must, with friends and family is nothing out of sorts. After all, it’s a good reason to catch up.

However I’ve noticed this time, the few ‘Yee Sang’ that we have had are presented very differently despite the description stating ‘Yee’ meaning fish.

Typically, there would be raw salmon or even just jellyfish as the main topping but so far, the four times we’ve had this festive dish, we had four very different versions!

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Top (left): with abalone; Top (right): with Iberico ham and bottom version was all fruits!

It’s very interesting though these new flavours I must say. In the past, regardless of how many times we’d do the dish during this festive time, it was always only the salmon or jellyfish choices. But how times have changed! Four occasions, four different versions.

Both of us have never tasted these new combinations especially the last three – an abalone version, a crispy fish skin version (unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of this version on my phone), an all-fruit version and the most recent, an Iberico ham version!!! So where’s the fish?

Tonight as I will be attending a dinner with another group of friends at a Chinese restaurant, let’s hope there will be some good ol’ salmon ‘Yee’ in the ‘Yee Sang’ that we will have. Otherwise, another new combination to add to my list!

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Here, Try This!

12 Mar

When you know you are leaving home for university, you tend to be on a roll to eat as many things as possible. Things that you never eat all this while in your whole life, suddenly pops up on the ‘To Eat’ list. Having said that, we have been going all out with M1 to eat to the hearts’ content; doing exactly as what my mom and dad did with me prior to my leaving, back in the dinosaur era. (I know, my scale cringes at me every time I walk into the bathroom). It’s a funny belief, then and now, that when one goes off to college, one will miss all the good food especially the home flavors.

So far we have checked off most of the local delicacies, along with some other Asian food. Yesterday, we feasted on Korean food and today, M1 goes off to enjoy a farewell meal with her friends. Days when there is nothing scheduled, we will just eat at home. But come Saturday, chicken rice ball is on the agenda, followed by Japanese food on Sunday. Next up, authentic Chinese cuisine on Tuesday with an aunt and cousin, followed by a home-cooked meal by my friends for her next Friday!

So much to eat, so little time left.



These are just the condiments!



Everything is here except the fish!



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Chat

Done for the Day

2 May

After not much debate, Chinese food was the choice. Driving along the bumpy roads, one comment was shock as to the place we were brought to but the food did make up for the ambience.

It was authentic Chinese food. Coupled with our third bottle of whiskey, I guess we cannot complain. By 9.30pm, we were finally done for the day. I am pretty light headed at this point and an early night to turn in is very appealing. After all, tomorrow morning, we play our final game at 8.00am again. But with the traffic to fight with, an early turn in is most welcomed. The 5.30am wake up call beckons.

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Saving the Best for Last

13 Sep

There’s something about the last bite or should I say the last morsel of delicious food. When the girls were younger, both of them just loved to pick their food apart and saved the so-called best for last. This practice was much more evident with Western food, especially pizza, than Asian or Chinese food.

It came to a point where it was very annoying for me as I felt table manners were neglected and eating sequence was not in order or by the rule. A pizza would be ripped apart with the pepperoni first, picked out from its place with the rest to sit aside like a prized possession for the last savoury bite. Then the sauce scraped off with the fingers and licked off, followed by the side crust given a chomp, and finally the pizza base nibbled upon. Why? Why do children do that? I never did that when I was young. If I had a slice of pizza in my hand, I’d eat it whole, as is, not ingredient by ingredient!

Whenever they did this, stacking their prized grub, the hubby would usually ask, “Are you full already?”

“Just about,” would be the standard answer from either one of them.

“I guess you don’t want those then if you’re just about full,” he would eye their pepperoni stack menacingly.

“Noooo” they’d defend their prized grub in between bites. “No you don’t want?” he’d try his luck.

“No, not full yet!” you could hear the alarm in the voice.

I guess his technique worked better than my annoyance because they stopped saving the best for last. Having said that, I should say that the practice has ceased temporarily until we do pizza night again, which is a rarity these days.

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