It's that time of the year to snack.....

Yes, that's right.....it's that time of the year to snack....what is Chinese New Year (CNY) without snacking, right?  So, once a year, I throw my restricted diet out the window (well, I'm not as disciplined or strong-willed as my blogger friend, PH)...wuahahahaha!

So, I'm not going to confess I didn't eat any CNY snacks (like PH's resilience).....coz I did! ;D  Of course, I'm no saint either as I do eat snacks sparingly throughout the year...but not quite like CNY snacking, if you know what I mean (but with as much restraint as I possibly could).  And I start with my most favourite snack of them all...crackers, both prawn & fish! ;)

This year I did not buy my usual 3-4 pkts of prawn crackers from my go-to stall in the wet market coz I wasn't planning to fry to giveaway, so I bought only 1 pkt of Prawn Crackers online @ RM38 from a Shopee seller...and, surprisingly, it turned out pretty good as well (now I can have my favourite prawn crackers throughout the year...yay!).  One pkt was just enough for our own consumption with some extras to giveaway to my makan buddies, hairdresser, Caring pharmacist (coz she always gives me advice or answer any meds questions I have) and the Parcelhub lady boss (return a favour coz she paid for my breakfast one morning when she bumped into me when tapau-ing her breakfast).  As for the Fish Crackers, I also tried a new Shopee seller and it turned out to be thinner and crispier...and better tasting too.  I've since bought both the prawn & fish crackers (again) to be fried later (tak berlarat nak fry for CNY).

Since I didn't fry enough crackers, I supplemented my stash with Tapioca Chips (of 2 kinds) @ RM12 a pkt (bought from Shopee).  One was this normal tapioca chips with salt (kerepek ubi masin).

The other was the spicy tapioca chips (kerepek ubi pedas kering).  Both from this seller were good...fragrant, fresh and crunchy.  The one with salt wasn't too salty and the spicy one wasn't too spicy...just nice! ;)

Next snack on the list was pineapple tarts as this is a favourite of my husband's, so I know I could eat sparingly and know he'll finish the rest...and let me say, I did try a few (new) brands this year (from Shopee) starting with this Aysha Bakehouse's Pineapple Bar (Mixed Flavours) @ RM26 (for 27 pcs).  These pineapple bars come in mixed flavours of pineapple, blueberry and strawberry (or you can opt for just one flavour).

I thought they were pretty tasty...though pineapple wasn't my favourite or the best tasting flavour...the blueberry was better. ^o^  Somehow these didn't find favour with my husband as much coz I think he's not into flavours like blueberry or strawberry other than pineapple.  I ate probably about 70% of this (luckily there were only 27 pcs in total) while he ate mostly the pineapple filling.

I also got smitten by these cute Heart-Shaped Pineapple Tarts by Chocolate Garage @ RM18 (for 21 pcs)...oops, these were bought before pre-CNY snacking.  They make a lovely gift for someone (especially for Valentine's Day), don't you think?

But taste wise, they were just ok...I think it needed a bit more pineapple filling as I really couldn't taste much of it but seeing that it's a closed pineapple tart, it's difficult to pack more filling into them.

My third choice was a winner for all...marketed as a Nyonya Melaka pure butter Pineapple Tart @ RM14 (for 14 pcs).  The small box offered a tester pack for my taste test...and they turned out to be fluffy, crumbly and buttery delicious. ^.^

Since they turned out to be good (and, more importantly, my husband liked it), I did not hesitate to order the bigger box of 42 pcs @ RM40.

I like that they're packed individually in their special plastic moulds (if you can call it that) as this will ensure they arrive at your doorstep in the best possible way (since they're known to be super crumbly).  This Nyonya Melaka and Aysha's will certainly see repeat orders in future...but between the two, the latter is still my pick.

So good that I was tempted to order their other product...the one with cheese added! :O  This Pineapple Cheese Bar (Mixed Flavours) also cost RM26 (except I noticed this one has only 8 x 3 flavours instead of 9 x 3...no wonder lah it's the same price with cheese).  You know what, coming from someone who don't like cheese, this one I really liked.

The extra crispy cheese on top gave it that crunch factor and brought a hint of savoury note to the pineapple bar.  Probably one of the more expensive pineapple tarts on Shopee but it's worth it as long as it tastes good. Incidentally, I bought all my tarts online from Shopee.

What is CNY without mandarin oranges, right?  I can count with my fingers the no. of times I've eaten fruits since I embarked on my restrictive diet but I wasn't going to miss out on this once-a-year fruit...these normal large ones for him.

And the mini mandarins for me...which is better for portion control since they're smaller (I like to think of it that way and "convince" myself that it is...hehe!).  I limit myself to two a day.

This container of ngaku chips was given by my neighbour (who fried it herself).  I wanted to say no to it (coz no-one in the family eats ngaku chips so I'll have to finish it on my own) just like she refused my prawn & fish crackers which I gift her every year (I was taken aback when she told me in advance not to give her any this year...apparently it doesn't taste all that great to her and her husband)! :O  But I know it's not tactful to say no to a gift..."when people give you things that you don't want, you must remember it's the thought that counts".  In the end, I bought her some mandarins as a return gift! *roll eyes*

Another snack that CNY is not the same without is bakwa or BBQ dried meat.  But, these days, the skyrocketing prices of my favourite brand has made it imperative that more reasonably-priced alternatives be sourced.  That made me try out 2 new brands, one was at 1/3 of the price (meaning I could have 3 pkts as opposed to just 1 pkt of Oloiya...I ended up buying a package deal of 4 pkts).

While the other (which someone recommended to me) was priced at 2/3 of the price of Oloiya saying that it tastes just as good as my beloved brand (well, it didn't taste anything near Oloiya which I expected).  But based on the price-to-taste, I thought they were decent enough to eat (always good as a bakwa sandwich).  I ended preferring the cheapest one while my husband preferred the other but my son liked neither! :D

On a side note, this happened during the Mooncake Festival (and not a part of this CNY snacking)...not wanting to indule in sweet mooncakes, I got myself a savoury version.  It has a similar pastry like any traditional mooncake except the filling is made with minced bakwa! :O

How did it taste, you're wondering?  Just think of it as eating the mooncake pastry with bakwa...to be honest, a regular mooncake with lotus paste and salted egg yolks (my go to flavour if I was eating) still tastes better. This one was a bit odd, not that it tasted bad just that it's not quite like a traditional sweet mooncake we're used to.

Well, that's about all the snacks I indulged in this CNY...not a lot really, right?  I'd say I probably ate about 20 - 30% of the snacks (except for the ngaku chips) while my family kaotim the rest.  So fast, it's Chap Goh Mei today already.  Till next year..........for now, let's enjoy our snacks in the meantime! ^_~

My First Attempt at Making Poon Choy

Since I was home alone this year and had lots of time on my hands, I thought I'd finally attempt making Poon Choy or Prosperity Bowl (sometimes also called Wealth, Treasure or Celebration Pot).  Poon Choy is a well sought-after dish during Chinese New Year (CNY) for the layers of different auspicious ingredients and meaning that goes into it (rather obvious from the word "prosperity" already!).

I guess if you have to cook a feast of (say) 10 dishes, you might as well make poon choy which is much simpler since it's like a one-pot dish.  Some would just order them from restaurants as a takeaway and have it at home.   I've eaten poon choy at restaurants and had also watched a video (by Cooking Ah Pa) on how to make one and realised it's actually pretty doable.

And since I had most of the ingredients in my fridge and pantry anyway, I got down to doing it.  Making a poon choy is all about blanching and layering the ingredients.  I started with a stock for blanching the ingredients. I made a chicken stock (with choi yin kai bones) or you could use just water.  I couldn't since I was making a mini poon choy which would have too few ingredients to flavour the water.  Then again, even if you're making a 10-pax poon choy, how much flavour would the blanched ingredients bring anyway? ;)

Vegetables would be the first thing to be blanched since they form the bottom layer of the poon choy.  The usual vegetables used would be carrots, pak choy (Chinese cabbage) and radish.  I used carrots and cabbage (I improvised with what I had + I don't like Chinese cabbage anyway).  Radish would be a good choice too to line the bottom of the poon choy as softened radish would absorb the broth and take on flavour.  Some would also use broccoli for the vibrant green it brings to the top layer of the poon choy.

Next, I blanched the abalone (I still had two leftover which I kept aside after making a braised mushrooms and abalone dish for the reunion dinner) and parboiled two dried scallops.  The scallops started to break apart after just a few minutes in the broth (even from a dried and hardened state without soaking), so I had to take them out and steamed them instead to keep them from breaking.

I then parboiled two large prawns.  If you've noticed that the stock is slightly darker, that's because I decided (at this point) to add a bit of soy hoping that I could infuse the prawns with a bit more flavour.  The balance ingredients were steamed.

With that, I was ready to start assembling my poon choy starting with the first (or bottom) layer.  I filled it with a layer of softened carrot slices (cut into a floret-pattern...hehe).

Next was a layer of softened cabbage leaves.  If I had softened beancurd sheets (fu chuk), that would have been the next layer as the addition of fu chuk would also be a great vehicle to absorb the sauce at the bottom.

I then arranged the next layer with all the other auspicious goodies like prawns, dried shiitake mushrooms (I also kept a few from the previous day's braised mushroom dish), abalone, dried scallops, chicken, lap cheong (dried pork sausage) and yun cheong (liver sausage) which I steamed.

After that, all that was needed was to season the stock (you can use oyster sauce, light soy, Shaoxing wine, etc...just not dark soy so that the sauce will not be too dark in colour).  Let the sauce reduce (or you could use a little cornflour slurry) and pour it over the arranged ingredients.....and the poon choy for one is ready.

Did you notice my lame attempt at trying to carve out a bunny-shaped carrot (this is the Year of the Rabbit after all)?  That was how much time I had on my hands (lol)...and that's the beauty of cooking for one!  I don't even have a paring knife to do such a thing. ^_~

Not the prettiest, well arranged poon choy I've to say.  I didn't even have a claypot to present it in.  I used the nearest thing I had....I metallic look-alike version of a claypot.  Also, one is supposed to let the poon choy ingredients overflow to the brim of the claypot.  If I had done so, this would not be a poon choy for one...hah..hah.

So, make sure you choose the right-sized claypot to hold your poon choy (and don't underestimate the size). My 16cm (only) metallic claypot may look small but, as it turned out, it could hold a lot more than I thought (probably enough even for a 4-pax poon choy).  This mini one alone took me two meals to finish.

A poon choy is a very popular dish/meal eaten during CNY as it's convenient and can be prepared ahead of time.  All you have to do is blanch/parboil/steam the ingredients needed and assemble it when dinner time draws near.  You can reheat the claypot's ingredients and pour the hot broth/sauce over.  

A poon choy is favoured as it contains chosen auspicious ingredients like carrots for good luck, cabbage for growing fortune, prawns for laughter and happiness, mushrooms to symbolise longevity, abalone and dried scallops to bring wealth and prosperity, chicken celebrates togetherness and harmony and lap cheong is symbolic for wealth.

I may be home alone but that doesn't mean I shouldn't enjoy something special, so I thought this would be as good a time as any to make a mini poon choy for myself since my family wasn't around + they aren't quite into steamed and braised stuff that goes into one.  It was last year when I first noticed a few restaurants promoting their "a person, a bowl" poon choy that first gave me the idea of making one actually.

Now that I know how easy it is to put together a poon choy (even though this was just a mini one), this would certainly be a worthwhile consideration in future if I had to cook for a bigger group of guests (of say 10 - 12) during CNY as the work is much simpler (and lighter) than cooking like 6 - 8 individual dishes.  You may want to consider it too. ^.^

Welcoming Guests for a Reunion Dinner at Home

As we welcome the Year of the Rabbit, I welcome guests for the traditional reunion dinner in my home for the first time.  That's because all reunion dinners have always been celebrated in Ipoh when my in-laws were still around.  And then there were years when we celebrated it in KL when my mother-in-law was immobile followed by years of the pandemic that we all want to put behind us.

So, for the second year in a row, we had our reunion dinner at home in KL but, this time, we welcomed my sister-in-law's family to join us for the reunion makan.  I'm not one to follow tradition or be overly concerned if the dishes I serve at the reunion table are made with auspicious ingredients but since I have guests, I should (at least) make an effort to include such ingredients in our reunion dinner menu, don't you think?

When you're cooking for a sizeable number of people and have limited kitchen equipment (like only one stove top coz one of the burners of my double induction hob died on me), you need to devise a meal plan where some of the dishes can be cooked ahead of time or use different cooking methods (divide and conquer lah) so that the dishes can cook simultaneously in order to save time.  That way, the dishes can be ready (and served hot) at the same time.

#1 - Pork Ribs Soup with Garlic & Peppercorns

This is like a Singapore or (Teochew)-style bak kut teh where pork ribs are simmered with enoki mushrooms, garlic cloves and white peppercorns for a resulting soup that's lighter but with a more garlicky and peppery flavour.  Pork is served as it's a symbol for wealth and strength while enoki mushrooms (or golden needle mushrooms) represents gold (and anything gold or golden is always welcomed).

Making a soup as one of the dishes for the reunion dinner is a smart move as the soup can be made ahead of time and needs very little watching over as you can leave it to simmer on its own in a slow cooker, so that's one course taken care of already.

#2 - Fried Fish with Sambal

Fish is almost always guaranteed to be on any reunion menu (and it's usually steamed whole) to ensure success in the coming year like the saying nian nian you yu (may you have abundance and surplus every year).  Fish was very expensive this year, so much so my fishmonger didn't even dare to take stock of Chinese pomfret (or tau tai chong).

The common practice is to cook steamed pomfret but I made do with a cheaper fish of kau yue (Spanish mackerel) and cooked sambal fried fish that everyone can enjoy.  This is certainly a dish you can cook ahead as it doesn't need to be served hot (like steamed fish) to be good.  I just pan-fried the fish first and top it with my own-made chilli paste (that was prepared ahead and frozen) which I fried in oil till aromatic and slightly caramelised.  Spoon that over the fish and finish with a drizzle of soy, garlic oil and fried garlic bits.

#3 - Oven-Roasted Chicken

The Chinese word for chicken (ji) is a hononym for good luck and fortune.  That's why poaching or steaming a whole chicken is a popular choice at reunion dinners as it represents completeness, family unity and togetherness...but you're supposed to serve it whole (head and feet included).  This symbolic dish is in serious need of an update (lol) coz how is a small family going to finish one whole chicken since having big families are no longer the norm these days.

For my party-of-six, two chicken legs would be sufficient (since there are other dishes) and I decided to roast them.  Roasting them in the oven is part of the divide and conquer principle since using the oven will free up my stove top for cooking other dishes.  Once the chicken is in the oven, I can move on and concentrate on my other dishes.  The key to crispy skin chicken is to ensure the chicken is thoroughly dry before marinating (I leave it in the fridge uncovered overnight to air dry it).  Just remember to return it to room temperature (and rub a little olive oil on the skin) before roasting.

#4 - Assam Pedas Prawns

If you want a year filled with hee hee and ha ha (laughter and joy), then prawns need to grace your reunion dinner table. This year, large-sized prawns were also expensive.  Luckily, I bought some well before CNY on the urging of my fishmonger.

I chose to make assam pedas prawns after my recent success with a ready-made assam pedas paste.  After all, my cooking style for a reunion dinner is quick, easy and without stress! ;D  Why not when the taste resembles a good assam pedas.  I decided to remove the heads and peeled the prawns (only leaving the tail intact) so that my guests can have a mess-free experience eating the prawns (that have been cooked with ladies finger, tomatoes, onions and kaffir lime leaves).  This is not all there is...there was more in the pot.  My nephew clearly enjoyed both the chilli-based dishes.

#5 - Braised Mushrooms with Abalone & Dried Scallops

The coin-like shape of mushrooms and scallops symbolises prosperity while abalone's (bau yue) homonym is absolute prosperity or guaranteed surplus thereby making this a popular dish during CNY.  For me, it's a must-have dish coz I absolutely adore eating it (and, over the years, I've gotten better at doing it for an improved taste).

The key to a good braised mushroom dish is the braising liquid.  Mine is a chicken stock made with kampung chicken (or choi yin kai) bones.  I also use the liquid in which the mushrooms were steeping in and some of the abalone sauce from the can to add further umami to the braising broth.  Good quality Japanese dried scallops also helps.  This dish is good for cooking ahead of time coz for the longer it sits in the sauce, the mushrooms absorb even more flavour.  When dinner time comes round, you just need to reheat and serve...and you've one less dish to cook.

#6 - Stir-Fried Dragon Chives

A vegetable dish is always needed to balance out all the other meaty dishes.  The more common vegetables would be lettuce (sang choy) for wealth, bok choy for luck and good fortune, kai lan for long life and broccoli for harmony.  I don't know about dragon chives (ching loong choy)....but anything associated with the Chinese zodiac sign of dragon will be good, right?  After all, when it's the dragon year, many couples will try extra hard for a 'dragon baby'...lol!

Again, along the lines of quick cooking, simple stir-fried dragon chives with garlic it's one of the easiest, quickest stir-fry vegetables (it literally takes seconds to cook).  What you see here is just half the vegetables as I cooked a second batch.  Vegetables are always too much to fit into the pan but as they cook and wilt, they become very little.  I love dragon chives!

We ended our meal with premium Bacha coffee (which was gifted to me) and bakery-bought doughnuts and coffee buns.  Bitter black coffee is best paired and savoured with something sweet.

In the end, we finished everything that was served (except for 3 pieces of mushrooms)...and that's how I like it, no leftovers to deal with (I wouldn't want to be eating all the leftovers by myself over the next 2 - 3 days).  Or was that a sign that the food was good?  Kekeke! ;)

If you're cooking for a large group of guests (mine was a very manageable six though I've cooked for a bigger group of 10 - 12 before), the key to a less stressful reunion dinner cookout is to keep the menu simple and design a menu that you can use multiple kitchen equipment simultaneously so that they can all finish cooking at almost the same time.  The menu should also include some dishes that can be prepared ahead of time (especially those that improve in flavour over time) either on the morning of the dinner itself or even the night before and all it needs is just reheating.  Perhaps you can keep this tip in mind the next time you're planning a menu for your reunion dinner.  Hope you had fun cooking (and eating) across the Lunar New Year. Cheers! ^_~