In 1973, I was in Singapore staying (renting a room illegally) at one of those HDB flats with an elderly couple. The husband worked as a labourer and the wife was a housewife. They had a daughter who was already married and was living with her in-laws…and a son who was hardly ever home. The couple lived a very simple life – eating plain rice and one not-very-appetising looking vegetable dish every day throughout the year. But when Chinese New Year came, they cooked so much food – braised pork leg, five-spice duck, steamed fish, roast chicken and of course, they could not finish all that by themselves. So they kept asking me to join them for their meals and every meal, they would be eating those same dishes…..
For one thing, the Chinese belief is that they must have a lot of food – some, like fish, are exclusively mandatory – so that throughout the coming year, they will be abundantly blessed and will have a lot to eat. I do not strictly prescribe by that superstition, but come Chinese New Year, we will have some special dishes to celebrate and will cook more to share with anyone who happens to come by the house…but just enough to last a day or two.
To start off, we will have the longevity noodles the first thing in the morning in the hope that we will be blessed with very long lives…
I love Foochow mee sua (thread/string noodles) served in chicken soup cooked with ginger and lots of Chinese red wine, so usually I will have quite a substantial amount as you can see in the photo.
This year, we had roast duck…
…and ngor hiang (golden five-spice meat rolls)…
…fried udang galah (giant freshwater prawns)…
…salad (no photo of that) and stir-fried mixed vegetables…
…and being of mixed parentage, we would always have a few of our nyonya/Malaysian specialties. This year, we had chicken curry…
…and homecooked satay beef…
…and nasi minyak (ghee rice)…
My missus did all the cooking. I only cook on ordinary working days with my shortcuts and simplified recipes and kampung-style cooking. She, on the other hand, will go through the trouble of preparing all the added ingredients to make the dishes taste even nicer, not me!
So there you have it – what we had during Chinese New Year….ample to go round, and let’s hope we’ll be blessed with ample good fortune throughout the year as well. Oops! She did not cook any fish! Hahahahahaha!!!
Comments on: "Blessed…" (16)
Wow Looks so yummy Happy New Year
Well, it rains but not heavy and no flooding. Thanks for the visit
And thanks for the info. If there’s no flood in Kapit, then once the King Tide is over, the flood in Sibu will be gone. Otherwise, with the flood waters coming down – the situation here will get worse. Feel free to drop by anytime you’re in Sibu…Thanks for the greeting, and you have a good year too!
with a wife who can cook such mouth watering dishes, no wonder you’re blessed!
Yes, and for that and all the many blessings in my life, I am truly thankful. Btw, I’m sure urs can cook very well too…
Aiya .was hopeful to see a Flood post today. So it didn’t happen I guess. Now I know the stingy/humble side of you is imported from Singapore ho. Chinese belief aside but 25 dishes for 12 person as in Clare’s family????.btw off to Kpenyu later to feed my pets..the mosquitoes must be hungry..not for long now as they can feast on my 20 guests.
Dunno. My place always safe…unless there’s a drainage problem. Tides – of no concern! Well, we had 12 dishes for 5 persons at our reunion dinner…so guess what my parents and sis will be eating for the next few weeks!!! LOL!!!
I should probably send my wife over to learn a few tricks from your missus, LOL!
Hahahahaha!!! You can learn from me also! LOL!!!
What?..12 dishes..well, you beat her mathematically hahahaha
Not me…my parents! Mine ok…finish already the food. Today wanna eat porridge liao!
Hi Lindy in Kuching… I know you are reading…only no comment. Shall I send your pix with the blue wig to STP for posting here? hahahaha
STP: many of your reader don’t comment la…otherwise blog worth USD10,000 already ho.
Every day, hundreds of visitors – Lindy one of them, even Jeanette’s colleague at Astro but they never comment.
Kuching Bishop also reading your blog bah.
Archiebishop, you mean! I know! Lurking around in the shadows! Hahahahahaha!!!!
I love that ‘ngor hiang’ very much!! Er, share the recipe hahaha!
Simple only – minced meat and minced prawns (You buy outside, of course they don’t have lah!), Bombay onions cincang halus…all mixed together, add a bit of 5-spice powder, salt and msg….wrap in tofu skin and steam. When wanna eat, deep fry in oil! Some people add carrots…or mangkuang/sengkuang cincang halus but my mrs doesn’t.
kpenyu…you got her with the blue wig kah????
STP..our CNY dinner started the moment kpenyu and Ton landed.To date we had at least more than 30 diff dishes. Lindy n I just felt like cooking fresh food everyday!!! Raining no kejapau!
Me constipate liao! Too much meat! Today eat porridge!!! LOL!!!
we did that ngor hiang for cny.
it does look simple doh ..
oh, u r mixed with nyonya is it?
how kam i dunno wan .. i tot u foochow
I’m Foochow but can’t speak the dialect. We speak Hokkien. My maternal grandma was Melanau…hence the kampung influence in my cooking.
Wow! So much food! I’m sure you will be blessed with abundance of food and fortune whole year round! : )
I certainly hope so… LOL!!!
Oh so you don’t speak Foo Chow? How about Mandarin?
Only Hokkien. Mandarin better than Foochow, can communicate like when going to eat at Chinese restaurant, shopping, photocopying shops…. Forced to as they all can’t speak Hokkien. The dialect already dying out. Especially among the young ones! Old folks, most still can speak!
wow!!!!!!!!!!!!
so many dishes!!!!!!
the roast duck looks tempting for me~ yum yum！！
That’s the one dish that my missus did not cook. My sis-in-law in Kuching sent over. Very nice – nicer than the ones available here especially the red-coloured Hongkong-style roast ducks, always a bit dry and very tough.
wow the food looks good. nevermind fish oil tablets also can!
Omega 3? Like that, sure to be healthy all year through! LOL!!!
*eye-ing the prawns from the corner*
That was the smell your nose picked up when you were at my place. You saw it too? Hehehehehehe!!!! I think my tempuyak version is much nicer though, but iron chef having the week off! LOL!!!
Wah….all my favourite dishes…hungry
Well, just one month plus and you’ll be home liao!!! Then you can eat all that!