I did mention in an earlier post that we shall not be celebrating Chinese New Year 2021, no open house this year but of course, we shall be having the reunion dinner on the eve of the festival, all by ourselves. Unfortunately, like what I have also said in the aforementioned post, I have no intention of going out to buy anything special – we shall have to make do with what we have in the house.
So what have I got in mind? We still have a few ikan bawal hitam/or chio (black pomfret) and those will have to do – nian nian you yu 年年有鱼. We will probably cook sweet and sour fish with those as red is supposed to be an auspicious colour…
We had the very expensive steamed pek chio (white pomfret)…
…before (the fishmonger told me that day that they would be over RM100 EACH, come Chinese New Year) and one year, we had kim chio (golden pomfret)…
…but we are not all that crazy about those and prefer the black ones. Those were the cheapest of the lot but unfortunately, they are, by no means, all that cheap anymore.
I still have two servings of the Payung kacang ma chicken…
…in the freezer – I bought three the other day and we ate one already so there is no need to cook any more chicken for the dinner.
My missus bought one huge slab of pork ribs from her friend at the mini-market not far from our house so she probably would take it out and cook it. I am not sure how she will cook it but I did see a pack of char siew sauce in the pantry – she probably would marinate the meat with that and pop it in the oven to roast.
We’ve finished all the frozen New Zealand striploin beef that I bought but we still have a few packs of the ribeye. I think I shall take that and cook curry with it and add a whole lot of potatoes. That will be a welcome change from the chicken curry…
…that my missus would cook every year. Like red, the golden colour is also very auspicious.
We may have a prawn dish – I managed to grab hold of some big pek hay (seawater prawns) at RM38.00 a kg from a woman selling fish and seafood at one place near my house but no, we shall not be having any duck – my missus does not eat that. Perhaps we can have this baked cheese garlic mussels…
We do have some of those half-shell ones in the freezer.
That should be more than enough meat and seafood dishes for the three or four of us already but I do think we shall need a vegetable dish with all the above. At this point in time, I don’t know what we would have in the fridge by then. In my garden, I only have the Brazilian spinach but for reasons unknown, my girl does not seem to like it. My cangkok manis seems to be growing pretty well so maybe I can save it to cook for our dinner that night.
What about you all? What have you got planned?
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Usually reunion dinner, I will have pak lor duck which is a must in my family, sweet and sour fish or steamed fish, ngor hiang, a plate of greens/leek and soup. Very simple.
Yes, ngor hiang is an auspicious dish. Now, that’s simple – the way I would love it…but year after year, I saw people sharing photographs of what they had for their reunion dinners and theirs sure put mine to shame.
I would love phak lor duck too – even though my missus does not eat duck, she would cook for us to enjoy – once a year. I think I shall give it a miss this year to save her the trouble.
Wahhh… thinking and planning what to cook already? I haven’t bought anything as yet… but I have ordered a Poon Choy… it consists of vegetables, meat and seafood… so one dish is enough for me… no going to in-laws this year, quietly eat at home… the first quiet CNY after all these years!
Your daughter and son and daughter-in-law not at home? One poon choy is more than enough for the whole family!!!
I have not really plan for my reunion dinner. Tentatively roasted chicken (either buy or I make) , steamed prawns (hubby brought 2 kg of big prawns), abalone in brown sauce, fried ngoh hiang and a veggie dish. Enough for my family of 5.
Your dishes sounds and looked great. Nice for reunion dinner. Long time I did not buy and cook pomfret. Long time I did not go to wet market actually. Hehe.
Aha! I also bought 2 kilos. I wonder how much he paid for them. Not sure how we will cook them yet. Wowwww!!! Abalone! In brown sauce? I wonder what that dish looks like. I think I’ve seen sea cucumber but not abalone.
I’ve not been to the Sibu Central Market since the pandemic broke out at the beginning of last year. Luckily! CCK closed, got case and I’m not surprised – right beside the Jungle Produce Market, all the people from the longhouses. I buy this and that from the shops near my house.
wahhh so nice looking.. must be taste good also 🙂
Thanks for your compliment!
Not sure what my mom will be cooking this year for Reunion Dinner but definitely there will be curry chicken. She used to make ngoh hiang but not anymore cos very tedious and a lot of work.
We’ve decided not to have curry as my missus cooks it almost once a week, getting quite sick of it. Dunno if she’ll make ngor hiang or not. She always gets carried away and cooks way too much, so very few of us!
I was surprised that at the last moment they opened things up a little over here and allowed an increased number for family reunions. Still only within the 10km radius but I think it allowed more families to celebrate.
Personally, I gave it all a miss, just let it go by quietly. No need to celebrate this year, no mood during such depressing times. Hopefully we’ll be able to do so in the years to come.