Skip to main content

Chinese New Year in Melbourne ~ 2016

Our first meal on the first day of the Lunar Chinese New Year was dumplings at  New Shanghai restaurant in the Emporium food court, away from the traditional vegetarian meal which we used to have all along.  Must admit that the food was delicious and the service  ...... Fast!

I was mesmerised with the interior decor of the restaurant, nostalgic of my younger days!

Shanghai stir fried noodles with pork and vegetable

New Shanghai Xiao Long Bao - Steamed pork dumplings
New Shanghai Pan fried pork buns (I love these, especially  the crispy underside)

Crispy tofu with salted egg yolk

And we were so surprised for while strolling along China town, chanced upon this filming in progress at the Chinatown Square... guess what?  It's part of Masterchef  2016 challenge between the Red and Gold teams.   After the contestants have finished cooking their food, the food will be sold to the public and whichever team garners the most sales will be declared the winner.




Does the gentleman in the right picture look familiar to you?  Yes, he's Gary Mehigan, one of the judges of the Masterchef series.   And the mysterious special guest is none other than Kylie Kwong, one of Australia's celebrity chefs.

And what's for dinner?  Home made 'Yee Sang/Low Sang/Yu Sheng/Lo Hei'.  What a mouthful....no worries, here's a short introduction of this special Chinese New Year dish which is unique in Malaysia and Singapore and only available during the fifteen days of the Lunar New Year.

According to Chinese legend, the goddess Nu Wa spent six days creating animals out of mud and on the seventh day she created humanity.  Thus Ren Ri or the seventh day is Day of Mankind and therefore birthday for everybody and hence a special dish comprising seven symbolic delicacies known as Yee Sang was created.

The dish, which is made up of shredded colourful vegetables and raw fish is usually served as an appetiser and everyone will toss the ingredients high in the air with their chopsticks, saying loudly auspicious wishes.  The significance of the 'prosperity toss' is to wish for abundant luck and happiness for all.


And what's in our dish?  Shredded white and purple cabbage, carrot, yellow and red capsicum, coriander and not forgetting the salmon, some were seared while some were raw, laced with lemon juice.  Drizzle on some olive oil  and sprinkle on some five spice powder.  As for the sauce, I mixed plum sauce with honey and a wee bit of water.  Toasted walnut crumbs, white sesame and the crunchy ribbon biscuits which were air flown from Malaysia added more crunch to the delicious 'Yee Sang', and healthy too :))




Tossing all the way to wish for
 Good Health, Good Luck and Prosperity to One and All!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Herbal Jelly ~ Gui Ling Gao

H erbal Jelly ~ Gui Ling Ga o literally translated means 'Tortoise Jelly' is one of my family's favourite desserts.  It's much more economical to prepare this at home for you'll need to fork out between Rm 9 to Rm 11 for a bowl of this cooling dessert in any of those herbal tea outlets.  This soothing jelly, served chilled, is supposed to be able to help reduce our body heat, helps to get rid of toxins and is believed to be good for the skin thus culminating a healthier complexion.

Braised Pork Belly with Mui Choy ~ 梅菜焖五花肉

Mui Choy is preserved mustard greens and there are two types, one is salty while the other is sweet.  There are many ways of cooking mui choy with pork belly.  Instead of braising, you can steam it with minced pork but here I am using only the sweet mui choy and I braised the pork belly with it.  This is a flavourful dish and you can serve it with plain rice or plain porridge. Braised Pork Belly with Mui Choy   ~    梅菜焖五花肉 Ingredients  400 gm pork belly cut into bite size 100 gm  preserved sweet mui choy 3 cloves of garlic 2 slices ginger Seasoning for the pork belly 1 Tbsp dark soya sauce 1/4 Tbsp sugar 1/4 Tbsp sesame oil 1/4 Tbsp oyster sauce 1/2 tsp pepper 1/8 tsp light soya sauce Method Season the pork belly for about an hour or more.  Set aside. Soak the mui choy for 45 mins., rinse and squeeze dry.  Cut into slices Heat some oil in the wok, fry the mui choy.  Add in the ginger slices.  Stir-fry. Add in the pork  belly, fry for a while and

Tamarind Pork Belly (Babi Assam) ~ 亚参五花肉

A very appetising dish with tangy and robust flavour of tamarind juice, red and green chillies added more oomph to the dish.  This dish will surely whet your appetite and you'll go for second helping of rice to soak up the tangy gravy.  This is a Peranakan dish but as always, there are many varieties to this delicacy.  I tweaked the recipe a bit to suit what I have in my pantry and the end result is a very yummy dish that I will not hesitate to whip up again and again. Tamarind Pork Belly (Babi Assam)  ~   亚参 五花肉 Ingredients 450 gm pork belly, cut into bite size 5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 3 shallots, finely chopped 30 gm tamarind pulp (Assam paste)  + 250 ml water 3 green chillies 2 red chillies 2 tsp tau cheong (preserved bean paste) 2 tsp dark soya sauce 1 Tbsp brown sugar or to taste 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp fish sauce 1 onion, sliced Method Mix the tamarind pulp with a cup of  warm water, squeezed out the ju