No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

'Nian Gao' in Mandarin or 'Nin Ko' in Cantonese is a must-have item during CNY.  This sticky glutinous rice cake is symbolic as it carries a homonym that sounds like 'year~high/tall'.  For business people eating this will link them to prosperity and wealth and working people will look forward to career advancement, promotion. Slice them up when they're still soft, keep them in containers and they can be stored in the fridge for months. I normally steam and dip them in freshly grated young coconut mixed with some salt or just fry with beaten egg.  But this time around, I've decided to be a bit more 'challenging' and try out Elin's recipe.  Thanks, Elin of  Elinluv's Tidbits Corner   for sharing!

I don't know why this is called a cake which by right should be bread, but it certainly lives up to its name, great with a cup of hot coffee or tea!  Sweet crunchy crust with nutty almonds and soft cottony bread ....

Minced pork with mixed vegetables aka 4 Heavenly kings  .......... so this dish must be fit for a king!   No, no, it's only a simple stir-fry dish of mince meat and 4 types of vegetables of your choice.   The heavenly kings refer to the 4 Canto pop singers of Hong Kong and I really have no inkling  how this name came about. This dish is normally cooked with sambal belacan and it should be slightly spicy.  However, in this case I tweaked it a bit and used preserved bean paste and served it with plain white porridge ......... simply delectable!

I was in Kuala Lumpur on the 2nd day of CNY and took this picture at Mid-Valley Megamall.  All the malls are beautifully decorated during this time of the year and naturally, the auspicious colour is red. 'Hoi Lin' literally means 'Open year', which means welcoming the New Year.  Traditionally, most people will observe a vegetarian diet on the first day, so 2nd day, 'Hoi Lin', it's 'hoi jai' meaning they can have meat, seafood, etc.  I also remember that my mum used to tell us that those days, daughters-in-law will only return to their parents' home to celebrate CNY after the 'Hoi Lin' lunch. I had a sumptuous dinner with my siblings and what can we Chinese think of at family gatherings ....... obvioulsy, food and more food! First dish on the menu was 'Yee Sang' which is a must for CNY ....... 'Sang, sang mang, mang' meaning healthy, lively and active. Tossing the 'Yee Sang' ....... the higher the better, ...

Cooked this Stir-fry Sea asparagus with mixed vegetables for the reunion dinner.  It's easy and quick to whip up and the young lotus root slices stayed crunchy, sweet and tasty. Chewy, sweet sea asparagus coupled with the sweet beans, carrot and lotus root makes a light and refreshing veggie dish!

I served this for breakfast on the 1st day of the  lunar New Year   ...........  'Lean Chee Kang', sweet soup of lotus seeds, longan, dried ' pak hup' or lily bulb and rock sugar to usher in a 'sweetish' New Year.  Another name for this 'tong sui', sweet drink is 'Pak Lean Hoe Hup', which means, "'hundred' years of harmonious and  happy marriage". Thus, being auspicious this sweet dessert is commonly served at weddings, birthdays and New Year.  Read more on lotus seeds here . Dried lotus seeds with skin, dried 'pak hup' or lily bulb, rock sugar and dried longan This sweet soup is very refreshing and you can also add in some hard boiled chicken eggs or quail eggs, if desired.

 It's customary for my family to observe a vegetarian diet on the first day of the lunar Chinese New Year.  This mixed veggie is not a stir-fry dish but sort of 'braised' till all the ingredients, especially the mushrooms have been infused with the flavourful 'nam yee' and oyster sauce.    Dried shitake mushrooms that have been soaked and cut up, and softened glass vermicelli. Bean curd puffs that have been halved, crushed ginger and 'nam yee' or preserved bean curd paste.    Washed and cut 'wong ngah bak', Chinese cabbage.   Bean curd sheets that have been deep fried. All the ingredients simmering in the wok.     My favourite is the deep fried bean curd sheets.  They still maintain a bit of crunchiness even though they've been cooked and the 'juicy' bean curd puffs that have absorbed all the flavours of the sauce...... Delicious!

Wishing all my friends and readers Gong Xi Fai Cai and Happy Valentine's Day May the Year of the roaring Tiger brings you good health, wealth, joy and good tidings!