Chinese New Year Foods

My earliest memories of Chinese New Year were the celebrations in Alor Star, Kedah in the mid fifties. As children, my siblings and I looked forward to the lion and dragon dances, albeit with a bit of fear. After all to a young child, the pounding drums and clashing cymbals were very loud (tung cheh, tung cheh, tung tung cheh, tung cheh...) and the lions/dragons looked 'fierce'. And then there was the ever grinning big-headed  'clown man' with the fan. We also looked forward to the tangerines/oranges and the kuih bakul - delicious when steamed and smothered with grated coconut. But making the traditional nian gao or kuih bakul seems to be a dying skill as the newspapers lament. Made from glutinous rice flour and sugar, the mixture (poured into banana-leaf moulds) has to be steamed for 16 hours. Very slow cooking indeed, but very good to eat.

I was introduced to yee sang (raw fish salad) only some years back and I do look forward to lo hei ('prosperity toss') with family and friends during the Lunar New Year period. This salad is not only delicious but very colourful as well. I understand that yee sang is traditionally served on the 7th day of the Lunar New Year, but as attested by the newspapers again, hotels and restaurants serve it even in the days running up to the new year celebration!

Yee Sang ingredients - salmon, crackers, peanuts, sesame seeds,
strips of carrot, turnip, pomelo, cucumber, pickled red ginger,
smothered with plum sauce, sesame oil & seasoning (CNB 2012)

Lo hei! (CNB 2012)

Yee Sang - tossed and ready to be eaten (CNB 2012)

24 January 2012