Chinese New Year 2010 (Day 2)

Date: 15 February 2010, Monday
Venue: Uncle's house
Occasion: Family lunch to usher the new year of the Tiger

I'm sure some of you may be wondering what's taking me so long to post up the blog posts on my CNY 2010. Well, I just came back from Kuantan & Kemaman!! It was full of madness, & I assure you that I will share it here asap!

Anyway, here's the Day 2 post:
*****************************

Day 2 of the Chinese New Year is known as the day to "hoi nin"(open/welcome the year). Every year without fail, my dad's side of the family will gather for lunch, & oh, it's a sumptuous & scrumptious meal! :D

The Lunch Spread

Steamed Chicken with Home-Made Ginger Oil Sauce & Garlic Oil Sauce
This is my aunty C.T's specialty. The chicken was cooked to perfection (without being over-cooked 'til the meat gets tough & rough), & is further perfected when dipped into the garlic/ginger ("sa keong") sauce.

Fried Chinese Sausages Drizzled with Thick Dark Soya Sauce & Oil
This was THE BOMB! It's my favorite among the many dishes on the table & I could just have this with white rice alone *slurp* The fragrantly fried sausages that's crispy on the outside is sinfully coated with oil & seasoned with thick dark soya sauce for added "umph"! I can have this every week & happily get my arteries blocked! *eeek!*

Braised Mushrooms with Scallops & Blanched Broccoli
I thought the mushrooms were of the right bite-size. They were soaked with the fullness of the broth & soft enough for the young & old. The scallops gave the dish an extra "kick", while the broccoli balanced the dish up to make it more colorful & a healthier one too!

Braised Fried Chicken Feet with Mushrooms
My mum cooked this & I thought the chicken feet were lovely :) This dish is best when everything is soft & flavourful.

Stir-Fried "Nga Ku" ("Baby" Arrowroot) with "Khan Choy" (Chinese parsley) & "Siew Yoke" (Roast Pork)
This dish is an acquired taste. If you're a fan of parsley, potato-taste arrowroots (the texture is powderish like potatoes), & roast pork, this is a dish you must not miss! I do eat this dish, but I don't highly fancy it :P

Steamed Waxed Duck with Arrowroots
It's quite salty that you just can't eat it on its own. The taste of the duck is SO fragrant & the oil that oozes out from the duck is extremely flavourful that the slices of arrowroots actually soaks up the oil & taste of the waxed duck. If you have waxed duck at home, try this style of cooking it. It's very simple & doesn't take much creativity :P

Stir-Fried Cucumber Slices with Chicken Gizard & Chicken Liver in Vinegar
Sounds gross & totally unappetizing? Perhaps it's another dish for the adventerous, but for those who tried & love it, you'll never see the humble cucumber the same way again! Whose family actually cooks cucumbers this way? As far as I know, I haven't come across anyone who cooks this dish apart from my family! It's been passed down for generations & we have this dish EVERY year during CNY & other Chinese festivals.

Steamed Duck Liver Sausages ("Ngap Yun Cheong")
Who is a fan of duck liver sausages?? I know I am!! There's a tinge of alcohol taste from the sausage, so it's VERY appetizing & addictive once you fall in love with it.

Fit for a King!
In Chinese, the number 8 ("patt") means prosperous ("fatt"). Somehow, the family managed to cook out 8 dishes for lunch (the Duck Liver Sausage wasn't served when the photo was taken)! How often do you get to have a 8-course meal during lunch?? *joy joy*

After lunch, we're basically 'free' to go wherever & do whatever we want with our own family. This year (just like last year), after lunch, I left for KL to pick Aaron up from the bus terminal :) It was a good 3 days to spend together during the festive season! *joy*

We ended up at 1Utama after picking him up from the bus terminal. He was craving for Carl's Jr., so this is the nearest place (to my house) that could satisfy him. To my greatest delight, the lion dance was about to begin & being able to catch the performance was splendid! (I haven't seen ANY lion dances during CNY this year, & this was my 1st for the year)

Two Lions on the Stage

Lions with their Well Wishes to the Crowd
The whole performance was captivating. The lions were lively & highly entertaining. It was at that 20+minutes that I felt like a kid once again :D

Carl's Jr.'s Charbroiled Chili Cheese Burger (almost RM17.00/large meal)
According to Aaron, the size of the burger was disappointing. The 1st time he had this years back, the burger was much bigger & probably cheaper or around the same price. I haven't had Carl's Jr. before, so I can't comment, but I seriously think it's over-priced.

With a full stomach, we left 1Utama & headed home to wash up & get ready for dinner! *lol* Just imagine that, 'lunch' & dinner back to back. This is what happens when you have lunch around 2:30p.m. & dinner is at 6:00p.m.

Dinner was at the New Formosa Restaurant in SS2 with my dad's family again. Yes, the family loves to gather & will grab any opportunity to do so. This restaurant has been at the top of my family's list since I-dunno-when. We have had dinners here almost every Chinese New Year & during any other family dinners as well.

The Restaurant

Uncles & Aunties Tossing the Yee Sang

My Table Tossing the Yee Sang

New Dish: Beancurd with Minced Pork & "Dai Thao Choy"
A rather different dish than the usual beancurd dishes I have tasted all throughout my life. The dish is salty & slightly spicy & slightly sweet. It feels very much like a 'Teochew' dish, but I think this is yet another Taiwanese dish (since this is somewhat a Taiwanese-Chinese restaurant)

Butter Prawns
Nicely flavored & the most important part - the prawns were fresh :)

Crispy Deep-Fried Sesame Chicken
One of the most desirable dishes available in New Formosa. The batter that coats the chicken pieces was fragrantly accompanied by sesame seeds. The fried chicken was 'juicy' & well-marinated that even if you took the breast meat, it ain't dry nor gets stuck in your throat.

Stir-Fried Hong Kong "Choy Sum" + "Siew Pak Choy" with Garlic
Not over-cooked! :D The veggie were still crunchy, but it didn't have that uncooked green smell/taste.

Deep-Fried "Man Tao" Bread
This bread is lovely eaten on its own or when dipped into any gravy/sauce. Usually, we'll dip it with the fish's gravy or the better one is with sweet & spicy crab's gravy!

Deep-Fried "Sek Pan" Fish with Spicy Bean Sauce (Min See)
This dish was so-so. I felt that the fish was a 'lil over-fried, hence the texture of the fish didn't feel very smooth anymore.

Dessert: Deep-Fried Yam with Caramel
This is THE BOMB! You MUST try this as I feel that this is the ONLY place that offers this dessert & it's really delicious, especially if you're a yam & caramel fan! The outer layer of the yam is crispy, while the inside is warm & soft. Totally delightful!

Dessert? Plum Drink
I've no idea why we were served this drink, but it wasn't all that bad in taste. Just imagine a piece of preserved plum with some syrup in ice water...sounds weird? I thought so too...

Partial Family Photo
Some of my uncles, aunties, & cousins weren't around at the time the photo was taken. I'm thankful for this family. (Aaron was the photographer, so he ain't in this photo...there's another photo with him, but I don't have it with me yet)

Aaron & I

After dinner & family gathering, Aaron & I headed over to Jody's house for a mini high school friends' reunion. It was quite some catch-up before Aaron & I called it a night :)

The high school gang + Aaron

On the overall, CNY Day 2 was quite an eventful one :) It may probably be one of the most awaited day of the CNY since it was the day when Aaron arrived in PJ to celebrate CNY with me & my family :D


Loves festivals,
Ruth