Chinese New Year Eve 2016 - Ushering the Year of Abundance!

With the house Internet giving problems at this rather 'crucial' time of updating, I'm thankful that there's still phone data to update this blog ^.^ Time really flies; we're already in the 2nd month of this new year! With Chinese New Year Eve today, many Chinese families have traveled a distance just to get back to their hometown in time for the reunion dinner, an important event set aside, to meet up with family members for a hearty meal before a new year begins.

It has been a tradition for my family to gather with my dad's side of the family for festival dinners, as long as I could remember. Typically, our Chinese New Year Eve dinner (and most family gatherings) is hosted at our "family home". Each nucleus family will bring a dish to 'complete' the menu that will consist of approximately 8-10 different meat/vegetable dishes, ALL home-cooked! :) My family is really blessed to have such talented & skillful home-breed-chefs!

We started tonight's dinner with the tossing of the "Yee Sang", a vegetables + pickles + crackers + fish slices/jelly fish/abalone slices (all of such 'meats' are optional) dish, harmoniously blending with crushed peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, & our home-favorite additional ingredient of the kaffir lime leaves shreds, & drizzled with sweet maltose, some 'cooked oil', white pepper, & five spice powder.

*photos turned out rather yellow/red as the house had really yellow lighting*

We tossed & mixed the 'salad', lifting it as high as possible, while speaking well wishes in Chinese to usher a better year ahead :D it has been one of those family traditions that I will miss once I get married as different families have different cultures & family traditions...haha...

This year's Chinese New Year Eve dinner was an overflowing, abundance of dishes, which we could carry forward to our new lunar year! Lol! Traditionally, Chinese families have believed in having more than enough food for the year ahead to symbolize an even abundant new year! Seems like my family could have some good "choy kiok" dish (a type of dish made from left-overs, but tastes 'oh-so-delish'!) on the 2nd day of the new lunar year :D Woohoo! It ain't just any monkey business!

9 dishes plus a charcoal-boiled soup!

PerutBesi wishes all families & friends celebrating this joyous festival of reunions a VERY HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR; GONG HEI FATT CHOY with greater successes, better health & abundance of blessings!