CNY Reunion Dinner 2009

Nyonya 4 Seasons is inspired by the 4 Seasons starter dish served at Chinese restaurants. Originally, it is meant to represent Summer, Spring, Autumn & Winter, but since it's always sunny (or rainy) in Malaysia, I think the 4 seasons here would more appropriately represent Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, Deepavali and Christmas dishes... ha ha ha.. (we do LOVE our food!)

But for my Nyonya 4 Seasons, I decided to play on the word 'season' and change it to 'SEASONING' . In Nyonya cooking, there's a variety of tastes ranging from sweet, salty, sour, spicy to a flavourful mix of spices & mix of Chinese & Malay ingredients.

(from left to right)
1. Popiah skin & Joo Hu Char Bundle - used one of the 7 dishes cooked for the CNY prayers the day before (previous post). Made from chicken meat strips (traditionally, strips of partially cooked streaky pork is used) stir-fried with shredded turnip (sengkuang) & carrot & dried cuttlefish (joo hu) strips. On a square piece of popiah skin, place a small piece of lettuce, topped with a teaspoon of Joo Hoo Char. Gather & tie with a spring onion (lightly blanched). Put a spot of sambal belacan.

BTW.. The traditional way to eat Joo Hu Char is to take a lettuce leaf, top with a spoon of joo hu char and a dollop of sambal belachan and roll it up & pop into the mouth (much like California roll). Popiah is eaten wrapped, ie. a round popiah skin is spread with a little chilli paste & sweet sauce, lined with a lettuce leaf and topped with cooked shredded turnip & french beans , chopped egg omelette & beadcurd (tau kwa) and commercially fried crispy onions. Tightly roll one end, tuck in both sides and roll again. Then cut into large slices & serve immediately (Popiah 'basah'/wet). To get popiah 'goreng'/fried, make the filling by stir-frying some dried prawns with shredded turnip & carrots only.

2. Deep fried Yam & Sweet Potato Roll in Nori (seaweed,..yeah, I know that's not a typical Nyonya ingredient but the roll was inspired by the Penang favourite "loh bak" :) Saw this in the Flavours, food magazine. The recipe called for a mix of minced pork & chicken but I decided on a vegetarian version using steamed sweet potato & yam, mashed together & flavoured with vegetable stock & white pepper powder. Add a little cornflour to bind and a little plain flour to stiffen the paste. Similar to making a sushi roll, place a sheet of plastic (or cling wrap) on a bamboo mat (you can use your bamboo place mat). Line with a long sheet of nori and spread with a thin layer of paste. Roll one edge and use the bamboo mat to compact the roll by pressing on it. The bamboo allows you to achieve an even roll. Continue to roll it and compress, until the end of the nori. Neaten the sides. Stir some flour & water into a thin batter and coat the roll, just before deep frying. Once fried, slice the roll at an angle and you can see the dark nori swirl which looks like the clouds in the Chinese mythology!

Confession: I did not put flour in the paste & so it became very soft. Did not notice it until I fried & sliced it.. too late. What to do?? I cut the fried rolls into 1/2" rounds and deep fried it again in batter, just before serving.. Phew! it turned out ok & no one was the wiser ;)

3. Kerabu Salted Egg - Do this a little earlier by mixing thinly sliced onions (or shallots) & chilli padi (a green but very hot, mini chilli) with the juice of calamansi (limau kasturi) and a little sugar and refrigerate. Remove the black coating and wash the salted egg (telur asin). Place in water enough to cover the egg in a pan and slowly bring to boil. This will ensure that the egg does not crack. To cut the egg into equal halves, look at the dark impression of the yolk on the egg before cutting through the egg shell. Use a tablespoon to scoop out the egg & half it again. Just before serving, lightly mix the eggs with the onions & juice.

4. Penang Acar - This dish should be made a few days earlier so that the flavours can permeate. Cut cucumber (remove seed), carrot & long beans into 1" strips. Can also add 1" sections of french beans (split half way). Blanch the vegetables and drain into a large glass or ceramic bowl (don't use metal). Add a some vinegar (cuka) and leave for 20 min. Pour away vinegar & soak in water. Grind serai (lemongrass), lengkuas (young galangal), red chillie, garlic & lots of onions. Fry in oil till fragrant. Add turmeric powder & assam jawa juice. Add the drained vegetables and fry together with whole, peeled shallots, young ginger strips & sliced garlic, red chilli (de-seed, split & cut into 1" pieces). Add pounded groundnuts (buy from cake supply shops) & toasted sesame seeds. Add sugar & salt. Cool & keep in a dry bottle.
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The Reunion Dinner was scheduled for 8pm sharp. We invited 2 families to join us. One group arrived @5.30pm, in the midst of my preparations... But luckily mom had already anticipated, so we had snacks ready :

Snack : Curry Chicken Feet (mom's recipe) -- my cousin's favourite. They had it while waiting for the rest of the relatives to arrive. Also ready were the Joo Hu Char and beef curry. They used these as filling for the popiah skin.. ha ha.. innovative eating!

6.30pm -- Table all laid out with grandma's crockery, the 'batik bowls & saucers" and bamboo chopsticks & paper napkin. Time to take a bath & get dressed. I had my 'Ox' year RED t-shirt. BTW the dress code was shades of red or gold!

At 5 mins to 8pm, the other group arrived. Yee Sang was laid out with the help of my young cousins. Drinks were passed around and everyone gathered to "LOH SANG"!!

MENU A 6-course Chinese Reunion Dinner

#1 COMING TOGETHER : Veggie Yee Sang with Drumstick Mushroom
#2 JOY & FAMILY : Nyonya Four Season(ing)
#3 NEW BEGINNING : Spicy Bamboo Shoots with Chicken (mom cooked the chicken)
#4 ABUNDANCE : 8 Jewels Veggie Bowl
#5 LONGEVITY : Yin/Yang Noodles -- Carrot Noodles Stir-fried & Udon Clear Seaweed soup
#6 HEALTH & PROSPERITY : Longan in Iced Soya milk & Pumpkin Pancake - 'Golden Purse'

And extra treat : A sandwich cake with cream cheese topping from cousin, Nana -- yummy!

A surprise for the nite : I gave each one a Pumpkin Pancake folded into the shape of a purse. They bit into it and ha ha... found a gold chocolate $1 coin... FOR GOOD LUCK!!

Chinese New Year Celebration, Malaysian style!

CNY traditions differ slightly among the Chinese ethnic groups whose forefathers came from different parts of China and between the north, central & southern parts & east coast of Malaysian peninsula; east coast & East Malaysia.

In the north (Penang & Kedah), "kueh kapit", a delicately thin cookie folded in quarters, also known as 'love letters' is a must on CNY. When I moved to Johor, visitors to my CNY open house would bring oranges (ie. tangerine from China). We, not knowing the local custom, were happy to receive it and kept them. It was some time before we found out that we were suppose to give oranges back (not necessarily the same ones) to them as they leave as a symbol of giving them wealth & luck. Our visitors must have thought us rude... sorry.. Oranges are called 'kum' in most Chinese dialects and sound like the word 'gold'.

Another 'new' custom we learned was the "Loh Sang" of the "Yee Sang". We never had it in the north.

Nowadays, this dish is becoming very popular, probably due to 2 factors : a money-spinner (the ingredients are mainly veggie - fresh & pickled but restaurants charge a bomb as it's a once a year treat. RM30-40 per dish) and it's a social thing - a convenient reason to gather around for some annual catching-up & celebration.

Yee Sang is a mostly veggie dish, except for the slivers of raw fish & blanched jellyfish strips or pacific clams. At reunion dinners or gatherings within the 15-day CNY celebration, people would stand around a plate of yee sang & use their chopsticks to mix the ingredients, pulling & tossing it as high as possible, shouting hopes of health & prosperity.


There are prayers for ancestors on the day (lunch time) before CNY which usually consists of fruits & CNY sweets; red candles & joss sticks. However, the Hokkiens, are more particular. We have to cook 7 bowls of traditional delicacies & 'sin-lay' (offering) of cooked, whole (with feet & head intact) chicken, duck & roast pig. Other dishes can be added but served on plates instead. Bowls of rice, complete with appropriate cutlery, tea & wine cups are laid out around the table for our 'heavenly' guests.








On the day before this feast, mom would pray with joss sticks to 'invite' these guests. On the day, how do we know if the 'guests' have arrived? Mom will pray & drop 2 large (50 sen) coins. If the coin face shows one head & one tail, it means 'yes', they are here. Each member of the household will pray & burn joss sticks to 'welcome' them. After an hour or so, mom will check by tossing the coins again. One head, one tail again signifies 'yes', we are done & going back. Prayer paper money are burnt to offer 'them' some farewell 'presents'.

Perut Ikan - 2 versions

You either love it or find it yukky!! Why? This dish is traditionally made from fish stomach preserved in salt for many months! But it is a 'family project' kind of dish.

My earliest recollection of this dish is the coming together of all the women folk (aunts & their daughters) at my grandma's large kitchen. The ingredients comprise a long list of vegetables and a mix of fresh spices.

But this dish starts long before the cutting & the cooking. Each time we clean a medium to large fish, mom saves the stomach after splitting it open & cleaning out its contents. She puts it in a glass bottle & adds salt to preserve it.

Once we have enough saved, we need to look for another important ingredient, the 'daun kaduk' (a fragrant, minty leaf that is often mistaken for betel leaf/daun sireh). The problem is that it is not usually sold in wet markets or supermarkets. It's usually a weed like creeper found on the roadside or grown as decorative foliage due to its shiny, deep green, heart-shaped leaf. Many people I spoke to do not know that it can be eaten. However, the Thais use it as a base for the 'Otak-otak' (spicy steamed fish & egg concoction) or in 'Mieng Kum' (appetiser). My Indian friend's mother says it can be mixed with beaten egg & fried as an omelette. One recipe shows it shredded & mixed in Nasi Ulam (rice & raw leaves salad) by the Kelantanese.

On the morning of the big 'cook', aunt's & their daughters will start the cutting the various vegetables. Long beans, eggplant (terung) & pineapple are cut into 1" long pieces.

The daun kaduk leaves are stacked with the large leaves at the bottom. Then rolled up and finely sliced. Sweet basil, daun cekuk & daun limau purut (all fragrant leaves) and bunga kantan (ginger flower) are often slotted in between the daun kaduk, just before it is rolled up & sliced.

The finely sliced leaves are rinsed in tap water a few times to remove the strong, bitter , minty taste. This is a kind of rite of passage as the initiation of daughters are based on her skill in slicing the leaves as fine as possible.

Tumeric (kunyit), lengkuas (galangal), red chillies, onion & garlic are pounded together into a paste using a stone mortar.

A large pot is filled half-way with water is brought to boil. Stir in the pounded paste. Add a slice (1"x 1") of belachan (prawn paste) & a bowl of assam jawa (tamarind seeds mixed in a little water & squeezed to extract out its juice) is added. Also add some tumeric powder for an appetising colour. Once it re-boils, add the 1" vegetables, squid or prawns, fish eggs & preserved fish stomach (rinse it a few times to remove the salt, first). Simmer a bit & lastly, add the daun kaduk. Adjust the taste - it should be quite sour, a bit fishy, slightly sweet, salty.

For us kids (at that time-lah) who don't really like vegetables, we were constantly stirring the pot trying to get at the limited fish stomach pieces. How does it taste? Tangy, rubbery with a distinct smell & taste. A bit like pig's stripe (Oh! that used to be my all time favourite - gross, huh?).

Sounds like a lot of hard work? There's the short-cut version! And it's vegan (no fish stomach !).

Cut vegetables as above. Add 1" carrots & sliced fried taukua (beancurd). Boil the water & cook the pounded paste but leave out the belachan & seafood. For flavour, I found this vegetable cube stock made from mushroom & seaweed. (Only Rm3)

Final product looks like this ! Serve with rice.

Penang Assam LAKSA

Laksa is basically a spicy, noodle dish with soup. It comes in many forms & variations, depending on the area it originates from or the ethnic background of the people. The soup is usually made with fish, with a few exceptions. Fish meat is mixed into the soup to make it thick.

In the north, the Penang Chinese have the famous sour, spicy & fishy Assam Laksa (recipe is given below - traditional & vegan) using white, soft, translucent rice noodles (lai fun).

The Thais have a similar type of noodle and sold fresh in small coils. When we were staying in Alor Setar (almost near the Thai border), my dad will buy back these noodles on his regular visits the the border towns. Mom & all of use will be waiting patiently with a pot of the fiery, aromatic soup!

Note: Quite some time ago, there was a scare when some people & children died after consuming the noodles. It was traced to the over-use of boric asid in the making of this noodle. There were also rumours of unscruplous vendors adding toilet paper & chicken feed were added for extra flavour & bulk & of course, make a high profit! This prompted one organic cafe/shop to advertise their Assam Laksa as made from REAL FISH!

The Malays have a thicker, soup made of fish & the white rice noodle is stiffer and breaks easily. Cashew nut leaves (young shoots) were chopped & used as garnish.

The Kelatanese (in the east coast) have Laksan (not sure how that is -- will let you know after my trip to Kota Bahru, capital of Kelantan this Sept). Possibly a cross between assam laksa but with santan (coconut milk), influenced by the Thais.

The Chinese laksa (mainly in the central area) is santan, red curry-based with yellow noodles, with cockles & curry chicken. The most different of the rest.

In the south (Johor), spaghetti is used and it has a fish-based soup & vegetable topping is eaten RAW (!), including taugeh (mung bean sprouts). This gives a unique taste, quite an acquired taste. They have a special way to cut the cucumber, in thin circular strips. Needs some skill & lots of practice to master it!

Alternatively, you could check out Laksa Shack, a home-grown franchise, for its many types of laksa.

ASSAM LAKSA
500 gm Lai Fun (translucent, fresh white rice noodle) or dried thick beehoon (soaked until soft). Boil a pot of water. Blanch the noodles only a few minutes (longer if dried noodles used). Do not over cook. Its ok if under-cooked, as the hot soup later will continue to cook it when you pour it over the noodles. Strain & set aside.

Spicy soup :
1. Grind these into a fairly fine paste (grounded paste):
4 large red onions - cut into cubes
10 dried red chillies - soak in water until soft
3 stalks serai/lemongrass - sliced coarsely only first 6-8cm part
1 inch fresh kunyit/tumeric - sliced coarsely
1 inch fresh ginger (young/old) - sliced coarsely
A small piece of belacan (2cm x 2cm x 1cm)

2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add :
grounded paste

2 stalks of daun kesom / 'chen hom' in Hokkien (leaves & stalk)

5 stalks of daun pudina /'poh hoh' in Hokkien / mint (leaves & stalk)

2 pieces of assam keping

1 tbsp assam jawa extreme (Adabi)

or 1/2 fist-sized assam jawa (original) mixed in a 1/2 cup water & squeezed to release the sticky paste & remove seeds

leftover serai stalks, bunga kantan stalks, pineapple 'hard spine' for added flavour

3. Let boil. Then simmer for 1o minutes. Add :
8 small ikan kembong/fish - cleaned & gutted

Bring to boil again. Cook for 5 mins. Then remove the fish onto a plate. Carefully separate fish from its bones. Keep half of the amount as garnish and pour the rest back into the soup. Cook for another 10 mins.

4. Taste & adjust seasoning - salt. Add a little sugar if the soup is too sour or wait until you add 'Har ko' (slightly sweet shrimp paste) when serving.

Garnish/topping :
1 stalk Bunga Kantan (flower part only - finely sliced
1 piece of pineapple (remove hard spine for soup, slice into strips)
1 pc red chillie - sliced
3 pc small green chillie padi (extra spicy)
2 pcs limau kasturi / calamansi or lime - halved
1 large onion - sliced finely
20 slices of cucumber - cut into strips
A handful of mint leaves (stalks removed)
A can of 'har ko' - dark, thick shrimp paste ('hea koh' in Hokkien) .. see the blue can in the pix -->

Serving :

Heat up the soup. Half-fill deep bowls with rice noodles. Arrange in this order - mint leaves, cucumber strips, pineapple strips, bunga kantan, chillies & top with some cooked fish. Dip a dry spoon into the 'har ko' and scoop a little and place in the bowl. Lastly, pour hot soup over it & serve. If it's not sour enough, squeeze half a limau kasturi (remove pips).

MY VEGAN version

Serves one vegan 8-)

In a small pot, boil 2 cups water. Put in a few pieces of konbu (thick Japanese seaweed - RM2 /pkt @Jusco) or seaweed paste (from vegetarian grocers) & simmer until konbu is soft. Lightly break or cut a piece of hard tofu into smaller pieces. Add to the soup. Add 2 tablespoons of freshly ground chillie paste (as above, but leave out the belacan). Add assam (or juice of 1 limau kasturi) & let it simmer. Add a little soya sauce and sugar. Adjust to taste. It can be a light strong, because once poured into the bowl, the noodles will dilute the taste.

Assemble the ingredients as above & pour the soup over it. Much of the taste & aroma comes from the herbs & chillie paste and garnishes. Konbu (thick seaweed) gives it a bit fishy flavour. For a more fishy taste, serve with a teaspoon of Biosoft seaweed (from Taiwan) -->

SLURP UP! :P

BIRTHDAY MEE!

This is a Hokkein / Nyonya / Peranakan noodle dish traditionally served on one's birthday. The yellow noodle strands have to be carefully cooked so that it remains long. The 'Birthday girl/boy' will have to slurp & eat it without breaking the strands=sign of longevity (long life)!!

The dish is purposely colourful to symbolise happiness & rosy future. Egg omelettes are tinged red & yellow& cut in thin strips. The sauce is in two parts: a thick gravy & a clear soup.

Over the years, we have made some slight changes to the ingredients to suit current tastes & religious preferences. No problem - if we have Muslim relatives & friends over, then we will substitute the pork for 'halal' chicken (ie. chicken, slaughtered according to Muslim rites). But for vegans like me, well ... any ideas ?

Some ingredients are also hard to find. There is one delicacy which is integral to the dish but rarely found. You'd probably find it only in Pulau Pangkor or Penang's Chowrasta (main) market. It is called the 'Pea Hu' (literally translated - flat fish). There is a legend behind the physical characteristic of the fish, which has both eyes on one side of the fish (a bit like the sting-ray but no long tail) but I'm not too sure about it. My mom says it is very tasty and the bones are used to boil the clear soup, whereas the flesh is added into the thick gravy.

Hope some readers can give me some info. or one day I'll have to do a 'pilgrimage' back to Penang just to find this fish! ha ha..

Please excuse the approximation of ingredients. Its like in the old days, where the matriarch 'chefs' will just grab a fistful or rice bowl full of ingredients.

Thick Gravy
1 medium piece - Streaky pork with skin ('sam chan bak') or chicken meat (if you don't eat pork)
10 small/medium size- Prawns de-vein by partly slicing the back of each prawn & removing the dark greenish vein. This will make the prawn roll into a ball when cooked.
1/2 bowl - Crab meat / squids (optional)
1 packet Fish ball & Fish cake (optional)
1-2 tablespoons of Cornflour mixed with 1/2 cup water
Prawn stock made from washed, discarded prawn head & shell boiled in water (to add more flavour!)

Clear Soup
200 gm Pork / chicken bones - washed
1 small Turnip - cut into large chunks

Body of the dish
300 gm Taugeh/mung bean sprouts (50 sen)
1 small bunch of Kucai/flat-leaved chives (50 sen)
500 gm Yellow fresh noodle (mee)

Garnish
Chopped garlic in oil ('ken phang', in Hokkien)
Red egg omelette
Red chilli strips, chopped spring onions, coriander leaves, or Chinese celery leaves
Sambal belacan

Making the clear soup = In a large pot, bring to boil a half pot of water. Add the pork bones & turnip. Boil till turnips are slightly soft. Cook fishball for a few minutes, until it floats. Remove & set aside. Season soup with some white pepper & salt.

Making the thick gravy & garlic oil = Put streaky pork whole piece in the clear soup until just cooked (don't over cook or it will be tough). Slice into strips (across the grain). Set aside. In a large wok, heat some oil on slow heat to lightly fry chopped garlic for making 'ken phang'. Once the garlic is slightly brown, turn off the heat. The oil will continue to brown the garlic. (If done correctly, it should turn a golden brown & crispy. When it is cooled, you can keep it in a bottle and use as flavoured oil in any soupy dish). Remove part of the garlic oil.

Turn on the heat. Pan fry the fish cake and remove. Slice it when cooled.

Then use the remaining oil to fry the prawns, then add streaky pork. Spoon 2 scoops of clear soup into the wok. Add a dash of dark soy sauce & light soy sauce to make the gravy brown. Add crab meat & squid. Add prawn stock. When boiling, slowly stir in the cornflour mixture, stirring continuously until the gravy thickens. Don't pour all the cornflour mixture, if the gravy is already thick.

To make the body = Heat another half pot of water to boil. Add taugeh (bean sprouts / mung bean sprouts) & kucai (chives). Stir 1 min & remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add in the yellow noodles carefully so the strands are intact. Cook for 2 mins while lightly separating the strands. Drain & set aside in a large bowl.

To make the sambal belacan : (can be made a few days ahead but store in a dry jar & refrigerate)
1 small 1" piece of toasted belacan (or Maggi belachan powder)
4 long red chillies (with or without seeds - more seeds, hotter it will be)
A dash of Salt, sugar, Ajinomoto
3-4 Limau kesturi (calamansi / lime) - cut into 1/2 & remove seeds

Lots of people are afraid to pound the chillies as it tends to splatter! So, use a towel to dry the red chillies. Line the area with newspaper. Break/cut chillies into 1" pieces. Start by lightly pounding to flatten the chillies. Then pound section by section at the edge of the chillie pieces not straight into the centre which will send the seeds & bits & pieces flying. Try and get the chillies shiny side up so the juicy parts will be facing down. Use one hand to steady the stone bowl. Use the other hand to pound with even pressure and partly use a grinding motion.

Once chillies are quite fine, add the toasted belacan or dry belacan powder and continue to grind/pound until well blended. Scoop into a dish/glass bottle & squeeze the limes. Adjust to taste. Belacan is usually salty. Just add a little sugar or Ajinomoto to bring out the taste (yeah, that's traditionally the seasoning used).

How to toast belacan (processed prawn paste) ? - You can do this a day before. Heat a small dry pan (non-stick if possible) on low fire and toast one side of a thin slice of belachan. Then turn over. Take care that it does not burn. When almost dry, turn off fire. Break into small pieces and let the latent heat of the pan dry/toast the bits. Let cool. Reminder: the smell IS, according to each other's opinion-either 'heavenly' or 'stinky'.

To make : Red egg omelette slices

Beat two eggs with 2 half-egg shells of water (traditional measurement). Add a little salt & a drop of red cochineal food colouring. Be careful. To avoid over-colouring, use a toothpick to trnasfer the colour. Heat a small non-stick pan. Add a ladle of egg mixture, swirl into a smooth thin crepe-like omelette. The thinner the highly skilled your are! Roll it and remove into the cutting board. Slice as fine as possible. The pink omelette below was done in haste, hence is not fine enough!

Serving:

In a deep bowl, line with a little taugeh & kucai. Top with some yellow noodles. This should fill half the bowl. Spoon on the thick gravy & its meat/seafood. Garnish with red eggs, fish ball/cake slices, leaves - coriander/celery/spring onions & red chillie strips. Top it with a fews scoops of clear, hot soup and sambal belacan on the side.

Then, DIG IN!!