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!!
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