mystatuesque: Chinese New Year 2013

Chinese New Year is one of the very few or only occasion in the year where businesses and many other activities come to a stand still, including my gym sessions and diet-watching. I don't regret it though (just need to get back on track quickly), and here's why.

1) Food galore

For each day of the CNY holiday, I've only had one meal a day. However, each meal lasted 6 to 8 hours long. After eating, I snack. After snacking, I eat. It's just not the time to deny all the delectable home-cooked dishes laid out at every house visit. Some of my favorites are:

Fried chicken wings

Credits: kitchenrap.blogspot.com

I don't have many pictures of food because I was really too busy eating. Sigh. Anyway, my uncle usually prepares and marinades the chicken wings, and they are fried at my Grandma's place. Yes there are many awesome chicken wings out there, but home-cooked ones can be just as good too!

Ayam Buak Keluak

Credits: epicurative.blogspot.com

This is a Peranakan dish, with nuts from the Pangium edule or kepayang tree as the main ingredient. The flesh of the nuts is mixed with chicken, chilli paste, and other spices to produce a rich gravy. My mum makes this every year and it's a must have for me. I'm happy that I'm usually one of the first few visitors to my grandma's place, and I make sure I get to savour the nuts (at least 4 nuts in one go) before they are finished by my other relatives.

Do you know that the raw seeds are actually poisonous? They contain cyanide which can cause fatalities if consumed in a high quantity.

Hot plate cooking

Credits: www.atelierdeschefs.co.uk

Over at my mum's side, we have steamboat for our 团圆饭. In recent year, the hot plate stove was mobilized as well. Ever since then, I only cook at and eat from the hot plate because I totally dig hot plate / barbequed food.

鱼生

Credits: www.otcafe.com

I only pick out the crackers for this dish. Heh. It is still fun to join in the tossing with family and friends though!

These are some of my favourite snacks. It explains my 6- to 8-hour long meals. I had a slight sore throat pre-CNY, from munching on these goodies. By the end of 初三 it developed into a full-blown sore throat from the incessant overindulgence. Well done.

Pineapple tarts

I've never been much of a pineapple tart fan until I tried this particular one from Katong. I first tasted it when my colleague brought it to office. The pineapple paste is sweet, moist and tangy, and I really like nibbling on the pineapple 'fibre'. I think the winning component is the pastry, it's light and buttery, with a slight crisp to it. My colleague asked for the tarts to be baked a little browner for that extra crisp.

I doubt I'll be open to trying pineapple tarts from elsewhere after having this heavenly little treat. The only drawback is that I don't know where exactly this shop is located. All I have is a handphone number, but I have not been successful in contacting them despite multiple tries. I'll be relying on my colleague to help me order them for now.

Indonesian prawn crackers

This is highly addictive. I've been having a little of this everyday ever since I got my hands on them, and I never fail to look out for these crackers when CNY is around the corner. I don't know what makes it so addictive.. perhaps it's because it is shaped like fries, which makes snacking on it really easy as compared to your regular palm-sized prawn crackers?

Ba Kwa

Credits: www.sparklette.net

美珍香 seems to be the dominant player in this barbequed pork jerky market, but I personally prefer those which are sliced thinner (don't fancy the thicker ones from 美珍香). The only type of ba kwa that I really like from 美珍香 is their Gourmet Bakkwa (has bacon in it). I remember being unable to stop snacking on this particular brand of ba kwa at my boyfriend's place. It looked as thin as the picture above, and according to the article where this picture came from, this brand is Kim Hwa Guan (金华源). I don't recall having been there before, but I'll be sure to check it out the next time I'm in Chinatown! I also tend to heat my ba kwa till the edges turn a little black, because I like them crisp!

2) Pretty dresses

Well I didn't manage to wear all the festive dresses I bought for CNY, especially the Megagamie Feline Cheongsam Dress. Nevertheless, I'm still keeping the unworn pieces as they are unique, and I hope to find another suitable occasion to don it.

Here were my outfits for each day

Day 1 - Love Bonito Camella Dress

No pictures for this :( Was busy running around (and eating...).

Day 2 - Love Bonito Lorenze Cheongsam