Lunar New Year - Symbolic Meanings and Good Omens

Lunar New Year of the EARTH PIG

5 Feb 2019 to 24 Jan 2020

Note: Lunar New Years usually start any date between the 19th of January and the 19th of February of any Gregorian calendar year.

Rat 2008 – Ox 2009 – Tiger 2010 - Rabbit 2011 – Dragon 2012 – Snake 2013  – Horse 2014 – Goat or Sheep 2015 – Monkey 2016 – Rooster 2017 – Dog 2018 – Pig 2019.   Apply multiples of 12 to identify past and future years.

No sweeping of the broom or cleaning the house or doing laundry for at least the first 3 days of the Lunar New Year, lest good luck is inadvertently lost.   Get a haircut before New Year's Eve and avoid doing so in the first lunar month.

The Yee Sang is a raw fish salad that nurtures the stirring of positive vibes.  Banquet dishes are chosen carefully to be consumed for positive vibes and play on Chinese language pronunciation:

Lively prawns Prawns or Ha sound like laughter!   Steamed fish is served whole, for its connotation is to be well off.    Chicken sounds like luck.   Lettuce, or Sang Choy in Cantonese, refers to growing money.

Dried oyster, or Ho Si, means good things.  Zyu Dau, or pork knuckles in Mandarin, suggests of good things being achieved effortlessly.  Black moss or Fatt Choi alludes to wealth and prosperity.    Pork represents strength, wealth and blessings.    Scallops and clams served encourage the opening of new horizons.

Lotus seeds, pomegranates and duck in the menu wish young couples of fertility and to multiply.

Spring rolls represent gold bars for wealth.     Melons are signs of family unity.   Noodles signify a long and fulfilling life.    Mandarin oranges represent gold and are especially exchanged between relatives and friends. Pomelo gifts signify abundance and prosperity.   Dumplings look like gold ingots.

The tangerine plant or Kat is placed proudly in the front of houses, especially modified miniature shrubs, as its name in Chinese refers to good luck.   The Li or plum blossom stands for hope and renewal.  

  

It is a must to obtain a new wardrobe for the Lunar New Year. New Year means a new start. Maybe commercialism has added pressure to this philosophy.   Avoid buying shoes during the traditional first 15 days of the Lunar New Year. In Cantonese, the word for shoes also suspiciously sounds like having a regretful sigh!

Red packets (Hong Bao or Lai See) are filled with money and given for good luck by married members of a family to younger relatives and children of good friends.

Sweetness is exemplified by the making of a variety of snacks and cakes. The glutinous sticky rice cake or Nin Gou means tall cake, emphasising one getting to higher achievements or growing taller in stature year after year. Tong Jyun or sweet dough balls signify the roundness of a reunion.

It is popular for households to display red cuts of festive designs like lanterns, calligraphy and zodiac animals. Good sayings with Chinese characters are often hung upside down, for such an arrangement also suggests the "arrival" of good luck.

Traditional greetings during the festive period emphasise on good fortune, prosperity, a wonderful and smooth path, excellent luck, family happiness, an achieving career, good business and scoring good results in study.    Avoid using, giving or receiving sharp pointed objects during the first few days of the Lunar New Year.    Lion dances bring good vibes to businesses and households.

Lunar New Year 2017

A most popular dish when gathering for dinner with friends and family over the festive season, mainly in south-east Asia, especially in Malaysia and Singapore.   It is a collection of crunchy stuff, raw fish and thinly sliced veg  - the Yee Sang. Before eating, every one at the dining table stand to stir up the ingredients and concurrently pronounce "Lo Hei"  (in Cantonese "to stir up the energy and vibes").    Photograph was taken at the Grand Kingdom, Tropicana, Petaling Jaya, Klang Valley .

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The Kumquats and the Oranges are iconic symbols of prosperity and gold in Chinese culture.

Roosters can either articulate too much or are extremely quiet.  Other Rooster characteristics are discipline, problem solving and seeking attention.     They are often self-assured and organised.  Image credit - Social media.

The iconic Tu Tor or pig stomach soup, here home made for the gathering of family on Lunar New Year's Eve.

Tnieh Kueh is made from steaming banana leaf lined cups of tapioca flour and sugar.   These were found at a SS2  open market in the Klang Valley outside Kuala Lumpur.

Seafood seems to be the shared captivation for many festivals around the world.

Yummy dessert lovelies with fruit slices, at the E & O Hotel, George Town, Penang.

Red turtle snacks, made from mung bean fillings.  From the kitchen of Ms. Teoh Sian Kin.

Lanterns galore at the Kek Lok Si Temple complex in Air Itam, Penang Island.

Commercial spaces are full of festive decorations before and during the Lunar New Year.  This set up was spotted in George Town Penang at a down town shopping centre.

Kai Tan San, a favourite biscuit of mine that seems only made during the festive season.  From the kitchen of Ms. Teoh Sian Kin.

A double folded Hibiscus  flower blooms in the Wollongong area. 

Lamb & Cumin Hurstville NSW

Ambient, aromatic and appetising?    Meat skewers over the charcoal grill.




It is fast food, it is grilled and it relies on turnover.    Its customers like it as snacks, they do  not really have a place to sit down to savour the skewered sticks but perhaps most of them are stopping by quickly in between going from and to somewhere else.


Lamb & Cumin's location can be ideal as such, and I appreciate the rather wide walking space in front of it.   It is under cover, so no problems with wet pavements and perhaps waiting in the rain.    It has a potential rival nearby - the Taiwanese inspired Star fried chicken with its blue facade around the corner, but this is different street food.


Shaanxi, Beijing and central Asia share the love for this street food.   It can be smokey and captivating to watch, even indoors in this stall sited  above a railway station.
It is not just chicken meat , you can have crocodile, Wagyu beef, Tofu, beef tendons or parts of chicken you may not normally eat.   Usually the marinade in the meat is sufficient - but we do not want over the top oily servings as well, so do watch the griller and his or her cooking style.  If you have been backpacking the streets of Asia, especially in northern China, Indonesia, Vietnam or Thailand,  you may appreciate there is an unspoken art in such skewer grilling.


You know the person at the stall is experienced when they pack the meats alternatively between fat and lean.  Such an arrangement helps to infuse more flavour as the fatty neighbour can share its excess oils with the other, resulting in a more even spread.   I have seen baking soda used overseas to tenderise meats, especially the tendons and tougher cuts, but I am not sure what is used in Australian outlets these days.


In China, garlic chives is a popular ingredient used for such grilled meats but I did not see this at LAC at Hurstville.    The marinade utilised must have the compulsory cumin, pepper seasoning, garlic paste, chilli flakes and salt sprinkle.


Grilling over charcoal can have its challenges - one needs to balance between flavour, aroma and texture, without making an oily mess and over burning parts of what is being cooked over flame.   The meat cubes must be even bite-sized.   The marinade is to be applied evenly.   The cooking skewers must be watched and flipped over once in a while to ensure evenness in cooking.


As with my experienced working for fun and pro bono at satay stalls during charity food fairs in the past, waiting time can be a subjective factor for both customers and the business.   If not prepared properly , the mood and character of the charcoal grills can be odd and not reliable.   Like the performance of a well seasoned and utilised wok,n the charcoal grill can produce better and more reliable results within an expected time frame after it gets sufficiently heated up.

Lamb & Cumin is located at Shop 7C,  225H Forest Road, Hurstville NSW, above the rail station.

Opening hours are from 9am to 530pm from Mondays to Wednesdays; from 9am to 9pm on Thursdays; from 9am to 6pm on Fridays; and from 10am to 4pm on weekends.
Contact    + 61 2 9701 2374



My impressions of Lamb & Cumin at Hurstville NSW:
Ambiance: 2 out of 5

Customer Engagement: 3 out of 5
Culinary Delight:  3 out of 5
X Factor: 3 out of 5
Overall:   11 /4  out of 5

 

Blue River Chinese Restaurant - Woonona NSW

Tasty, tender and uplifting - lamb braised with garlic on a hot plate.

They  have San Choy Bow for entrees; butterfly shaped prawns which are deep fried with spicy salt or garlic butter;a rather unusual prawn and bacon rolls entree; satay chicken skewers; the popular crispy skin chicken; a traditional boneless chicken with plum sauce;and instead of Mongolian lamb, there is  a chicken  version  of the dish.   The location is suburban, the guests come from residential areas and the name of the restaurant is Blue River.

There are several accompaniments to the sweet and sour, a formula well tested and tried when Chinese immigrants started cooking outlets to survive in a  foreign land many years ago.   Pork is offered in fillets, ribs or cut as small slices.  The menu is not new fangled Hong Kong or fusion South-east Asian, but rather a southern Chinese based menu that also caters for the preferences of more Caucasian tastes.

Ready to start the meal!

Pineapple fried rice was under in my expectations.  However I was taken with the so many different ways they can cook chicken, lamb, beef and seafood in a rather extensive menu.   The basis of this all is good wok technique.  Chinese dishes tend to be prepared bite-sized, there is no chunky stuff here.  Also lots of different kinds of vegetables that can be picked up by chopsticks.   Deep fried tofu is symbolic of the extensive use of frying in this restaurant.  My eye caught the dish called King Prawn Fu Yum, egg omelette with succulent prawns.   Noodles are categorised nicely - crispy, pan fried or steamed, linked to the name "Chow Mein".

NZ stand out from Hawkes Bay, this was a BYO.

Long and short noodle soup still remains on the menu, with that iconic corn and crab meat version that is a staple in Western countries but which you don't see much in Asia itself.   I always had problems distinguishing between the terms long and short for noodles, for to me they are simply egg noodles and wantons.

For seafood, Blue River has fish, scallops, King Prawns and squid cooked with a combination of flavours like chilli, garlic, King Doo sauce, shallots, black pepper and more.

One of the popular dishes in south-east Asia for Chinese restaurants is steamed fresh fish, but alas this is not offered here.  Instead, deep fried fish fillets come with lemon or mushrooms or black bean sauce or snow peas and broccoli.   I do not find black pepper sauce goes with fish, but they also have that with lamb and beef.

Prices are reasonable and service for us that evening was rather on time, there was no mucking around in the kitchen.  Next time I must try their garlic infused chicken,  the steamed duck done Cantonese style; omelettes for dinner; and some vegetarian choices.

Cashews with prawns and veg - not exactly my favourite and the wok heat could have been better in the outcome.

Oh yes, Blue River has deep fried ice cream,  banana split and banana fritters, very much devoted to a  market that still yearns for a Chinese menu from 1970s Australia.  And why not?  The restaurant is not that big, has tables in a compact space but has a lovely Caucasian lady at the counter and interacting with customers, perhaps a rarity in Chinese restaurants in Sydney CBD.   There is in house wine list but Blue River is also BYO for wines.  We sat not too far inside and I could see McDonalds obviously across the Princes Highway.  Not far up is Emerald and Moon Sushi is on the northern side.  Woonona is coming up with a bit of variety in the commercial strip, although Blue River has been in business for many years.




Blue River Chinese Restaurant is located at 365 Princes Highway, Woonona NSW, north of Wollongong city centre.
The restaurant is closed on Mondays.
Opening hours are from 1130am to 230pm for Tuesday to Sunday lunch and 430pm to 930pm for Tuesday to Thursday plus Sunday dinners.   For Friday and Saturday dinners, it is from 430pm to 1000pm.
Contact +61 2 4284 9711

Mooncake Festival - Innovative Tastes Continue

Image Copyright - Intercontinental Singapore

Maple glaze used to give more taste and shimmer to the outer skin or crust pastry.  As new variations of tea arise, so have to be the mooncake creativity in making them.   Poetic names are significant to captivate, attract and make a purchase.  Snow skin,  low sugar, double happiness, assorted.  The moon cake heritage meets with a  modern, fast paced world where elegance, uniqueness and quality are rewarded and sought after.

Colours become more subtle or striking.  Servings become smaller as moon cakes are rich and packed with ingredients.  Moon cakes are bought not necessarily to be consumed, they are icons of respect, honour and love given to deserving recipients.   Tea blends are not limited to Oolong or Black Sesame but widened to the best of Earl Greys and Matcha. Are moon cakes still partaken at quiet family gatherings at home, or now more so in public, at restaurant dinners, community gatherings and political celebrations?  The act of juniors offering prettily dressed up gift boxes now accompany the bringing of wine, dressing up and listening to music at hotel functions.  Bakeries, associations and hotels use the mooncakes as the centre piece to mark anniversaries, occasions and parties.

Creations from 2AM Desserts Holland Village Singapore

Image Copyright - Li Bai Singapore

In the old scheme of things, there can be only four variations - lotus paste, black sesame, five nuts and red bean.  Now the gate has been opened for some time now, you can have a wonderful variety.  Mao Tai and dark chocolate.  Durian, but of the most quality and expensive fruiting breeds like Musang King.  What about cranberry?  Mooncakes are supposed to be a heady mix of savoury, sweet, nutty.  There is amazingly a Kopi-O mooncake, perhaps trying to chase up with the craze in coffee blends.  Cherry Brandy, Chocolate Brandy and Lychee Martini are also lining up to curry your favour and palate.  May be the cream cheese mooncake?  East and West meet in more than a hundred ways.

I would rather have a strawberry and lime Margarita truffle mooncake.

The concept of single or double yolks plus water melon seeds still continue.  There can now at the same time be more of candled macadamia and almond nuts.  Baileys Truffle seems to be rising in use.  Chestnut lotus is a new variation, together with stand out ingredients like rose and pistachio combinations that reduce the over whelming sensation of some old fashioned items.

Mung bean can now be missed with coconut truffle, echoing the Chinese diaspora in south-east Asia.
Pandanus flavours with palm sugar Gula Melaka has been around for several years in Singapore.  I have yet to taste a dried shrimp paste mooncake though.

My fav currently is sea salt caramel truffle or one with peanut butter - hello Adriano Zumbo!!   Bird's nest with custard has the best chances of being a thumbs up with the older generation.

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The Mooncake Festival or Zhongqiujie falls on Sunday evening 27 September 2015.

CRC Chinese Restaurant - Georgetown Penang

Mantou bread accompanied with Indian prawn curry - a fusion in Georgetown, Penang.

Southern Chinese themed tofu braise garnished with peas, carrots, mushrooms and a eggy mix - great for kids with steamed rice.

Nothing like a simply effective greens dish.

Birthday noodles Cantonese style but with a Penang twist of pickled green chill cuts.

Mochi soaked in fine grounded red bean dessert.

The classic Sichuan sweet and sour.

Straits Chinese - Baby Sam's First Month, Sydney NSW

The Ang Ku or red coloured tortoise mould snacks with mung bean paste inside.

Making pre-wrapped Beijing duck servings.

Troika of festivity - Indian inspired  turmeric flavoured steamed rice, southern Chinese red dyed hard boiled eggs and Straits Chinese chicken curry.

Veg spring rolls being prepared fro deep frying.

Roundness and promise in life - such hard boiled eggs are also a tradition in Eastern Europe and Russia.

Chinese Cuisine in South East Asia - Iconic Ingredients

Fresh king prawns, often required for festive meals and family gatherings.

The ubiquitous tofu squares from Southern China.

Kumquats freshly plucked form the garden.

Contrasting flavours - the subtle soy bean based foochok, used mostly in soups and stir fries (background) sits next to the vinegar and chili based condiment for Hainan chicken rice (background).

A ginger heady concoction to highlight flavours of otherwise bland dishes.

Cantonese styled roast pork with crackle, utilised to be eaten with soy sauced egg noodles, steamed rice or just for themselves.

Lebanese cucumbers - a vital and useful ingredient used in Fujian poh pniah wraps and Beijing duck servings, whilst accompanying grilled satay skewers and Indonesian nasi lemak sets.

Hainan Chicken Rice - national dish of Singapore

More than Congee - Comfort Foods

Congee - the word, all at once,  brings up visions of fast food, socio-economic battlers, quick but piping hot breakfasts and warmth on cool weather nights. It is an efficient creation, for hard-earned rice is boiled until it amplifies to a more voluminous mix that is soft and gentle on the palates of the very young and elderly. Ubiquitous in East Asia, but surprisingly not at all in the Indian sub-continent, the history of the congee speaks of thrift, patience, sparing conservatism and caution. The congee is a dish that also calls up creativity and economy in use of scarce ingredients - be they bits of green shallot rings, ground pepper, slivers of tender chicken or thinly cut ginger. Yet, at the same time, the congee is also food that emphasises on freshness, quality and aroma. These days the congee feels right at home whether being served at yum cha sessions, food courts or in midnight cafes. Above photo shows a set of congee-filled bowls ready for consumption, together with a lemon grass leaf infused herbal drink, light soy sauce and vinegar pickled green chili cuts.

The sar hor fun - or stir fried wide rice noodles bathed in a stock gravy and laden with fresh choy sum vegetables, fish cake squares, calamari, barbecued char siew, deshelled prawns and juicy pork cuts.   Cantonese in origin, the success of delivery and outcome for this dish depends on two critical factors - the heat of the wok used and the oomph of the stock gravy. It can be a messy dish to prepare - and as with most Asian food, require ingredients to be prepared before hand, usually cut into precise bite-sized pieces and with stocks to be made.  The choice of ingredients, like the cut of the meat and where it comes from the butchered animal, is significant. Also available with beef and chicken, but rarely with lamb, this dish evokes in me the memory of the siew yeh, or supper, ala Hong Kong and Guangzhou.  East Asians, together with South-East Asians and Mediterranean peoples, love the practice and concept of snacking before bedtime, and in Western countries, you can also see the hubs of eating, drinking and socialising beyond the midnight hour in many ethnic enclaves.  This dish, in my mind, is fondly associated with my Dad driving my brothers and me out for a treat after normally curfew hours (sleeping time!) to a roadside stall to wait for freshly cooked servings, often packed with newspaper cover and banana leaf wrapping.

Banana cake slices (picture below) in the foreground , with slices of Star apples in the background.  I find that such cakes are made with over ripe and aromatic bananas in Asia, a legacy of colonialism and East-West fusion from the 19th and 20th centuries, whilst in Australia, the bananas used are not so ripe and not so mushy. High tea implies cakes with sugar and spice, but banana cakes are more savoury than sweet. Are they better accompanied by a cup of tea, or by dunking in coffee? The penchant for habitually drinking tea became entrenched in Britain after a Portuguese princess married an English King - and coffee beans were introduced to Europe by the Arabs and Moors.  So how did bananas came to be introduced into Western concepts of flour based cakes?  It was in another continent - the USA, when the economic Depression drove ingenuity to  utilise baking soda, baking powder and bananas to create something which could be sold and for which there was a market, when money was hard to come by.  The banana cake recipe was first published in Pilsbury’s Balanced Recipes of 1933. Banana cakes (or for that matter, banana bread, when cooked in a loaf tin) do exude a warm feeling of welcome and warmth when coming home to.  Banana cakes also remind me of school fetes and sports functions. 

Lunar New Year of the Water Snake

Albert Einstein once said  'We do not have to understand the world, we only have to find our way in it."
And this is how I view the Chinese cultural perspective of the Snake, an animal demonised in Western mythology but which occupies a position of awe and amazement in the East.  The Lunar New Year of the Water Snake commences on 10 February 2103, and it promises to be a year of correction and change, one in which each of us have to flexible and quick enough to grab the new opportunities arising.  We are embarking on a period when we have to find new ways to do things, look at things and think of alternatives and innovation.

The nature of the Snake can be likened to someone who is intelligent, has charismatic confidence, can shed off adversity like a second skin and is a quiet achiever. Think of people like Oprah Winfrey, Abraham Lincoln, Pablo Picasso, Bob Dylan and Kayne West - they were all born in a previous Lunar Year of the Snake.  In Asia, the Snake is revered.  The sixth day of the new Lunar Year is dedicated to a deity who protects snakes - the Chor Su Kong - and there is an iconic temple in Penang Island, my home town, dedicated to this. Think of the snake charmers in the Indian sub-continent.  The medicinal properties of snake bile are well documented.  Reflect on the hypnotic stare of a cobra. In East Asian tradition, the snake was already existent from the very beginning of recorded history.  Whilst New Zealand amazingly has no snakes, my own precinct of the Illawarra coast in New South Wales does have its fair share of snakes.

How we can better ourselves this coming year? The cultural forecast follows. Although those  born under the the sign of the Rabbit find it an excellent year ahead, Rats should keep their wealth out of sight and both  the Ox and Dragon have to be more tolerant of others who do not share their values and opinion.  Female Tigers in the entertainment industry are however favoured this coming year.  The Horse has to be cautious about infatuations and the Monkey should be wary of infidelity. Goats have increased positive contacts with influential and social contacts.  The Rooster has to be more tactful and manage change more effectively. The Dog may find love where least expected.  Boars  can face a romantically turbulent time.  Snakes themselves have to watch out for roller coaster rides in their experience of life.

It is said that for every human being, one third of his or her fate or journey in life is determined by the heavens, implying the time of birth.  Another third can be affected by the company he keeps, the parents and family grown up with and the peers who influence him.  The final third is sheer personal self-determination, mindset, soul searching and inner self.   Otherwise everyone born under the same animal sign will be clones of each other.  In deference to Mr Einstein, truly and deeply, each of us have to find our own unique way in life.

Star View Restaurant, Georgetown - Penang

Duck slices served in a crusty edible cup holder, above, was an unusual creation I came across at the Star View Chinese Restaurant in the middle of Georgetown CBD not far from Burmah Road and next to the food court at the New World Park.  Petite and tasty, it served as an attractive bite-sized idea.  The Star View has been building up a reputation in Cantonese inspired dishes on the island of Penang and the challenge is to maintain the energy and reputation for discerning diners.  Mum and family members recently had lunch there on a quiet Saturday afternoon.

We chose traditional favourites like marinated pork ribs, looking red as they should be. What caught my eye initially was the so-called dry version of the stir fry broad rice noodles (hor fun in Cantonese).  I must say it tasted to me like fried char koay teow and yet it did not rise to the oomph of Penang's top hawker stir fry. Maybe I was too entrenched in the delights of the hor fun with a gravy laced with gooey egg and smooth texture.  The Beijing duck came served with northern Chinese styled buns (the man tou) - picture below.

The prawns (photo above) with the dessert of tong sui (body nurturing ingredients like longans and gingko in a mild sweet soup (photo below) wrapped up the course meal.  The lunch was not overbearing and moderate in pace.  I enjoyed the quiet pace in the restaurant, sans the noise,crowds and clutter that can characterise most Chinese restaurants around the world