The things I miss the most about Chinese New year is definitely the overplayed CNY music in the radio and shopping malls, CNY decorations everywhere, cookies and CNY treats (kuih kapit, beehive biscuit, pineapple tarts, mandarin oranges, nian gao, bahkua, Anglia shandy drink omg I can go on and on with this...), family gatherings and dinners, rounds and rounds of tossing Yee Sang, last but not least the Ang Pows.
Oh well, at least I'm not celebrating it all alone. That, I'm grateful for. Hopefully next year I'll be enjoying it back at home :)
Cookies wise, no problemo. If you don't know I bake, you must be new here.
The first batch of pineapple tarts. It was good, but I wasn't quite satisfied. It had that melt-in-the-mouth wow factor, but not 'melty' enough IMO.
Made my own jam too. Not that I can get pre-made pineapple jam anyway.
Then I found another recipe.
THEY WERE TO DIE FOR DOT COM!!! I'm so glad I found that recipe. This one is so much more crumbly and melty.
As far as CNY vibe, we managed to see it in a Vietnamese market.
Bought a pomelo just because we wanted to bath with the pomelo skin for good luck. Haha. No la kidding, I wanted to use pomelo in a dish I was about to make.
It felt quite like back in Malaysia, but they didn't have CNY music playing :(
Saw these for the first time. So cool! The apples are 'tattooed', so it's actually part of the skin. It's not a sticker or anything. It was done by sticking the stencil on the apple before they turn red. With the sticker on, it is unable to get sun exposure and so won't turn red.
Although we don't have family members here, we have friends! Sam very kindly invited us to join her family for a reunion dinner on CNY eve. Her awesome dad cooked up a yummy feast for all of us!
Picture stolen from her Facebook hehe.
There were fireworks going on across the river and we were so fortunate to be able to see it from her strategically situated apartment.
I was lucky to not have to work on the day of CNY. Was asked to cover a shift but thank goodness someone else was willing to take over :) We started that morning with some apartment inspection in Collingwood, decided to have brunch around the corner after that. I've heard lots about Proud Mary so we headed there without much deliberation.
Yes, deliberate because I'm extremely picky with my food. If I'm gonna spend money eating in Melbourne (5th most expensive city to live in) it HAS to be good. Not only do I despise wasting my money on average food, it's wasting my stomach space too and that is a big no no. If I'm having all these calories, it had better be good.
There were fireworks going on across the river and we were so fortunate to be able to see it from her strategically situated apartment.
I was lucky to not have to work on the day of CNY. Was asked to cover a shift but thank goodness someone else was willing to take over :) We started that morning with some apartment inspection in Collingwood, decided to have brunch around the corner after that. I've heard lots about Proud Mary so we headed there without much deliberation.
Yes, deliberate because I'm extremely picky with my food. If I'm gonna spend money eating in Melbourne (5th most expensive city to live in) it HAS to be good. Not only do I despise wasting my money on average food, it's wasting my stomach space too and that is a big no no. If I'm having all these calories, it had better be good.
My usual cappuccino to start with.
Potato Hash - Grilled bacon, spinach, a poached egg, bagna cauda (traditional Italian sauce of anchovies, garlic and cream). The hash looked more like a rosti to me, it was delicious regardless. I was expecting the sauce to have more anchovies and garlic flavour but it didn't. It was really subtle, but not bad.
Crispy Pork Belly Sandwich - Smoked paprika relish and aioli. I LOVED IT. It's crispy, fatty and so good. I suspect they've fried the bread with some kind of fat, pork flavoured maybe. There is absolutely no way a plain toasted slice of bread can taste that good unless it is cooked with some fatty goodness. The relish and aioli and the pork all went so well together. And that salad with a minty, refreshing dressing was just appropriate to cut through the heavy sandwich. I would have liked more salad though.
After brunch, more inspection at South Yarra. For dinner, we tried our luck at Chin Chin. It's always packed with people, as long as they're opened for business. So crazy. We managed to get a place at the kitchen bar. Not the best seats, but better than none.
After brunch, more inspection at South Yarra. For dinner, we tried our luck at Chin Chin. It's always packed with people, as long as they're opened for business. So crazy. We managed to get a place at the kitchen bar. Not the best seats, but better than none.
Pad Seuw of Six Hour Braised Wagyu and Kailan - I'm not sure but I think Pad Seuw's Thai. It's basically rolled flat rice noodle, like Chee Cheong Fun, cooked with some Wagyu beef slices and Kailan in this savoury sweet, sticky, caramel-like sauce. At some point, I did find it to be too sweet but apart form that I really liked the taste of the silky and tender Pad Seuw.
Coconut Crush - If I remember the name of that drink correctly... It's basically coconut water with some crushed ice, mint and coconut flesh. I love coconut - water, milk, cream, flesh, you name it. Having had coconut trees grown at home back in Malaysia, we always had fresh coconut water at home in the fridge. The coconut's from our coconut tree, we collect it, hack it, extract it, it doesn't get any fresher than that. This drink unfortunately, was a major disappointment. It was a refreshing drink for that hot day, but that's about it. We've never tried any of their drinks before so we thought we wanted to give this a go. I've had bottled/canned coconut water before and hated them. I've had coconut water served in coconuts here in Melbourne, they're alright, not as good as what I used to have at home. I thought maybe it will be different and taste better if served in a restaurant, but no. I guess if you've never had coconut water before you won't be disappointed and can give it a try. For me, I'd rather have plain water.
Coconut Crush - If I remember the name of that drink correctly... It's basically coconut water with some crushed ice, mint and coconut flesh. I love coconut - water, milk, cream, flesh, you name it. Having had coconut trees grown at home back in Malaysia, we always had fresh coconut water at home in the fridge. The coconut's from our coconut tree, we collect it, hack it, extract it, it doesn't get any fresher than that. This drink unfortunately, was a major disappointment. It was a refreshing drink for that hot day, but that's about it. We've never tried any of their drinks before so we thought we wanted to give this a go. I've had bottled/canned coconut water before and hated them. I've had coconut water served in coconuts here in Melbourne, they're alright, not as good as what I used to have at home. I thought maybe it will be different and taste better if served in a restaurant, but no. I guess if you've never had coconut water before you won't be disappointed and can give it a try. For me, I'd rather have plain water.
Caramelized Sticky Pork with Sour Herb Salad and Chilli Vinegar - Had this before, loved it, that's why we had it again. Sweet caramel and pork are just meant to be together. Would have loved it more if there were some pork crackle :D
Palm Sugar Ice Cream Sundae with Salted Honeycomb and Lime Syrup - Yeummmmm. Sweet, salty, sour all in one.
That sums up our dinner for CNY! Not at all traditionally what I would do for CNY but at least we had a good time with good food.
CNY will not be complete without Yee Sang. I don't think most people realize how overpriced it is in restaurants for a dish which only consists of mainly shredded vegetables, some fried noodles and crackers, and some raw fish. Also, some of the components are artificially coloured so it's not exactly healthy either.
I really wanted to eat Yee Sang but wasn't excited about having to pay an exorbitant price for just a plate of salad. Solution? Make my own. Remember the pomelo? This was what it's for. It's so easy to make! And because it's homemade, I can decide what I want or don't want in it. I hate pickled shallots (kiu tao) that you usually find in Yee Sang in restaurants. Raw radish tastes awful. Coloured food? Nope. All of that can stay away from MY Yee Sang. I love me lots of coriander, peanuts, crackers, and sesame :)
That sums up our dinner for CNY! Not at all traditionally what I would do for CNY but at least we had a good time with good food.
CNY will not be complete without Yee Sang. I don't think most people realize how overpriced it is in restaurants for a dish which only consists of mainly shredded vegetables, some fried noodles and crackers, and some raw fish. Also, some of the components are artificially coloured so it's not exactly healthy either.
I really wanted to eat Yee Sang but wasn't excited about having to pay an exorbitant price for just a plate of salad. Solution? Make my own. Remember the pomelo? This was what it's for. It's so easy to make! And because it's homemade, I can decide what I want or don't want in it. I hate pickled shallots (kiu tao) that you usually find in Yee Sang in restaurants. Raw radish tastes awful. Coloured food? Nope. All of that can stay away from MY Yee Sang. I love me lots of coriander, peanuts, crackers, and sesame :)
Trying to take a picture with one hand while the other tossing the Yee Sang as you can see, is not an easy task.
The aftermath.
By the way, 2 people tossing 1 Yee Sang proved to be quite a lot of work to do lol. It was really hard to get everything mixed evenly with only 2 pairs of chopsticks! But I was quite happy with the 'mess' we created. Yee Sang is not a Yee Sang if it's not messy.
The taste? I don't want to blow my own trumpet but it was delicious. Maybe because it doesn't have the crappy ingredients I don't fancy in the typical Yee Sang. The only thing that I would pick on is the lack of red colour in the whole dish. I think capsicum or red chilli would complete the picture.
By the way, 2 people tossing 1 Yee Sang proved to be quite a lot of work to do lol. It was really hard to get everything mixed evenly with only 2 pairs of chopsticks! But I was quite happy with the 'mess' we created. Yee Sang is not a Yee Sang if it's not messy.
The taste? I don't want to blow my own trumpet but it was delicious. Maybe because it doesn't have the crappy ingredients I don't fancy in the typical Yee Sang. The only thing that I would pick on is the lack of red colour in the whole dish. I think capsicum or red chilli would complete the picture.
That was pretty much it, as far as CNY-ish events went this year. May this be the year of better happenings for us! :) Lots of good food, good vibe, good opportunities.
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