Foodelicious!

This is an all time favorite.... glutinous rice with mushroom and chicken all nicely seasoned with evergreen seasoning like soya sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and a dash of pepper and a pinch of salt.. simple but awesome! It's a great dish for breakfast or snacking.. hehehehehe.... nothing beats a good wholesome snack anytime of the day!

Anyway, I had this nagging craving for this for the longest time. The ones sold outside didnt do the trick, I should know.. hahahhaa.. but being lazy, I thought my craving can be satisfied by getting a serving from the "mills"... hahahaa.. So, when craving wasn't satisfied, I know I have to get my lazy ass up and start making a batch.....

Lazy as I am, I didnt bother to put them into cups or bowls.. I just put them in a tray and when it's ready, it smell so good... I love the taste of steamed glutinous rice.. it has that springy feel and a certain aroma that incite one to eat and eat and eat and eat.. ok! enough said. Hahahaha..

So, I kept some for my snack and the rest I brought to work and share.. it was indeed a joyous occasion where everyone enjoyed a good hearty breakfast! 

The above is a traditional full moon pack done up for my customer who has just welcomed her grandson. This pack consist of nasi kunyit with curry chicken, 2 red eggs, 2 angkus (this time around, it's round shaped angkus to signify baby boy), preserved ginger and a packet of sweet. The custom of including a packet of sweet I was told is to wish the baby a sweet life with good human relationship. Different dialects have different custom and it's always interesting to note such little but significant customs!

and a warm bowl of tong yuen, nicely sweetened and spiced up to end it all..... Yes!! I survived yet another year and am glad the worst is over. Hehehe! With that, I celebrated Kor Tung or what is known as Winter Solstice Festival with hope for a great year ahead loaded with plenty of great things and laughter.

What did you people do for Winter Solstice Festival?? I noticed many Chinese people are slowly forgoing their tradition and for some, it is a sigh of relief of not having to do so much and get all excited over nothing.. but for some, like me, it's a shame. What are we as human if we dont have traditions and heritage? I was made aware of the significance when my monster was a little girl and went around telling everyone that she is an English girl!! Her rationale at the age of 3 was that, she dont speak Chinese, dont eat much Chinese food, dont know anything about Chinese tradition because her parents dont practise any of them and therefore, is not Chinese. I was so ashamed.. and from that day onwards, I make it a point, no matter how small the gesture might be, to practise the tradition and heritage.

Practising tradition and heritage doesnt mean one is all about worshiping a different God or idolism. Practising tradition and heritage is about keeping the essence of one's race alive in a fun way. We dont burn jossticks or candles and worship idols.. we just skip that part.. but we make it a point to emphasize the importance of family bonding, trust in each other and at some point entertain the monster with tales and stories from those bygone era. The act of telling stories handed down from one generation to another is part of the tradition! Hopefully, when it's her turn, she would do the same.

So, coming back to this Winter Solstice Festival, what is the significance of this festival to you? Many people are not aware of the story behind this festival.. some say it is the beginning of winter, some say it is new year. some say it's a time to feast and eat tong yuen.. I say, from what my grandma tells me years ago, Winter Solstice festival is to celebrate the passing of the harshest part of winter. In olden days, life is a constant struggle and when winter comes, not many will make it thru as people were poor and winter can be very harsh. And in any season, there will always be a peak for that season.. the worse day.. the harshest where temperature drops drastically.. and if you survive thru that, you made it! The worst is over and one can look forward to better weather and soon, a new year. As usual, to celebrate, people then make little balls out of glutinous rice flour and flavor it with sugar. That's thanksgiving for them.

Yes, thanksgiving is part of our culture too... I have plenty to be thankful for.. good health, good kid aka monster, good family, good friends.. good business.. and for that, as I roll and drop each tong yuen into the broth, I say a word of thanks...

I remember last year I blogged about my "tong yuen" at work.. Hahaha.. what a rush it was.. I had to take the picture in the dark before rushing off to work. This year, it is much better. I didnt have to rush. I had all the time in the world to make the "tong yuen" in the morning and take picture when I am all ready. Heh! heh! Heh! not bad after 1 full year eh.

Dumplings... my earliest memory of dumpling is my mama sitting on a low stool infront of many pots of ingredients. She will very artfully scoop each of these ingredients into what looks like a cup made of a big leaf in her other hand and I, being easily amused, would squat next to her and watch her turn the cup around and viola! into a triangle. Of course, I was like a puppy tagging behind my mama throughout the whole process, watch these bunch of triangles lowered into a big hot pot of steaming water.. sit there and wait for it to be ready and when it was finally, my mama will scoop up these bunches of triangles and I will be waiting like a naughty cat by the side... Hehehehe.. yes, this is another one of my favorite food.

Traditionally, the filling will have pork but since I dont consume pork, I was motivated to make these favorites myself and improvised using chicken. Frankly, I think it is just as good if not healthier. In my dumplings, I have ingredients like chestnuts, mung beans, thick succulent mushrooms, dried prawns and of course, the marinated full of flavored chicken. The tedious part of this dumpling making is not the wrapping of the dumpling or the boiling but the preparation.. so much work goes into deveining the chestnuts, preparing the marinate for the chicken and everything has to be pre-cooked before wrapping. And that! is a lot of work!

Yes, my favorite dumplings are for sale at RM5.50 each with a minimum order of 5 dumplings.

Watch out for the next series of dumplings... nyonya is one of the "next in line"...

Yup, it's the time of the year for dumplings again...

The above is meat dumplings or what is known as "harm yoke chung".. the hokkien version which has, well seasoned chicken, thick and juicy mushroom, enough dried prawns (har mai) and dried oyster to give it a very hokkien flavour, chestnuts and mung beans all nicely wrapped up with enough glutinous rice that has been seasoned and flavored.

These are going for RM6 each and yes, it is a hearty meal on its own...

I started my 2009 with a catering order for a baby's full moon party. The above is what the mama of the baby chose; a traditional package of nasi kunyit, curry chicken, red eggs, preserved ginger and angku at RM18 per pax, minimum of 30 pax. Please bear in mind, this is catering and therefore, packaging is not included...

This is a traditional delight for all sorts of happy ocassions from birthdays to weddings to new year. These are for sale at RM1 each with a minimum order of 24 pieces.