Chinese New Year eve family bash

 

“Remember to wear Red!” I heard Yeen tell her son, Ben, as she reminded him about the family dinner being hosted in their home on the eve of the Chinese New Year.

 

All dressed in shades of Red for the family
gathering which kicked off with the Lo Hei dish

In Chinese culture, Red is considered the most auspicious colour that symbolizes fire, joy, vitality and prosperity as it is believed to be a magnet for good fortune. This colour is prominently used during Chinese New Year and weddings, not only to attract good fortune but also to ward off evil.

 

A Chinese New Year tradition is Red packets or hong bao, filled with lai see or fortune money presented by married people to kids, singles and elders, with good wishes for the year ahead. [P.S. This is my favourite CNY tradition!]

 

According to the Chinese zodiac where each year is represented by an animal in a 12-year cycle and in 2026 the Chinese were gearing up to usher in the Year of the Horse.

 

A sketch in the image of a horse
 as a guide to design our salad platter
 

With this in mind, a great deal of thought and planning went into creating a Yee Sang platter designed in the image of a horse (face).

 

Yee Sang, the Cantonese phrase which literally means raw fish, is a salad dish created by four local chefs in Singapore as a symbol of prosperity and good health for the Lunar New Year back in 1964 when Malaysia and Singapore were still one country – Malaya.

 

It was a dish designed for businessmen who wished to toss the salad to great heights, an act which is believed to augur well for greater prosperity and wealth in the coming year. As such, this activity is known as Lo Hei or prosperity toss!

 

Originally, Yee Sang was eaten on the seventh day of the first month in the new lunar year, known as Yan Yat (Cantonese for ‘Human Day’ traditionally celebrated as the day humans were created or ‘everyone’s birthday’) but now, due to its popularity, many restaurants serve Yee Sang throughout the festive season. 

 

Dexter and Alexandria with festive
bites on a Tray of Togetherness

Now families who celebrate Chinese New Year at home prefer to draw upon their creativity to design this salad platter – a task often taken as a challenge – to present it as the first dish or appetizer, at family gatherings.

 

An online search for horse-image-yee-sang designs provided our chief cook, Yeen, with the inspiration which guided her to fine-tune her design in her choice of colours, and in turn led to the shopping for the appropriate vegetables/fruits/ingredients.

 

The dinner menu was planned in partnership with Auntie Polly who would prepare and contribute her dishes to compliment the spread for our family dinner.

 

Traditionally, Chinese New Year is a serious time of feasting for Chinese families especially for folks whose forefathers arrived in a foreign land with very little and had carved out a living from very humble beginnings.

Teochew braised duck prepared by
Aunty Polly in grandmother's recipe

In those early years, working-class Chinese lived humbly throughout the year and the Chinese New Year was the only time of year to have a taste of real meat.

 

A tradition continues to this day when families will treat themselves to feasts that feature festive specialties prepared with high-value ingredients and of course, meat dishes made with pork, poultry and fish, in dishes described with auspicious names.

 

While bitter-gourd was frowned upon as a new year dish due to its name in Chinese, fu-kwa which sounds inauspicious, many forward-thinking Chinese have come up with a dish using this ingredient but gave it a more auspicious name as ‘sweet gourd.’

 

Malcolm wearing his Red jacket!

When the humble tofu was served, this ingredient was usually deep-fried in cubes or rectangles and given a more glamourous name like, ‘golden bricks.’

 

I am pleased that my mother and her sisters not only inherited our grandmother’s recipes but have also mastered the art of preparing grandma’s famous Teochew braised duck (Auntie Polly) and warm Cantonese egg pudding (Auntie Sylvia).

 

I remember how grandma used to prepare her Teochew style braised duck or Lor Ark, for the family’s Chinese New Year reunion dinner. As a Cantonese lady who married into a Teochew family, she brought her special touch into creating a recipe that is unique and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.  

 

This dish was one of the staples at the family reunion dinner and not just one bird but at least three or four were prepared to satisfy the large family including their sons-in-law and families who joined in this annual traditional family dinner.

 

Putting the final touches to
the Yee Sang salad platter

This year, when Auntie Polly – one who had mastered the skills to prepare grandma’s Teochew braised duck – volunteered to prepare this dish, we eagerly anticipated this special treat for our dinner together in Sydney.

 

One food item that most Chinese will agree on for Chinese New Year feasts must be whole prawns because in Cantonese dialect, the word for prawn is “Ha” which sounds like “ha-ha,” laughter, so prawns represent joy, laughter and a lively spirit. 

 

Mushrooms are considered highly auspicious as symbols of longevity, resilience, and the hope of new opportunities. They are staples during Chinese New Year celebrations to bring good fortune, health and prosperity.

 

I observed Yeen as she prepared a rich gravy made with dried scallops, braised mushrooms and black moss to drizzle on top of a platter of broccoli florets.

 

Malcolm, our most
well-dressed satay man!

Black moss or fatt choy may look like strands of hair but are used in Chinese New Year dishes for its auspicious name in Cantonese which sounds like, prosperity.

 

She also prepared marinated tender pieces of chicken on skewers, ready to be grilled like satay, to be eaten freshly-cooked with a peanut sauce dip.

 

As the guests should arrive ahead of dinner time, the lounge, dining area and balcony were being readied with chairs, glasses, crockery and cutlery, to dine buffet-style.

 

She also prepared a beautiful crystal Tray of Togetherness, to serve festive bites like pineapple tarts (in rolls), kueh bangkit, fan-folded love letters and crispy mini spring rolls stuffed with dried prawn sambal, when the guests arrived.

 

Aunty Polly [Right] with Eva
who made these pineapple tarts

Yeen was putting the finishing touches to her Yee Sang platter in the horse design (in Red!) while I was just an observer. We were focused on getting the shape of the horse’s mane to appear like the horse was in motion when Malcolm came to join us.

 

When I turned to look at him, I literally jumped up in surprise because he effectively shocked me with his outfit, a jacket in shimmering Red brocade worn over his shorts and T-shirt!

 

Yes, he had the right dress code colour but he was rather overdressed for a family gathering held in his own home. His wife was familiar with his crazy sense of humour but he only laughed at my reaction and told me that he has similar jackets in other colours which he would change into during that evening.

 

Ahdoi! This reminded me of Chinese wedding banquets when the bride would change into several glamourous gowns at various intervals during the dinner. But as the blushing bride, she had every right to do so on her Raja Sehari day.

 

Ready to Lo Hei, do our prosperity toss!

Malcolm certainly got our full attention when he impressed us with his wardrobe-change of attention-grabbing jackets. He first startled me with Red. Sometime during the evening, he changed into a glittering Golden jacket and finally into bling-bling White.

 

After getting all the compliments and comments from his guests, he decided to change back to the Red jacket because it was Chinese New Year. Tasked to grill the skewers of chicken satay, Malcolm was deemed to be the most well-dressed satay man ever.

 

Our dinner with 12 people, me included, kicked off traditionally with the Yee Sang prosperity toss. After everyone had admired the creative design, the salad platter was tossed together (the higher, the better!) with the loud chanting of well wishes, especially for good health and strength for everyone.

 

Michael and Dexter, able to film while tossing!

After the salad platter was cleared away, the dishes arranged on the table included Teochew braised duck, pork trotters in black vinegar, mushrooms and black moss with broccoli, cold whole prawns, platters of noodles dotted with plump prawns (deshelled) and skewers of satay with a side of satay sauce. Steamed white rice was also available for those who wished to have it.

 

In the Cantonese tradition, particularly for the reunion dinner, food should be served in generous portions so that the leftovers will symbolize, abundance. This augurs well for the family and future generations who will be bestowed with plenty of blessings.

 

Whole plump prawns were featured in
our dinner spread
 

The buffet-style meal allowed us to move around to chat and catch up with each other, especially among those who have not met for a long, long time. It was good to reminisce about grandmother’s recipes and growing up in grandfather’s house, among other family topics in our shared history.

 

Meanwhile, the music and karaoke player was on and someone insisted that the English songs should be replaced with Chinese New Year songs to match the festive mood. They managed to find some Chinese songs but these were, however, not quite the Chinese New Year music we sought.

 

I am unsure what happened in the switching of music channels but the next time I tuned in to the music, I recognized it from the Roger’s & Hammerstein classic, The Sound of Music.

 

Food are served in generous portions so that
there will be leftovers = abundance

Most of us have watched this movie countless times and not only memorised the song lyrics but were also familiar with the characters and know parts of the dialogue too.

 

It was amusing to observe that many turned their attention to this old show and were singing along to the songs, having fun watching this film especially as it has been digitally restored with improved clarity.

 

Meanwhile Chinese New Year eve celebrations in Malaysia will go on into the wee hours where traditional Chinese will welcome the new year at the stroke of midnight. In Sydney, however, the following day was a work day so we had to call it a night for those who needed to get up early for work on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

 

The giving of lai see in hong bao,
is my favourite Chinese New
Year tradition!

Soon as the guests had left, we tidied up the house. Following grandmother’s tradition, Malcolm got to work revving up the vacuum cleaner and reminded his son that this task should be done before midnight as there will be no sweeping or vacuuming on the first day of the Lunar Year.

 

We (later) saw from videos shared by family members in cities like Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru, how their night’s peace was shattered by thunderous explosions of fireworks set off at midnight (by neighbours!) in an annual tradition to usher in the new year with a “Bang!”

 

In stark contrast, we were comfortably in bed, tired from the day’s prep and hosting, as midnight came and passed in Sydney and the Lunar New Year dawned quietly while we slept.

 

Another year is over, with a brand New Year and fresh opportunities ahead. This Chinese New Year eve family gathering in Sydney was meaningful and memorable for so many reasons, all of which will be dearly treasured. Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

 

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