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Keith_W
Master Contributor
It's Chinese New Year again. 恭喜發財 to all those who are celebrating!
This is a Malaysian CNY dish, "yee sang" 魚生 - meaning "raw fish", but in Chinese it sounds like "more wealth". It's supposed to be a raw fish salad but many people substitute the raw fish for smoked salmon (as I did), or canned abalone, or salted jellyfish. It should have a balance of flavours and textures - savoury, sweet, sour, and salty. Textures come from the fruits (pomelo and mandarin), vegetables (carrots, radish, cucumber, bamboo shoots), and crispiness from the fried yam strips, wonton skins, peanuts, and sesame seed. The red packets contain 5 spice powder (I make my own) and white pepper. The fried wonton skins are supposed to represent money because of its golden appearance.
This is the prep. I am dividing the portions into 3. One for us, two to give away. The carrots and radishes were pickled with vinegar, sugar, and salt. The cucumber was "wet brined" in a sugar and salt mixture.
This is the assembled yee sang - my version.
That's how my friend arranged his for his family.
And that's what it looks like after it is tossed.
My secret ingredient this year was "Haw Flakes", a popular children's candy made from Hawthorn flowers. It's fragrant from the Hawthorn, sweet, sour, with a hint of savouriness. Anyone who tastes this immediately recognizes it. I pounded the flakes into a powder. When I gave my friends the yee sang, I asked them to taste the pink powder to see if they could guess what it was. All of them managed to get it.
This is a Malaysian CNY dish, "yee sang" 魚生 - meaning "raw fish", but in Chinese it sounds like "more wealth". It's supposed to be a raw fish salad but many people substitute the raw fish for smoked salmon (as I did), or canned abalone, or salted jellyfish. It should have a balance of flavours and textures - savoury, sweet, sour, and salty. Textures come from the fruits (pomelo and mandarin), vegetables (carrots, radish, cucumber, bamboo shoots), and crispiness from the fried yam strips, wonton skins, peanuts, and sesame seed. The red packets contain 5 spice powder (I make my own) and white pepper. The fried wonton skins are supposed to represent money because of its golden appearance.
This is the prep. I am dividing the portions into 3. One for us, two to give away. The carrots and radishes were pickled with vinegar, sugar, and salt. The cucumber was "wet brined" in a sugar and salt mixture.
This is the assembled yee sang - my version.
That's how my friend arranged his for his family.
And that's what it looks like after it is tossed.
My secret ingredient this year was "Haw Flakes", a popular children's candy made from Hawthorn flowers. It's fragrant from the Hawthorn, sweet, sour, with a hint of savouriness. Anyone who tastes this immediately recognizes it. I pounded the flakes into a powder. When I gave my friends the yee sang, I asked them to taste the pink powder to see if they could guess what it was. All of them managed to get it.
Audionaut
Major Contributor
As a perpetually hungry wood dragon, I ate a few spring rolls today in honor of the fire horse.
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Keith_W
Master Contributor
This is the national dish of Malaysia - Nasi Lemak. It's a coconut rice with sambal (a chilli condiment), egg, peanut, fried anchovies, and cucumber. I served it with dried salted fish and a goat curry. This time I really paid attention to cooking the rice and came up with a new technique. The problem in Australia is: no fresh coconut milk. Only canned coconut milk is available. This lacks the fruitiness, sweetness, and aroma of fresh coconut milk. The real stuff has notes of vanilla, almond, and honey as well as a hint of acidity - so I added a touch of vanilla and almond extract as well as some honey. Then I diluted the coconut milk with coconut juice instead of water and added a squeeze of lime. After tasting my modified coconut milk, it is almost as good as the real thing!
Of all my hobbies, cooking is the only hobby my wife does not disapprove of. She is in fact an enthusiastic supporter of this particular hobby. She might complain if I bring home some audio equipment, but she never says anything when I bring home a kitchen gadget because I "need" it.
Of all my hobbies, cooking is the only hobby my wife does not disapprove of. She is in fact an enthusiastic supporter of this particular hobby. She might complain if I bring home some audio equipment, but she never says anything when I bring home a kitchen gadget because I "need" it.
Keith_W
Master Contributor
Pan Mi 板麵 (banmian in Pinyin) noodles, made from scratch. If restaurants make their own noodles, they usually run the dough through a tagliatelle cutter. This is the hand torn version, which I prefer. You can see from the first pic that the noodles are uneven, so when it is boiled, some parts of the noodle are overcooked and soft, other parts are still chewy. It is this variation of texture that makes the dish interesting.
The broth is made from chicken bones, pork bones, dried anchovies, and ginger. There is another version, sans broth, that has chilli oil instead.
The dish was served with traditional accompaniments. From 9:00, sliced wood ear mushrooms, fried anchovies, pork mince, choy sum, and a coddled egg.
olds1959special
Major Contributor
I had a great chicken Bánh Mi sandwich today!
Johnkeizer
Active Member
- Joined
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Just came across this thread.
Food.
My lady is a qualified chef and hotel manager, trained in London, worked in Paris and New York among other places.
Which is a long way of saying I am the lucky recipient of many unique dishes, especially as she has a fondness for eastern Mediterranean cuisine.
Downside?
Don’t let her see that you’ve bought fast food of any sort, ever.
Food.
My lady is a qualified chef and hotel manager, trained in London, worked in Paris and New York among other places.
Which is a long way of saying I am the lucky recipient of many unique dishes, especially as she has a fondness for eastern Mediterranean cuisine.
Downside?
Don’t let her see that you’ve bought fast food of any sort, ever.
Freshly made carbonara for dinner! #nocream
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