Hands up who’s on a detox diet now after all that Chinese New Year Celebration? *Raise hand* Well, I did have a Toffee Date Pudding at Ben’s today so that was a little naughty of me. But before I embark on an all fruits and vegetables diet (let’s see how long that will last), let’s talk about what we had for the Chap Goh Meh dinner.
Chap Goh Meh literally means 15th Night in Hokkien, is generally celebrated with family. It’s also called Yuan Xiao festival (元宵节) in China/Hong Kong. It marks the last day of Chinese New Year celebration and as usual, there are many interesting activities associated with this day including the famed Mandarin Orange chucking ritual for the single ladies. Mostly it’s just another reason to gather and eat. Just like our reunion dinner, I kept to the mostly vegetable theme and cooked a few dishes for my family.
We had a mini Yee Sang to start, followed by a traditional Mixed Vegetables Dish called Chap Chye, Pan-Fried Vegetarian Dumplings and Boiled Pork Dumplings.
I’ve kept to the traditional recipe this time but used a little extra creativity to arrange it. Can you see the Snake?
I had some leftover seaweed chips so that was thrown in too for the added crunch. This eliminated the need to deep fry anything and gave a nice umami flavour to the salad actually. I shall keep that in mind for my next Yee Sang.
This is a dish commonly enjoyed on the first day of Chinese New Year for those who practise Vegetarianism regularly. It’s basically a vegetables stew with Cabbage (Wombok), Shitake Mushrooms, Wood Ear Fungus, Carrot, Lily buds (Golden Needle), Fatt Choi (Hair Moss, freaky looking stuff for the uninitiated), Sweet Potato Noodles cooked with Taucu (Soy Bean Paste).
Yes another vegetarian dish. The filling consists of Tofu, Kimchi, Mushrooms, Carrot, Spring Onions, Garlic and Ginger. You can get there recipe here. The Golden hue is definitely apt for Chinese New Year. So delicious you won’t even miss the meat. Yeah one of them did burst open because I crowded the first batch in the pan. Not a good idea.
To cater for the meat eater/growing boy (my brother), we also made some pork dumplings. I just added mince pork to the existing vegetable fillings. Boiled because I didn’t want to fry extra batches. Great with vinegar and ginger dip.
Did you know that Tang Yuan (Glutinous Rice Ball) is also called Yuan Xiao in Northern China? That’s why this is usually also consumed on the 15th day of Chinese New Year to signifies togetherness. Although this is not very commonly practised in Malaysia/Singapore I think. Did anyone else have Tang Yuan this time? (There was a flat one in the pot, contributed by my brother lol. )
What did you have for your Chap Goh Meh dinner? Did you throw any Mandarin Orange in to the river? Hehe.
And the Sarawak Laksa Paste goes to…….
Alright I know I’m a day late, do blame my post-cooking-lethargy for this. Thank you all for your responses for the giveaway and your interest in Sarawak food. I didn’t need to do a draw this time as there were 3 of you who clearly expressed you wanted the Laksa Paste so I decided to give all three out!
So Baby Sumo, Tania Wee and Melinya, let’s arrange for your prize collection over coffee/tea?
Kelly Siew Cooks 
Congrats to the wiinners. Enjoy!!!!! I’m undergoing cold turkey now -so many things I cannot eat for a month!!! Sobssss!!!! Will blog about that…probably over the weekend.
I saw that you are giving up meat for lent right? Going pescetarian, that is. Did you do this last year?
*Raises hand* All that Chicken and Pork belly over CNY = weight gain lol. And the Chap Chye looks great!!! I toss in baby peas into the chap chye (parents make me as it’s probably the only way to get my brothers to eat it >_<)
I’ve seen people putting snow peas in Chap Chye too. I didn’t have any pork belly but did have too much Chicken soup. 😛
Ohhh thanks for picking me as one of the winner! 🙂 I will drop you a FB msg soon.
I have also been trying my hardest to diet after CNY… too much cookies and pineapple tarts is definitely bad for the waistline.
Heh. You are welcome. Catch up soon! 🙂
Thank you Kelly! How do I meet up with you? :O
Hehehe enjoy your laksa paste! 😉
Hi Kelly, I had Tang Yuan too on that day! It’s a family tradition…
Can I meet up with you ladies too? 😀
Sure come on over to KL!
oh yes, high time to eat more veg & fruits to take a break from all the meat. I love dumplings… any kind will do… lol…
I do see the snake, an adorable one too! 🙂 Congrats to the winners… 🙂
Gosh tell me about it, I feel so sluggish with all that meat intake even though I had a not of restraint during reunion and chap goh meh.
your chap goh mei cooking looks great, every bit as cool as your reunion dinner a few weeks back. i feel a little sad that i only had yee sang two times this year, but hopefully will make up for it next year. and i haven’t had tang yuen at all, heh 😀 anyways, both the veggie and pork dumplings look insanely appetizing. i might be able to finish the entire plate of each of them on my own! 😀
I’m surprised you hadn’t have more yee sang: I’ve seen people with yee sang count of 14! I had 4 this year hehe. The dumplings were definitely addictive, especially the vege ones with all the textural contrast.
Hi Kelly,
I raise my hand too…:p
Your mini yee sang look great and i love the rose salmon!!
mui
Lol! Safe to say I doing be coming any chinese guys for a while….
Same here. Feel like I’ve been eating wayyyy too much rich food over CNY. In fact, I think I can safely say I’d steer clear of Chinese food for awhile. Btw, about the golden needles… do they really come from the lily flower? We usually cook this with glass noodle for our first day of CNY, and my mother’s maid from Indonesia calls it papaya flower while my brother’s maid from Cambodia claims it’s banana flower… leaving us all a little confused. Mom just said, “it doesn’t matter, we have to eat it on the first day”. LOL!
Apparently even though it’s called lily flower/bud it doesn’t come from lily. Very confusing really. I doubt it’s banana/papaya flower: won’t they be really big?
Wow! Yummy food! I want the tang yuan! : )
Here it is! Catch! Hehehe
Kelly, I am raising both hands hah! hah! My pants are tight and everything is bulging sigh……..
Hahahaha I shall prescribe 1 week of fruits and vege diet for you too!
Your chap goh meh dinner was so nice. Mine was only chee cheong fun and char kuay teow…. 😛
Both are yummy items so no worries! I have not had either of those for so long, hahaha!
Dear Kelly,
I can spot the snake and your yee sang looks really pretty. Happy CNY to you and your family.
Thank you! If I haven’t wished you year: Gong Xi Fa Cai!
We didn’t celebrate CGM.. but we do like to eat everything you mentioned above though! 😀
Normally we don’t celebrate CGM, but it was an excuse or me to cook, so why not? Hehe
We cooked a massive meal for 4 people as I had girlfriends fly in for a wedding 🙂 So happy!
I remember seeing the amazing pictures on Instagram! I want the fish and laksa sauce recipe please!
I feel so healthy when I eat all fruits and veges.
Yeah…. Flush out the toxins!
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