Three virtual Chinese New Year festivals, featuring arts and culture community programmes, look set to add much-needed festive and traditional joy to homes across Malaysia … However, Mr Tham said the branch in Jalan Kuching was shut last year, as they wanted to concentrate on keeping their original restaurant in the city centre running. Often served as a braised dish, they symbolizes prosperity. When you combine the word ‘Yu’ and ‘Sheng’, what do you get? Your email address will not be published. You’ll be in for a sweet treat with Jumbo Seafood’s CNY … 7-Eleven Malaysia’s representative (left) and NGOhub’s representative (right) handing over essential items and food supplies to a representative of Pertubuhan Kebajikan Orang Tua Xiao Xin. Alex Wong, originally from Malaysia, introduces his American neighbors to the culinary tradition of Yusheng, a giant salad toss with which people in Southeast Asia greet the Chinese Lunar New Year. As fish (鱼, yú) in Mandarin have the same pronunciation as “abundance” (余, yú), Chinese families like to serve fish during Chinese New Year as the symbolization. KUALA LUMPUR: It was a busy morning for Tham Peng Cheong, his wife Sow Kwee Choo and the kitchen staff at Yu Yi Bak Kut Teh as they rushed to prepare several bowls of poon choi for delivery. ‘Bak kwa’, or ‘rou gan’ is a savoury Chinese new year food. This is because prawn in Cantonese (har) is similar to the sound of laughter ‘har har’. Crispy Roast Pork (Siew Yoke) – Since the Qing Dynasty, it is a customary to served a whole roast pig in court banquets as it is an auspicious sign. Don't have account ? Best Chinese Restaurants in Johor Bahru, Johor Bahru District: Find Tripadvisor traveler reviews of Johor Bahru Chinese restaurants and search by price, location, and more. “Even then, I only dare to ship about 10 sets of poon choi to Kuala Lumpur every day. Poon choi with a twist: Restaurants in Malaysia pivot Chinese New Year offerings amid COVID-19 curbs From poon choi (or pen cai) served in bak kut … Forgot your password? Do you have any Chinese New Year recipe which you would like to share with the Kuali community? Pertubuhan Amal Ai Xin Fan Tong in Ipoh has 18 volunteers to prepare food for the needy. While Lunar New Year might commonly be referred to as the Chinese New Year, this yearly celebration can be seen throughout Asia. Yong, who is the Befrienders Kota Kinabalu publicity director, said this year was the first time they celebrated Chinese New Year (CNY) without returning to … Poon choi served with a prawn mee soup base has actually been a seasonal staple for the past five years. As time goes by, it is being adopted into a Chinese New Year dish and in recent decades, only the roast pork belly is served because it provides the crispiest skin and juiciest part. Free Malaysia Today (FMT) 31.5 C. ... Chinese New Year is generally regarded to be the biggest and most important cultural event for the Chinese community. It is also going to be a busy time for Mr Tan and his staff, who plan to start work earlier during the last couple of days before Chinese New Year, packing and sending out their poon choi hotpot. Five Spice Meat Rolls (Lor Bak/ Ngo Hiang) – Widely popular in Southeast Asia, this dish is served during Chinese New Year as a symbol of luck because the meat rolls resemble gold bars. "We are a hotpot place and if we were to offer just hotpot again for Chinese New Year, it would seem very ordinary.". Chinese New Year is one month away and this year celebrate CNY with Carlsberg Malaysia. Copyright© Mediacorp 2021. SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man whose application to enter Malaysia was approved by authorities faced a difficult decision on whether to spend Chinese New Year with his … Mediacorp Pte Ltd. All rights reserved. Note: The content of this article is based solely on the interpretation of the author and folktales passed down from her family. 3) Tong yuen (usually on the last day of CNY), Your email address will not be published. The only difference might be the type of chicken we have during the festive season are more expensive than the regular chicken? 2) Huat kueh so everybody will “huat” (prosper) Variety, variety, variety -- that's way to explore kuih, … For the same reason as fish, prawn should be served with its head and tail intact. “This time, we managed to raise some RM80,000 and we plan to prepare 2,000 sets of food … meREWARDS lets you get coupon deals, and earn cashback when you complete surveys, dine, travel and shop with our partners. The lunisolar Chinese calendar determines the date of Chinese New Year. Menara Star, 15 Jalan 16/11, Petaling Jaya 46350 Selangor. READ: Malaysia eases COVID-19 restrictions for Chinese New Year reunion dinner, days after announcing new curbs, dining-in limited to groups of two people, READ: Away from their families, Malaysians in Singapore brace themselves for a quiet Chinese New Year, READ:Malaysia's private hospitals step up to fight COVID-19 as cases surge, READ: Shah Alam eatery draws diners with Sarawak delights and laksa 'wrapped' in omelette, READ: Crispy chicken cracklings the star ingredient in this halal Hokkien mee in Petaling Jaya, BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments. Chinese New Year is on Friday, 12 February 2021 and we wish everyone in the pink of health during this challenging times. One of my favorite Chinese New Year recipes is Szechuan Scallops. And inside; it comes with 18 types of ingredients which include the Braised Premium Abalone (8 heads), Salt-baked Chicken (Seaweed Chicken), Japanese Dried Scallops, Premium Fish Maw, Dried Oysters, Premium Mushrooms, Sea Prawns, Pork Knuckle, Pork Tendon Ball, Prosperity Bags, Broccoli, White Radish, Oyster Mushroom, Fish Curd, Yam, Black Moss, Chinese Cabbage, Fried Beancurd Skin, … Big Prawns – Another common food you will see during Chinese New Year is prawn, the bigger the better. Across town in Petaling Jaya at the 8-month-old Tavern Hotpot, proprietor Michael Tan, 28, and his employees were busy fielding calls from interested buyers for his poon choi and hotpot combination. His rendition of poon choi comes together with a whole hotpot serving, with customers able to choose from platters of beef and pork belly, or a selection of seafood, including large freshwater prawns and an assortment of fish slices. Shiitake Mushroom, Sea Cucumber, Abalone – The three musketeers of Chinese New Year dinner menu. Previously, the restaurant did not do any Chinese New Year promotion, as its focus was more on tourists. While business in Penang has been slow this year, mainly due to many restaurants marketing poon choi for the festive season, Mr Tiow, 47 said there has been a surge in interest from the Klang Valley. By clicking subscribe, I agree to receive news updates and promotional material from Mediacorp and Mediacorp's partners. And today, when you called me, it’s the last day of outstation deliveries. Meanwhile, Mr Tham, 67, fished out a bundle of insulated bags, and once the bowls were ready, they packed them into the bags. It's time for prosperity year ahead! 1.Steamed or Boiled Chicken – It is a customary to almost every Chinese family in Malaysia to have chicken (either steamed or boiled) during Chinese New Year. Being born in a typical Chinese family in Malaysia, I have decades of experience tasting Chinese New Year dishes, both home-cooked and from restaurant. Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment. Click here to get the recipe for Lor Bak now! KUALA LUMPUR: Jacob Low (not his real name) remembers how he spent Chinese New Year last year. Although now popular across Malaysia and the Lion City, according to Singapore’s National Library Board, the invention of Lunar New Year yu sheng, with its … 11 The Ritz-Carlton Kuala Lumpur. Hence, it is a grand dish which is usually served during important festival only. Required fields are marked *. However, several Chinese restaurants in the Klang Valley such as Elegant Inn Hong Kong Cuisine, the Oriental Group of Restaurants, Extra Super Tanker, Restaurant Overseas, to name a few, are still open for bookings during Chinese New Year. A woman was dismayed at the state of the cookies she had ordered on e-commerce site Shopee for Chinese New Year.Stomp contributor Sherly … It looks like the email address you entered is not valid. But with international travel mostly out of the question, the restaurant had to "quickly change our focus in order to survive", said Mdm Sow. He said that one reason to offer a poon choi and hot pot combination was to try to differentiate the restaurant from other dining outlets' Chinese New Year offerings. Chan also took notice of a call by the Malaysian Association in Singapore as it asked Malaysians to treat students to a meal over the festive period. Best Chinese Restaurants in Penang Island, Penang: Find Tripadvisor traveler reviews of Penang Island Chinese restaurants and search by price, location, and more. So let’s tossed towards a prosperous new year wtih this Gong Xi Fa Cai Yee Sang recipe! Whole Fish – Many of us would have already heard of this idiom 年年有余 (níanníanyoǔyú), which means “to have abundance every year”. In fact, the latter forms the bulk of orders in the lead up to Chinese New Year, he added. Chinese New Year celebration is just around the corner and you may complete your year of prosperous with decoration from IKEA. The expression tells that ones have to be disciplined and finish everything that one started. Chef Alex Au and his team of dedicated chefs at The Ritz-Carlton … This year, it seems to have become even more popular as a Chinese New Year dish, with many restaurants rolling out poon choi as an easy, one-pot festival feast. 8. It is a meat jerky dish typically made out of pork that has been preserved and marinated with sugar and spices. The 37-year-old Yu Yi Bak Kut Teh used to have two outlets in Kuala Lumpur. This service is not intended for persons residing in the EU. There seems to be not much of a significance behind this except pork belly is one of the premium cut of the meat and it usually takes a long time to prepare a pork belly dish. History aside, here’s a few recipes of chicken which you can try for this coming Chinese New Year: 2. Instead of wrapping in spring roll wrapper, these meat rolls are made with beancurd skin making it crispy on the outside while moist and soft on the inside. Yes, it literally means abundance growth! Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram. Chinese New Year Meal Plan. This year, Carlsberg Malaysia launched its Chinese New Year … “Doing the poon choi meant we could promote this as a 'one dish, two different flavours' concept,” said Mr Tham. We have picked a few challenging pork belly recipes which you should try for this coming new year: 5. Together, he and his staff tested various soup bases, from clam soup to tomato and even Sarawak laksa base, which was a chef specialty. (Also because a whole pig is too expensive!). The communal dish has layers of different ingredients and is traditionally served in a large wooden, porcelain or metal basin called poon. While pork is the most common dumpling filling, you can also opt for shrimp, chicken or vegetables. Five Spice Meat Rolls (Lor Bak/ Ngo Hiang). It is also a tradition to serve a whole fish with head and tail intact as it represents the beginning and the end. 1.Steamed or Boiled Chicken – It is a customary to almost every Chinese family in Malaysia to have chicken (either steamed or boiled) during Chinese New Year. “In fact, we’re trying to tell potential customers to come by and pick up from our shop on Feb 10, said Mdm Sow. With dining-in limited to groups of two people under Malaysia's second movement control order (MCO), restaurants see takeaway poon choi as a way to drive sales during a quiet year. Although we are able to enjoy chicken meat on a regular basis now, the tradition to serve chicken during new year still stands true for many. In addition, sea cucumber also represents fertility as the Mandarin for sea cucumber (海参, hǎishēn) has the word ‘shen’ which has similar pronunciation as growth (生, shēng). Mdm Sow, 67, arranged 26 kinds of meat, seafood and vegetable ingredients that make up their poon choi dish and handed each finished bowl to a worker to wrap them in cling film and aluminum foil. Click here to find out how to make the perfect, crispy siew yoke! The reason is, back in the old days, it is consider a luxury to have chicken meat and therefore, it will only be served during important festivals such as Chinese New Year where everyone in the family comes together. On this episode of SoyaCincau Santap, we’re gathering a bunch of hungry people to eat a bunch of CNY-themed food to help you find out which is the best. Shrimp is an auspicious food to have during Chinese New Year. A Facebook page titled … “Sometimes we start work much earlier than this, especially if there are a lot of deliveries to make," Mdm Sow told CNA. "Especially (for) Malaysian students, Chinese New Year has been something that they’re really looking forward to," said Chan. Fried Shrimp Balls. “But in the end, we decided to go with abalone, because for a special dish like this, you can’t stray too far," said Mr Tan. It somehow managed to match 25 students to 10 hosts. I still have less than 10 pots left, but those have all been reserved for customers in Penang,” said Mr Tiow on Monday (Feb 8). Yee Sang/ Yu Sheng – Pop quiz time! KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian government on Sunday (Feb 7) revised its Chinese New Year health protocols to allow up to 15 people to attend the reunion dinner, following a … But we never decided on which one was our favourite…until now. Pork Belly – Be it braised or steamed, these jiggly and collagen-rich pork belly somehow made it into the list of the most common food served during Chinese New Year. That’s when I decided to dig deeper to find the truth behind all these dishes. “The idea is that you order the poon choi for a family meal, then if you can’t finish, you wrap them up in the refrigerator. Jumbo Seafood. “Poon choi embodies the idea of the family reunion. 7. Check out these recipes for more inspirations: 6. Here’s a few prawn recipes for you to choose from: 4. Chan Jit Yen smiles as she hosts Malaysian students, foreground, during a Lunar New Year hot pot lunch at her rented apartment in Singapore Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. As time goes by, I realised the same type of dishes keep appearing on the table during Chinese New Year and I started to wonder why. Also, let us know what are some of your family traditions during Chinese New Year in the comments section below! There’s also a saying that the higher you tossed the yee sang, the more fortune will fall to you. 1) Nian gao or glutinous rice flour cake (Helps stick everyone together) “The collected gravy from the earlier steaming combines with the double-boiled abalone soup we’ve created for this promotion, and you can have hotpot for the second meal too,” he explained. 11 Traditional Lunar New Year Foods to Eat in 2021 1 Sweet glutinous rice cake (nian gao) 2 Whole Fish 3 Whole Chicken 4 Dumplings (Jiaozi) 5 Sweet Rice Balls (Tangyuan) 6 Braised Shiitake Mushrooms 7 Tangerines and Oranges 8 Longevity Noodles 9 Candy and Other Sweets 10 Jujube 11 Spring Rolls Therefore, we believe that eating prawn will bring happiness to the family for the whole year. According to ancient legend, the number of dumplings you eat during the Chinese New Year predicts the amount of money you’ll make in the upcoming year (the more, the better). Hence, eating yee sang during new year represents fortune and luck! For meals at home, up to 15 people from the same family are allowed to gather. The shop is also promoting its easy-to-make, DIY bak kut teh packs. The reason is, back in the old days, it is consider a luxury to have chicken meat and therefore, it will only be served during important festivals such as Chinese New Year where everyone in the family comes together. Hence, eating chicken also symbolizes togetherness. Kuih is one of Malaysia's favorite desserts. Usually during Chinese New Year eve, it would be mum cooking, or if we order from outside, it will usually be poon choi because the ingredients are more premium and the taste will be quite standard, but good,” Mr Tan said. Poon choi, or pen cai, is a festive dish popular in Hakka and Cantonese communities. Shop online or in-store now! Emily Chiam from the Oriental Group of Restaurants tells Malay Mail that they are still accepting bookings for the all-important CNY eve reunion dinner. We also have delicious CNY food to complement your deco. Dumpling Recipes: Pork and Chive Dumplings. As fiery food is usually red in color, it symbolizes prosperity, plus it complements the arrival of the Red Fire Monkey. “The idea to serve poon choi came up after a local food blogger who came to write about our claypot prawn mee, asked us to consider expanding the idea to include poon choi,” Mr Tiow recounted. The fish can be steamed or fried, as long as it is served as a whole. The pronunciation of shrimp is “ha” in Cantonese, which means ... Scallion Pancake. Tatlergram: The Best Chinese New Year Looks Of 2021 2 /8 Pierre Ferrand Original 1840 Cognac Another stellar cognac to sweeten the festivities is the result of a collaboration between the house’s owner Alexandre Gabriel, cellar master Christian Guerin and cocktail historian Dave Wondrich. Scallops are round in shape and signifies wholesome and togetherness, which is a perfect dish to serve during reunion dinner on the eve of Chinese New Year. Happy cooking! “People want the ingredients as fresh as possible, that’s why you get a lot of last-minute orders and enquiries," Mr Tan said. Spring Rolls. Every year, we get a whole bunch of Chinese New Year food from all the major fast-food chains. Sign up here. From poon choi (or pen cai) served in bak kut teh gravy to prawn mee soup base, eateries are banking on the one-pot dish to drive sales this festive season. The lavish feast that comes with the celebrations of the Chinese New Year demands an equally sumptuous dessert, however for one Malaysian woman that turned out to be a hilarious incident which is now being shared by netizens. In Penang, the 13-year-old T&T Prawn Mee, so named after its married proprietors’ surnames - Terence Tiow and Catherine Tang, is also selling poon choi but with the state’s trademark prawn mee soup base. Kuih. For the bak kut teh establishment, the poon choi dish has been sold out on the eve of Chinese New Year. Here’s 8 food which commonly make an appearance during Chinese New Year and why they are significant during the festive season in Malaysia. In conjunction with Chinese New Year, the organisation will distribute food baskets to the needy. Check out these recipes for more ideas: 3. Rejoice all seafood lovers! You can submit it here! Then there were several vacuum-sealed packets of bak kut teh gravy and a complimentary box of yee sang (or yusheng) to be delivered as well. For reunion dinner, he had his favourite dishes like … Reset it here. KUALA LUMPUR - Many ethnic Chinese in Malaysia celebrated online as they ushered in the Lunar New Year amid coronavirus movement curbs that … 8 must-have food during Chinese New Year in Malaysia, You forgot to mention that one must have the following desserts too: