Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Reunion Dinner...

On the eve of the Chinese New Year,
the family will dine together..
and this is one of my favorites  as
my in laws will whip up special dishes
savoured only during this festive season. 


From the left, sweet and sour succulent prawns, roasted pork,
braised mushrooms with dried oysters, steamed chicken, lotus root soup,
braised abalone and fried fish.

Each of these dishes have special names bearing good wishes
for the New Year..

Take for example,

the fried fish and the abalone dish.

In Mandarin, fish is called "Yu" and the abalone is "Pao Yu" which means "abundance". 


Fried fish and braised abalone


and even dessert is made in the shape of a fish

Jelly

and what about these  steamed cakes?
when translated into Cantonese it means
"prosperity"


and not forgetting the orange which means "gold"




and here's another version of the steamed cake with oranges..

I'll leave you with some photos taken this morning..




 pussy willows

the night jasmine (in white) one of my favorite scented flowers


Well, we've had a most enjoyable dinner, catching up with the family..

Time for sleepies and preparation for tomorrow...

Here's wishing you prosperity, harmony, good health
and a year of abundance!!


be back tomorrow...
steph

4 comments:

sharon said...

This looks so beautiful Steph! I wish you all the same and more!

~*~Patty S said...

thank you for sharing this beautiful time with us...fabulous photos full of goodness

Wishing you Sparkling Happiness and Good Fortune this New Year dear Steph!
oxo

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year Steph, to you and all the family. Thanks for sharing your traditions with us. Night jasmine, intoxicating. xox corrine

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I totally missed CNY this year, and it is one of my favorite holidays. I love to see the customs that are ritualized. We in the States only get an Americanized version. This is so much fun to see through the eyes of someone who actually "experiences" this holiday.