This year is the Year of the Ox and Lunar New Year officially runs from February 12-26. Amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and living in a small regional town there are no public events to attend, however we still brought in the New Year with style!
On LNY Eve, we had a reunion dinner with our small family of four. For dinner, I made Yu Sheng/Yee Sang (Prosperity Toss) salad and Siu Yuk (Chinese Roast Pork Belly). It was my first time holding a reunion dinner and making those dishes! The salad was fresh, light and the perfect accompaniment to the fatty, crispy pork.
Now that I have my own kids, it’s important for me to impart our culture and traditions and an easy way I’ve found to do this is storytelling through food. Food is so important in Chinese culture and I hope that the kids will have fond memories of tossing the Yu Sheng and snacking on delicacies throughout Lunar New Year.
On the first weekend of LNY, we had a small hotpot with a small selection of vegetables, tofu, seafood and meat. With my time and energy busy with Mr M these days, we kept things simple and used a pre-made chicken soup stock with some vegetables as the base. No fancy sauces this time but a simple oyster and sesame sauce mix did the trick.
Although it was simple, it was lovely to sit down and share a special meal with my own little family during LNY. Of course we were missing extended family and not being able to see the grandparents during this time was sad. Here’s hoping that things will look up this year and we can see our families in the near future!
Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous year of the ox!
Marie xo