1st Day of CNY: Vegetarian Yee Sang @ Ba Xian Restaurant

On the first day of Chinese New Year, we attended the morning mass at the new church (read my Angelstar blog) to usher in the New Spring and the Lunar Year of the Tiger.

It was super hot in the church due to the weather and also the church being in renovation state, there was no proper ventilation.
Anyway, when we stepped out of the church, the temperature was not any better as it was scorching HOT under the sun as well.
I must say that this is one of the HOTTEST CNY I've ever experienced; although most CNY are hot due to the new spring, this CNY is really by far and in history, the HOTTEST.
It must be the effects of global warming, sadly.

Well, on the first day of CNY, it was not easy to find food anywhere, as some restaurants are closed. In recent years, it has been better as most entrepreneurs do not want to miss this chance to make profit and therefore, there will be a few restaurants open.
Those few will be packed to the brim too; and it goes back to the basics where you drive around in frustration, seeing each restaurant's crowd and even a queue out there.

We finally ended in Ba Xian Restaurant; which happened to be a vegetarian restaurant.
Usually most are vegetarians on 1st and 15th of the month; and so is mummy. We decided not to drive around anymore as we were hungry and it was so hot out there.
We settled for a short queue, and fortunately, we found a table almost the second we stepped into the human-infested restaurant.
Thank God for the invention of A/C as well!~ =)

Everything was in a hustle bustle and we could only choose from the set lunches available; RM59.80 for 2-3 pax.

Vegetarian Yee Sang (RM23) - exclusive from the set lunch and is an add-on ordered by us.


Raw vegetarian fish slices; not bad eh?


Colorful way to toss the start of the year towards prosperity, good wealth, health and happiness!

I must say that the person who invented Yee Sang is a genius; look at how much they earn from these ingredients which probably costs less than a bomb?

Look at the prices they charge you for a plate of Yee Sang?
Don't even get me started on how some restaurants play around with the auspicious number of 8 in their pricing! *rolls eyes*



Side view; seriously, there is no difference between the vegetarian and the non-vegetarian version, right?

Of course, because the only difference is the raw slices of fish placed atop the pile.

Yee Sang or without the fish, Lou Sang is basically a vegetable-based dish and is pretty healthy; sans the oil, sour sauce and the loads of nuts and crackers you pile onto it =P


Toss your way with all the good wishes and auspicious words; i.e.: Good Health, Lots of Wealth, Promotion at work, Prosperity, Happiness, etc
The belief is that the higher you toss, the better it is =)

The aftermath after everything is mixed ("LOU")


Second dish is the Vegetarian Braised Superior Sharks Fin's soup with crab meat

The soup was rather tasty; and it was corn-based soup with lotsa pepper.
As you can guess, the mock sharks' fin are basically glass noodles (i think though the texture was rather hard compared to the soft glass noodles)
I am against the consumption of sharks fin soup and this is probably the only time you see me drink it; since it is sharks-fin-FREE =P


Third dish; Fried Vegetarian Fish in Sweet and Sour Sauce

I was definitely impressed by the way the fish turned out as a whole fish on the plate.
It even smelt like a fish; due to the thick wrapping of the seaweed around the flour texture of the mock fish.

It was really delicious and it even had a tangy touch to the texture when you bite it!~


4th Dish: Braised Vegetarian Pork in soy sauce

This is done in the "Kau Yook" style; with rather thick sauce and generous serving of the shittake mushrooms.

5th and final dish: Mixed Stir-fried vegetables

I think this dish was simple and plain-tasting; which was a rather good change from the rest of the dishes.
At the same time, I felt that the theme of this dish was rather overloaded and in confusion as there seemed to be a combination of plain vegetables dish to a combination of ingredients in a pot of soup.
For instance, there were those Chinese herbs and wolfberries, and vegetarian prawns, and even mock pork belly!~


Overall, the dish was quite good though =)

The total bill came to about MYR74++; inclusive of the Lou Sang which was priced at MYR23.
The set lunch was MYR59.80.

I think it was still reasonably priced; albeit a little on the high side but it is after all, the first day of CNY.
Another thing is; I am pleased to mention that the staff were really friendly despite being rushed and working in a hectic environment and furthermore on the 1st day of CNY, and they still smile and responded to each of our request so politely that I think they deserve a mention here =D

Sau Kung Chow @ Tropicana Golf Club

A week before CNY, my department organized the annual event of the Chinese New Year Appreciation Dinner for the staffs and also our partners and as usual, like every year, it was in Tropicana Golf Club and Country Resort.



Well, I start to understand the reason my colleagues do not find it very exciting as the venue is the same for every single year.
From my point of view, on the contrary, I don't really see that as a major issue though; as it is after all, an appreciation event and just money spent from the company to ensure that their staffs have a good time.
Of course, I wouldn't mind to change the venue as well =)

As usual, it is a night of fun and a bit of glamour as they try to impress the customers/partners =)



It was a night of good food, fun and of course, drinks!


The alchoholic beverages seem more of a theme than the CNY festivity as the staffs and partners alike helped themselves to the specially flown wine and beer from Europe (Germany).



I had my first Yee Sang (with Salmon) one week before CNY; thanks to my company!
It was an enjoyable meal...and toss our way to prosperity and great business growth for the New Year!~




It was the usual course-set dinner; with 8-10 dishes for the night.
Salmon Yee Sang, Braised Sharks fins with seafood soup, Fried Chicken, Steamed Red Snapper, Butter Prawns, Treasures Pot (braised pork belly, internals with fatt choy, hou si and bean curd sheets), Broccoli with mushrooms and abalone, Lotus leaf fried rice, Fried pastries and cold pastries, Sweet Honeydew sago with ice-cream.

The steamed red snapper


Sorry for the lack of pictures; as there were too much activities and with the management and customers around, I didn't really take photo.
Credits of the beautiful photography goes to the professional photographer for the night; )

Overall, the food was not too bad; seems to me that it was the same the year before, anyway =P

GONG HEI FATT CHOY to everyone!~ =D
Stay tune for more Yee Sang and CNY food pics.... (pray that my Internet will get better this CNY too!!;)

Reunion Dinner @ Home!

Reunion dinner on the eve of Chinese New Year is a tradition which is observed by the Chinese community as they believe in the unity of the family in ushering the New Year together.

Therefore, it is important for all the family members (near or far) to return home and gather together for this meal. It is meaningful especially for those who have been away from home or abroad and only get to see the rest of the family during this time of the year.

Every family will definitely be caught in the hustle bustle of preparing this important meal and welcoming their family members from afar.
I am not excluded from observing this tradition and make it a point to travel home early each year and this is the best so far; I was actually home 2 days before CNY =)

When my paternal grandmother was around, it was all dishes cooked by her served during the reunion dinner.
For the past 2 years, we have decided to switch to Steamboat since we all love it anyway and seriously, I do think it's a lot easier and fun to throw everything in and have it at one go =D

Of course, when you are preparing for a steamboat dinner, you'd have to prepare different ingredients to be consumed by everyone and at the same time, according to each one's taste.

This year, Mummy did not have too much time to go shopping for a lot of stuffs but it was nevertheless a simple and easy meal to prepare anyway.


Fish rolls with carrot/celery sticks


White tofu stuffed with fish paste

I did not like this one, as I found that the white beancurd was too hard and the fish paste too little to my liking.
I wonder whether it's fresh goods even...

Marinated garoupa slices

As usual, Mummy would never fail to prepare my favorite fish especially for me and even took time to marinate and season the fish to my liking.
Importantly, the fish was really fresh which was definitely the PLUS point!~

Porkballs


Mock crabsticks


Fishballs


Assorted Yong Tau Foo

This is another one which I have reminded Mummy to have it removed from reunion dinner or any dinner list...it's not good.
Never buy from that stall anymore...

Fish Mee

I LOVE this!!! Crunchy and tangy....yumz =D

Crab rolls


Hockchew fishballs

This is the variant of the fishballs with stuffed minced meat in it.
I don't know; I just don't think well of this. Fishballs are supposed to be all fish; and meat is supposed to be..well, where meat is supposed to be.
They don't mix and match fish and meat, ughs!

Stir-fried vegetables


All Ready for TUAN YUAN (reunion in Mandarin)



GONG HEI FATT CHOY!!!
HUAT ARRRRRR~~ =D

Where to go for CNY Yee Sang?

I need a bit of help here...and of course, recommendations from all the experts here... on which is the best restaurant (Chinese) to go for a scrumptious meal and good Yee Sang to toss our way to prosperity? =)
(Of course, with good prosperity on the purse/wallet as well =)

Preferably KL, and I hope to hear from everyone soon!~ =D

Thank you all dear fellow floggers....and wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year!~