Chinese New Year Dishes
By: Su Yee
Tags: Covid, 2020, Chinese New Year, Recipe, 2021

How will you be celebrating this coming Chinese New Year?

2020 will forever be in our history books for future generations as a pandemic year where the SARS COV-2 a.k.a. COVID-19 virus outbreak which took million of lives, devastated even more, and families forced to survive far apart from each other in isolation. The pandemic took more than just lives and livelihood of many; it broke our spirits, hearts, forced us to make decisions that before the pandemic was completely unthinkable of.

2021 is in the cusp of beckoning us and as an oversees Malaysian Chinese who has lived abroad for more than a decade of my life- I am no stranger having to spend the upcoming Spring Celebration (or better known as Chinese New Year) far my hometown. But, it is different. Here is why:

Since moving back to Asia to work six years ago, I have made it a point to head back home to help with preparations and indulge myself in the full celebration of this beautiful festival. This coming 2021, it will be not be possible. So here’s what I will do for the next few weeks coming up to CNY: I will publish one favourite recipe of mine for Chinese New Year dishes to help me reminisce and also keep my mum and families’ recipes close to heart. 6 weeks, 6 recipes, and along they way I might share a few folklore that are known to my from childhood..

Here’s Recipe 1:

Suitable for vegetarians.

Adapted from a Shanghainese recipe, from my aunt husband’s family. Great recipe to stew and continue to be eaten for a few days.

Zhar-Chye (10 Vegetables Dishes)- Serves 6

Cabbage: 1 head Ginger: 2–3 inch Dried shiitake / Dried flower mushrooms: 10–15 soaked in water to rehydrate (depending on its sizes) Dried wood-ear/ black fungus: get the smaller sized ones, that are thinner in its form. Thicker and bigger wood-ear fungus are meant for other dishes Button mushroom: 1 tinned can Fatt Choy (link): a type of algae/ moss — this is extremely expensive so just buy a small glop of it. Taujoo (link): here’s a link to another Malaysian blogger who explains this ingredient in much more details: 1 bottle — you will not be using the entire bottle unless you really love this dish to be super salty! Fried beancurd (taupok): 2 packs of 100 gm fried beancurd Vegetarian abalone (link): 1 tinned can Fried beancurd sticks (link): 1 pack (200gm)

There is a total of 10 different ingredients, all of veggie origin though not everyone of them are super healthy, suitable for vegetarians. Most Chinese on the 1st Day of Chinese New Year observe this practice of meat abstinence for 1/2 a day or 1 full day. It is believed to bring them good luck and blessings for the rest of the year.

Instructions:

Clean all veggies that need to be prep, ie. Ginger, Cabbage. Soak to rehydrate, and rinse: Dried shiitake/ flower mushrooms, Dried wood-ear/black fungus. Lightly rinse: Fatt Choy, Fried beancurd, Fried beancurd sticks, canned button mushroom(drain off the water from tinned can) Drain: Vegetarian abalone from its tinned can — keep half remaining sauce to add to soup base In a big stock pot/ soup pot, add smashed ginger and 3 liters of water. Add Taujoo, Cabbage, rehydrated dried mushrooms and rehydrated dried fungus. Boil them for 15–20mins. Add fried beancurd, fried beancurd sticks (break them into bite-sized pieces), vegetarian abalone and fatt choy. Cook for another 30 mins on slow fire. Bon Appetit!

Enjoy warm or piping hot over some white steamed rice or even served with a basic fried beehon. More on those another time! Happy cooking..