Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fat Chay!

By Lu

Hong Bao Red Envelope and Tangerine for luck

February 3rd was the first day of Chinese New Year (CNY) and we welcomed the year of the Golden Rabbit! Yeah! I am a rabbit myself so I am looking forward to a great new year filled with happiness, health and prosperity. I am also wishing all of you a very fantastic year whether you celebrate this holiday or not.
Chinese year is based on the lunar calendar and CNY usually falls a month or two after the regular Gregorian calendar's new year. It is widely celebrated in Asia and it is also one of the biggest holidays that people look forward to celebrating.
I remember when I was young I was always looking forward to CNY because it would mean I would get tons of money. One of the traditions is the married people would have to give a little red envelope filled with money (hong bao or ang paw) to the kids, non married ones, and the elders for good luck. The good luck goes both ways - for the givers and the receivers. They usually say the money has to be crisp and new, and it needs to be at least 2 bills/layers so that the luck comes in layers.
Back then in Indonesia, the biggest Muslim country in the world, CNY wasn't celebrated. I always had to skip school saying that I was sick so I could celebrate it. I had to...there were a lot of money at stake here! But I was sure they all knew that I wasn't sick. Such ordeal we had to go through to just celebrate a holiday. However, since the reformation back in 1997, CNY has become an official holiday there.
Back then, all I cared about were the food and the money. Now, it's a little different. Call me superstitious, but I am not into taking risk of having bad luck when people telling me that I have to do a couple of simple things to ensure good luck. Back then, my parents never really told me too much of the traditions or customs on how to welcome a new year and ensuring a great year ahead. Now, after being exposed to various different Asian cultures through my friends from all over Asia, I learned new things to contend with.

My mom told me we have to wear something new and it is better if it's red. Then I learned from Sandrine last year that the most important red new things are underwear. Make sure to get new red underwear. Then, you can't sweep floor because you don't want to sweep away good luck. You can't wash your hair on the first day of CNY as you don't want to wash away good luck. Helen then told me that eating a whole fish on CNY will ensure prosperity. The list continues...

I tried hard to follow some of these customs that I was told to do or not do. Hey, I can never have enough good luck. I will do what it takes as long as bad luck would leave me alone. So, listen to this... the biggest blizzard in Chicago history hit on the eve of CNY. I had been very busy lately and didn't have a chance to go shopping at all. Then, I realized that I wouldn't have time to get new stuff unless I would go on that day. My office closed early due to the weather and so I thought I would stop at the closest store on the way home. There I was going home fighting traffic before the 2 ft of snow would pile up.

So I decided to stop at Target as it was the easiest stop. I grabbed a bra, panties, and a red sweater and ran to the cashier. I looked around for a female cashier, and picked a lane with no one behind me and I was praying that no man would be behind me. I just got embarrassed buying red underwear at Target. But, grrr...bad luck haven't left me yet. A guy came behind me on the line. Then he said to me as he was looking at my purchase... "Valentine's day, huh?" with a grin. I turned to him slowly and gave him a look. "No comment." I said and ran out.

My mom's CNY dishes

Other than hoping and trying to ensure a great year, my favorite part of CNY is the delicious food. On the eve of CNY, both of my sisters, myself, and my parents were skyping for close to 3 hours. We had to greet our parents with "Gong Xi Fat Chay" (wishing you a prosperous new year). It was also a way for us to show them our respect. Usually if it's in person, we have to clasp both hands together, and shake it as we bow to them. But we just chatted and enjoyed the CNY being far away, but yet together. Thank you skype for making the world smaller. My mom was cooking up a storm as she had to bring dishes to my grandma's house for the CNY party. She was making 4 different things: a Pork Belly dish called Babi Hong, Deep fried pork tenderloin, Lumpia Udang or shrimp filling wrapped with bean curd paper, and Kue Lapis Legit or Indonesian Layered Cake.

The pork belly is a must have. Basically it is a thick cut bacon that has been pan friend and braised, cooked with dried Chinese vegetables, garlic, Shitake mushroom, and dried shrimp. The Layered cake will need its own posting as it is a decadent cake and famous cake; however, they eat it on CNY to ensure the multiple layers of luck and prosperity.

Auntie Karen and Sandrine

I was jealous looking at the picture that my mom sent us on the food she made. Yet, I was lucky enough to be invited to Sandrine and Scott's house for a CNY dinner and celebrated with good friends. Sandrine's mom, Karen, happened to be here from Malaysia. She cooked up a storm. It was a whole table filled with delicious dishes from Pak Cham Khe (Hainanese Chicken), Hainanese Chicken Rice, Kung Pao shrimp, Haka Pork (which I think similar to my mom's pork belly dish), steamed fish, etc. She really outdid herself. It was tons of food!

CNY spread at Scott and Sandrine's

She also made various different cookies. My favorites are the Pineapple Tart which is similar to Indonesian Nastar, and the Peanut cookies. The Pineapple tart is pretty much a cookie cup filled with homemade pineapple jam. The peanut cookies are similar to Indonesian's teng teng kacang. They are made by roasting peanuts slowly, then grind them along with sesame seeds and oil. Then you form them into balls. OMG, they were delicious!

CNY is celebrated for 15 days (well, 16 days including the CNY eve), and during these 15 days, I know my days would be filled with food and more food. Helen, Michael, and their daughter, Isabella, have celebrated CNY with me last saturday with great Chinese food at Mapo restaurant. Helen insisted of having fish for prosperity. Next Saturday, I was lucky enough to be invited to another CNY dinner in Chinatown by Sabrina and CK.

Hot Pot Spread

Then the next day is time for Sandrine and Scott's annual CNY Hot Pot party. Their hot pot party is so awesome, filled with various ingredients and several hot pots boiling with tasty broth, and you can plunge ingredients to the broth yourself, and make your own meal. They will serve various meats, vegetables, fish cake, eggs, seafood, noodle, tofu, you name it!

Tossing Yee Shang

They also always serve YeeShang or TeoChew raw fish salad, which is a typical CNY dish. It is a layered salad - radish, carrots, beets, peanuts, shrimp chips, raw slices of salmon, sesame seeds, jellyfish, candied winter melon, cucumbler and plum and rice vinegar dressing. The object is for people who celebrate to toss the salad altogether as screaming happy new year for prosperity (again), as well as to make a wish. The higher you can toss it, the more likely your wish will come true. It is just so festive!

Lastly, you will go home or close the night bringing home or eating a Mandarin orange or tangerine. It is a symbol of gold, again for prosperity.

I surely do hope the year of Golden Rabbit would bring much joy, luck, health, and prosperity to all. I did all I could to ensure my own good luck and I feel blessed that the only bad luck so far was a guy caught me buying red underwear at Target. We can only hope that our efforts weren't for nothing and please hear me wishing you loud and clear "GONG XI FAT CHAY!"

Hainanese Chicken

Pineapple Tarts

Peanut Sesame Cookies

Special thanks to Kinzie Chye for the pictures: CNY dinner table, hong bao, and beauty shots of the food items!! You're a talented photographer!

Thanks to Sandrine Eifert for the hotpot party pictures! Can't wait till Sunday!