Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way
Many Chinese believe that fish attracts the chi/good energy that brings good luck, abundance and prosperity (年年有余 Nian Nian You Yu – an abundant and surplus-filled year after year)! The number 9 in feng shui principles is the most auspicious and complete number. Hence in many Chinese paintings, pictures, ponds or aquariums, you will find nine fishes in it. In feng shui, they believe that eight fishes should be red or golden and one should be black (which symbolizes strength).
Wishing you all an abundant and surplus-filled year after year (年年有余 Nian Nian You Yu)! This is a commonly used expression we use to greet each other during the Chinese New year. 年 in Chinese means year and 余 (surplus) shares the same pronunciation with 鱼 (fish). Hence this ang pow fish lantern will surely bring wealth into your home! Come and try it out!
In Chinese culture, fish is considered a lucky symbol as it is associated with surplus or abundance. Many people who practise feng shui will have exactly nine fishes in the tank or pond, not more and not less. The reason is number nine is the most auspicious number which symbolizes your wealth having a long life span. Even at Chinese New Year, we will have a dish of steamed fish as it represents long life. Through this Origami Fish & Other Sea Creatures kit, you can now create your very own feng shui fish craft!
This is a very simple Chinese New Year Ang Pow Fish tutorial, especially suitable for younger children. For this coming New Year celebration, I am going to host the craft lesson for my Chinese club and to make it easy, I am going to teach my students this simple ang pow fish. If you don’t have square ang pow, then you can use any ang pow packets and cut them into a square shape.
The Disney Pixar Finding Dory Book of the Film is an adaptation of the story of the film which features the voices and characters of the animated stars and 8 pages of colour pictures of scenes from the film. We love this film and was so lucky to attend the premiere with Change4Life to watch it a week before it was on general release!
Christmas is coming early this July! Earlier this week, Morrisons gave me a glimpse of the future, to view their latest Make Christmas display that will be coming soon in store! This was my first time attending foodie Christmas in July and I have to say I am very impressed with the varieties of Christmas products that I saw at the venue.
Asian Fish Parcel with McCain is an Asian Fusion dish that we love eating as a family. Since young, I have always loved the Asian spice flavour but my husband and children were born in the UK and they tend to prefer milder flavours with potatoes being a regular staple. Hence I am serving this Asian meal with western sides!
A big welcome to our week 4 of the Tuesday Tutorials Pintorials Pin Party! It is almost the end of the month! How are your new year resolutions holding up? I wanted to exercise more and it’s so far so good – I’ve been covering 3,000 steps a day.
We were thrilled to take part in #OXOHerbsAndMore Kitchen Magician project to try out OXO’s new range of Herbs & More flavours as well as using their recipe magic cards! OXO Herbs & More are all about the perfect pairings of herbs and flavour reductions, conveniently sealed into little pots for freshness to add to your family meals.
We have received five different products: lemon & thyme, rosemary & red wine, roast garlic & parsley, tarragon & chive and rosemary & thyme.
The Fish with the Deep Sea Smile is a book written by best-selling children’s author Margaret Wise Brown. This colourfully illustrated book is brought to life by the fun and vivid artwork by Henry Fisher. It is published by Parragon Publishing and available to buy via Amazon: http://amzn.to/1iqraa8.
Last week, on the eve of Chinese New Year for our reunion dinner, I had cooked a steamed fish. I mentioned in the post why a fish dish is a must on the table, so today, I am writing my recipe for you if you wish to follow.
Pop the fish in the steamer for 6-8 minutes or until it is cooked. Mix 4 tablespoons of Kikkoman soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 1 teaspoon Shaoxin Chinese wine and pepper. Pour in the mixture once the fish is cooked. Serve while hot. It is that simple! They are fantastic!
As many of you will know, I’ve been writing a series of Chinese New Year posts from crafts to foods. Check out my Chinese New Year’s Pinterest board for ideas!
Many Chinese will cook a fish dish on Chinese New Year Eve reunion dinner as it represents 年年有余 (Nian Nian You Yu) meaning abundance through the year. It is a great auspicious dish for all to eat. It is also traditional to serve fish with its head and tail intact to symbolise a positive beginning and end to the New Year.
During this month, I am going to write a series of Chinese New Year posts from making lanterns, zodiac, Feng Shui to Chinese culture. This is my first blog post of my Chinese New Year series. Look out for the rest of the posts! Today, I am going to use Ang Pow (red packets) to make a Fish Lantern. So what is an Ang Pow? It is a red envelope/packet that contain a monetary gift which is given during Chinese New Year or special occasions like weddings or birthdays etc. They are called Hong Bao (红包) in Mandarin or Ang Pow/Bao in Singapore Hokkien or Lai See in Cantonese. Click here to read more about it.
As a family meal, we aim to eat a healthy meal with at least two portions of fish a week. To accompany the fish, I always use oven chips at the same time. We only stock McCain’s chips as they have always been our favourite chips. I love McCain’s French Fries as it is very crispy and crunchy. While Mr C prefers the texture of McCain’s Crinkle Cut chips.
