Festive Feasting

Found myself googling how to reduce bloating from overeating on CNY day 1 but CNY happens only once a year right?

ST food writer’s Tan Hsueh Yun (@msposhnosh) mantra “I refuse to eat crap” became my goal and I am glad I got treated to 3 goodies out of her snack platter kudos to the goodwill of my closest friend who snagged Mdm Ling’s goodies before they went OOS.

As expected Mdm Ling’s coffee cookies are remarkable smooth and goes by the cliche yet effective “melt in your mouth” description. It truly earned its spot as one of the 2 sweets on @msposhnosh’s snack platter. The seaweed chicken floss love letters is also an interesting variant to my favourite CNY goodies which I restrained from ordering this year. None of my usual Home Favorite love letters didn’t felt as bad with these and other tins I found in the homes I visited 😬 Lastly I sure was lucky when my family got gifted a bottle of rasa sayang’s BBQ corn snack- warning these are highly addictive with an umami taste that leaves you reaching out for more.

Other gifted snack include lychee champagne cookies with a conspicuous taste of lychee through seasoned/preserved/ puréed lychee peels. Then the best cookie out of the lot was choc & spice cranberry cookies that were sturdy with a nice crunch and chew; I’d skip the choc chips ones.

The only goodies we ordered this year had to be Mirana’s pineapple tarts I’ve had since I knew what pineapple tarts meant. Unfortunately (or not) while Mirana’s tarts were still great, during one of my visitation I tasted Ding bakery’s pineapple tarts that will be what I’m ordering next year. The latter does real melt in your mouth kueh bangkits too.

Other worth mentioning cookies I tasted were Leong Seng HK Pasteries’ and Yamazaki Bakery’s almond cookies, the former made with almond slices while the latter using whole almond nuts with skin. I am not a almond cookie expert but these were enjoyable enough to have a second servings of. There was also Shangrila’s ingot pineapple tarts that are in a league of its own, at a mini cake like portion and I’m guessing price point.

Oh mint/ lemongrass/ ginger tea helps with the bloating by the way and a good long walk after the day of feasting. Google tips if you need it for the next CNY ✨

I am compelled to clear this backlog reunion dinner before the prime first few days of CNY ends. Wondered how everyone’s reunion dinner went...
For my family, my empress dowager declared that she would NOT be cooking for the extended family and so we found ourselves at coca for steamboat buffet! When the mind saw $49++ per head for their regular buffet, I immediately ordered a cold sake to prepare the stomach for loading (lol).

Safe to say Coca does provide quality ingredients and good soup bases. We especially love the TomYum soup that comes at $6 extra if you opt for 2 soup bases instead of 1 on a table. I’d say the restaurant is better known for their fish and seafood steamboat items (i.e. fish slices, fish paste, prawns, jellyfish, shrimp wantons, oysters and more; you can add on more premium seafood at ala carte price but what was included in the buffet was extensive enough IMHO). Yet Coca doesn’t short change on meat with the full suite of beef, chicken, pork and even mutton.

All together, I found Coca a great choice to pig out on Asian steamboat, at a price point I’m willing to part with factoring that this save mum a lot of work over the lunar new year this year haha

Late to the party, my CNY backlog ensues (part 2)- this year mum decided to venture away from our usual Regent Hotel to try Old Shen Choong for Nian Gao (年糕).
While I preferred the firmer 年糕 texture as compared to the similar red date “cake” we had; these red chewy rectangles were far off compared to our usual, we suspect because of the glutinous flour used. The taste of which can be corrected with a thin egg wash before heating them up in pan.

Late to the party, my CNY backlog ensues (part 1)- first I’d like to introduce some of the new goodies I’ve had over the (extended) 3 days of festive feasting.
One, almond pillows from Baker’s Well which reminded me so much of the crushed till fine almond nuts i used in a vegan almond muffin recipe I was trying. What this really means is a little carbs to bind an unadulterated portion of fine almond bites. Very nutritious and almost unfit for the indulgent nature of CNY.
Next, Le’s golf ball pineapple tarts. I’ve known the establishment for their signature beancurd tarts but was pleased to find they do a good rendition of the classic CNY treat; at an abnormal size it was very nice to share a piece with a loved one to leave room for the other containers on the table.

Late to the party, my CNY backlog ensues (part 1)- first I’d like to introduce some of the new goodies I’ve had over the (extended) 3 days of festive feasting.
One, almond pillows from Baker’s Well which reminded me so much of the crushed till fine almond nuts i used in a vegan almond muffin recipe I was trying. What this really means is a little carbs to bind an unadulterated portion of fine almond bites. Very nutritious and almost unfit for the indulgent nature of CNY.
Next, Le’s golf ball pineapple tarts. I’ve known the establishment for their signature beancurd tarts but was pleased to find they do a good rendition of the classic CNY treat; at an abnormal size it was very nice to share a piece with a loved one to leave room for the other containers on the table.

Scrambled to find a Chinese place for reunion dinner that my empress dowager Aunt would approve of.
Jumbo was available just a week before yesterday, offering a 8pm booking and we went ahead. We picked a 6 course menu and added 2 signature chilli crabs with fried and steam mantous.
Everything was acceptable with some unexpected stand outs - like the good sesame tang yuans swimming in a pool of sugared cheng teng. Also the soft almost comparable to firm tofu, shiitake mushrooms in the braised baby abalone dish.
Of course the signature chilli crab was one of the better renditions around but my palate still preferred a chilli sauce based without peanuts yet Jumbo’s version is laden with bites of crushed peanuts.
Overall, for the price we were paying I couldn’t stop myself from wondering if I could find way superior alternatives for a similar price range.... maybe next year ✨

Scrambled to find an approved Chinese place for reunion dinner with my empress dowager Aunt who has a golden palate.
Jumbo was available just a week before yesterday, offering a 8pm booking and we went ahead. We picked a 6 course menu and added 2 signature chilli crabs with fried and steam mantous.
Everything was acceptable with some unexpected stand outs - like the good sesame tang yuans swimming in a pool of sugared cheng teng. Also the soft almost comparable to firm tofu, shiitake mushrooms in the braised baby abalone dish.
Of course the signature chilli crab was on of the better renditions around but my palate still preferred a chilli sauce based without peanuts yet Jumbo’s version is laden with bites of crushed peanuts.
Overall, for the price we were paying I couldn’t stop myself from wondering if I could find way superior alternatives for a similar price range.... maybe next year ✨

The festive season celebrations at home happen to be a concurrent cake galore for my family. I mean 5 cakes in a span of less than a week is no small feat?

2 of which happened on the same day and were local flavours, Ondeh Ondeh and Durian Pengat ordered from the Malayan Council. The baseline was that both cakes had moist and nice sponge which should be so for all good cakes. But beyond that I found the granulated brown sugar and pale taste of any fresh pandan the minuses of the Ondeh Ondeh cake.
On the other hand the Durian Pengat had some real durian flesh and flavour with your neighbourhood bakery like cake cream that was smooth and saccharine.

[backlog] The festive season celebrations at home happen to be a concurrent cake galore for my family. I mean 5 cakes in a span of less than a week is no small feat?

2 of which happened on the same day and were local flavours, Ondeh Ondeh and Durian Pengat ordered from the Malayan Council.

On another day mum got a massive salted Carmel red velvet from a trusted cake company we’ve familiarised ourselves with, post moving to the East. Chalk Farm did not disappoint with the dense red velvet sponge dyed in deep red beetroot colouring; layered with thick salted caramel cream, a great pairing in my opinion.

May the new year be of better food experience and delicious cake slices on treatyoself days✨

The above was a gift from our Taiwanese neighbour who explained that ”这家饼店有60多年的历史；我们挺喜欢它的饼，觉得它的饼皮做得很精细”

He was spot on and this was definitely an amazing taiwanese delicacy I’d hunt for the next time I visit Taiwan

The bulk of my CNY was home cooked meals that was excessive but made with love so I should be appreciative 🙃
Some of my favourites had to be my Aunt’s osmanthus wolfberries jelly that is easy on the throat but more importantly refreshingly light and not overtly sweet. Perfect to end off a festive meal which inevitably included serious feasting.

Kueh Lapis has been a staple goodie for my household; this year one slice of the above led to a preorder of 2 whole cakes (original and prune). Why? 1. You get the fragrance of cinnamon and nutmeg spices at every bite especially the original version 2. These are not too sweet IMHO. Even as the prune version is slightly sweeter; I’d like to think it is due to the sweetness from the prunes themselves.

With Barcook‘s version of my favourite CNY staple accessibly available at their various outlets; I am confident this will not be our last preorder.