Happy Year of the Tiger!

02/13/10

Happy Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Gong Hey Fat Choy! Sin Jia Yu Ie! However you say it, it's all the same. I hope that you all have a wonderful new year. May this lunar year bring you much love, hope, happiness, luck, prosperity, and wealth. It is one of the rare occasions in the year in which a good number of my family gather in one place. We pray to our ancestors, we mingle and catch up on life. And, we EAT. As always there's food, food, and more food! So much food! A delightful array of food to tempt your palate. I love dining at a Chinese table, or as the Thais call it, Toh Jeen. It's a large round table with a lazy susan placed atop it to ensure that each member at the table is able to have access to every single dish. The day is pretty much spent going from one family's house to another eating and conversing until we've all had more than enough to fill our stomachs to the point that we're practically bursting at the seams.

Menu included 3 whole chickens (steamed), 3 whole ducks (steamed), fish maw soup, 1 whole steamed fish, Chinese Kale (broccoli) stir-fried, pork ribs in red sauce, steamed shrimp; dessert was a large serving of sticky rice and mango (some of the best we've ever had!), fresh papaya, bing cherries, caramel custard (flan), as well as more traditional Chinese treats.

P.S.  Below you will see a picture I've included of the piece of shrimp.  It was the first (and possibly the only) piece of shrimp my sister has ever peeled for me my entire life.  It was a happy moment for me & so I took a picture.  My sister loves me!  Hahaha.