From irritability to patience

Gaden Shartse DroPhenLing Grand Puja with Dagyab Rinpoche, monks & volunteers

It has indeed been a fruitful 2 months with the visit of 2 of my gurus, the Grand Puja, initiations and many teachings.  And I ended the 2 months in full bliss, and  almost falling sick. Had a sore throat but fortunately I recovered within 2 days without getting a cough, because I  took Bird Nest Chuan Bei Pi Pa Gao (a traditional Chinese cough syrup), as well as I meditated and chanted the Medicine Buddha mantra and other mantras for protection.

Other than that, the past 2 weeks have been a little unsettling. I found myself having to deal with people who disturb me no less, with unimportant trivial matters, through the most ridiculous ways of communication. With my many years of working in sales, I have come across many types of people, and I must say, people's management is one of my forte, although not exactly excelling in it. I try to be accommodating most of the time and I do meet many benefactors along the way. Of course, on and off, there are the very few who still make me irritated and lose my cool.  

It was timely I attended the Guru Puja Tsog Offering yesterday at Amitabha Buddhist Centre.  Guru Puja is conducted twice every month on the 10th and 25th of the lunar Tibetan calendar. It is a very important puja as it can accumulate extensive merits - offerings are made to all the enlightened beings from Shakyamuni Buddha to all the lineage lamas to our personal guru. It strengthens the bond with one’s spiritual master and creates the cause for finding one's spiritual master again and again in future lives.  Also, for tantric practitioners, engaging in Guru Puja helps to purify any transgressed vows.  In terms of generating merit, attending pujas in a group is also a karmic bonus – every person doing the puja accumulates the same amount of merit as all participants combined. How wonderful! Yesterday's guru puja there were almost 100 participants with the presence of Geshe Chonyi and Venerable George.

Guru Puja is one of my favourite pujas because of the benefits (read my previous post about "The significance of Guru Puja"). Also I can chant the text in Tibetan which is so beautiful and melodious, especially the tsog offering verses. Doing the puja twice every month makes me even more familiar with the text. Yesterday, one particular verse caught my attention, maybe it was exactly what I needed to hear and to remind myself of - the perfection of patience.  It says, 

Should even all the beings of the three realms without exception,
Become angry at me, humiliate, criticize, threaten or even kill me,
I seek your blessings not to be agitated, but to complete the perfection of patience,
That works for their benefit in response to their harm.

Yes I need to control myself from being agitated and to practice patience, especially when interacting with people and testy situations. Besides people being angry with us, sometimes strangers being extra nice to me with ulterior motive, can agitate me with their actions too. I need to put this irritability into the practice of patience. 

May I develop an even clearer mind as I grow older, learn to be independent with the support of true friends. May those who are sick and facing obstacles, and those who need a peace of mind, as well as those who appear well but unsettled inside, be completely healed.

Who actually owns Facebook?

My 三菜一汤 kitchen: Bak Kut Teh

I am trying to decide if I should feature my home-cooked  三菜一汤 yummies as a weekly affair in this blog. I do not like to commit something if it is not going to be regular. So let's see how it goes...

One of the days, I made Bak Kut Teh. We use ready packed Bak Kut Teh powder, and we usually try all sorts of brands, although I have a preference for Malaysia's Klang BKT spices. Besides pork ribs, I also add in fish maw, dried cuttlefish, wolfberries, chinese mushrooms, and cloves of garlic. Sometimes I also add in fried beancurd sticks. The end result is an awesome wholesome BKT soup base.

Sometimes we have grilled chicken wings. I insist on marinating them with sesame oil, light soya sauce, pepper, corn flour, cajun powder, and leave to marinate for few hours. And just before sending them into the oven to grill, apply a little butter on each chicken wing. Turns out to be wonderfully tasty.

A regular dish in my household - Sambal Petai Prawns. Mostly I try to get my mom to cook this dish. Ingredients include: petai, prawns, chopped onions, chilli sauce, homemade sambal sauce, tamarind, and a little salt. First stir fry the onions and sambal/chilli sauce till fragrant, then add in the prawns, cook till almost done, and throw in the petai for a quick stir. Note: cannot overcook petai otherwise it becomes bitter. I really really love this dish a lot, chomping the crunchy petai. I can finish the whole dish by myself with plain rice.  I like petai best with prawns, compared to fried ikan bilis.  

To be frank, I usually do not fancy long beans. The best would be cooking it with Sambal and Dried Shrimps. Otherwise, just stir fry the long beans and add in fried shallots with little oyster sauce. Another crunchy dish. 

This is how I have my dinner sometimes, all the dishes with everything heaped on top of plain rice, and with a bowl of soup!  Bon appetit and TGIF! 

A simple meal, a not-so-simple lesson

I always believe things happened for a reason, and the people we meet are meant to teach us a lesson or two.

While volunteering during the Dharma event the past weekend, we were provided with generous packets of vegetarian lunches and dinners everyday. One of the days, most volunteers were having their dinner during break time, while I had already finished mine.  I saw one of the devotees whom I meet regularly during pujas and big events.  I had even mentioned him in this blog previously.

To be frank, whenever I see him, I always try to avoid him because he is mostly sarcastic in his speech, and I get a little disturbed whenever he talked to me or asked me things in a very negative and challenging way. He has an eccentric way of speaking to you very softly, almost like whispering, very secretively. Often his eyes would be looking at the floor. Otherwise he would be furtively looking around left and right as if to make sure others do not hear him. Whenever I see him, he would complain to me about many people. Mostly I just brushed him off and changed subject or smiled without replying.

Anyway, I saw this devotee in a distance. Compared to normal times, he did not approach me that day. I think he was avoiding me in case I was going to ask him to make some offerings. One elderly volunteer aunty, whom I respect, went up to him and asked him if he had taken his dinner. While he hesitated for a reply, she asked if he would like a packet of dinner. Again he hesitated but it was obvious he had not eaten. I was touched to see this volunteer aunty offering him dinner (possibly her own dinner) although the man was not a volunteer, as if knowing he was hungry and that he had skipped dinner. This volunteer aunty embodies the true spirit of giving without prejudice. A shining example.

We are often so preoccupied with our own problems and in search of our own happiness. We never really think of others. We are selfish because everything revolves around us. We do not care about others. It's only "me, me, me" all the time. I have a lot to learn. Although I do still get freaked out a little by people whom I am not familiar with, on and off stalking me incessantly, I have to remind myself that these people need help in one way or another, or just a little attention. Would it take so much from me to shower them with a little attention?

Each of us has our own deluded eccentricities. It is just that some are more obvious, some are not or some are hidden. In short, everyone is suffering. The Buddha said that we have 84,000 delusions/problems within us which have the potential to ripen. That was why the Buddha gave 84,000 teachings to eradicate the 84,000 delusions of the mind. Whether everyone gets healed or rid totally of their obstacles depends on the individual's karmic past. How karma works depend upon individuals and their willingness to learn from their karmic situations, to overcome the obstacles. The beauty of the Dharma is, besides healing ourselves, we can learn to heal others. Through the kindness of the Three Jewels, in the form of the guru, it awakens our compassionate heart and through observing the problems faced by our fellow sentient beings, we learn to heal ourselves. And by healing ourselves, we can then, in turn, heal others. May everyone with inherent delusions be healed completely.

"Why do you feel elated when praised and dejected when criticized? It's because you don't accept the way things truly are. It's a trip. You're controlled by your hallucinating mind, which is totally divorced from reality. Your up and down emotions are like clouds in the sky; beyond them, the real, basic human nature is clear and pure."  ~ Lama Yeshe

Zhen Ji Bak Chor Mee

I love my Bak Chor Mee. My mom introduced me to this Bak Chor Mee stall in Bendemeer Market. I have visited them a couple of times. I like watching the Bak Chor Mee uncle perform his act of cooking the ingredients, tossing noodles in hot and then cold water, mixing the sauces with the ingredients and noodles and then topping with braised mushrooms.

Here in Zhen Ji, they also top their Bak Chor Mee with Fried Wantons (Fried Dumplings). Their wantons are actually crispy deep fried skin with a tiny morsel of meat fillings inside. You can also order extra Fried Wantons if you like.

This is Zhen Ji Bak Chor Mee. Nowadays I prefer ordering Mee Pok (flat noodles) instead of Mee Kia (thin round noodles). The ingredients are pork slices, liver, fish cake slices, mushroom, beansprouts, and fried wantons. After mixing everything thoroughly with the sauces and noodles and ingredients, eating this bowl of Bak Chor Mee is a delight. The Mee Pok is firm and not too soggy. The Fried Wantons are wonderful crispy addition plus the little pieces of Pork Lard. My main grouse is I do not like beansprouts in my Bak Chor Mee and this stall uses beansprouts compared to many stall who do not. I also do not really fancy fishcake in BCM. I did not taste any hint of vinegar in the noodles which I wish there is to make the meal more complete.

Zhen Ji has been reviewed by TV shows and publications. And there is always a long queue during peak hours. I would give them a rating of 7/10. 

I have actually discovered another unknown Bak Chor Mee stall in a Upper Boon Keng coffeeshop (near Kallang MRT) which is easily accessible to my place. This stall is called Gu Zao Bak Chor Mee, which is manned by a father and son. I have fallen in love with their BCM. I totally love the ingredients they use: pork slices, liver, meatballs, mushroom, pork lard and combined with their QQ noodles and sauces, it is shiokalicious. They even add abalone mushroom sometimes and I simply love eating the BCM with chilli padi, pork lard and you can ask for more vinegar.  I give them a rating of 7.5/10.

Dream of Khen Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup

The 3 full days of glorious Grand Puja in Suntec City led by Dagyab Rinpoche and 20 monks from Gaden Shartse Monastery has finally come to a blissful completion.  On the last night after the event, as I knocked out, I had a very brief dream.  Actually I simply could not recall most of the dream in the beginning. 

Khen Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup during Medicine Buddha Puja in ABC Sep 2010

There were a few people as well as Lama Zopa Rinpoche, but I could not remember what all of us were doing in the dream, very vague, only we were running around doing something inside Rinpoche's house, or a place he was staying in. I only remember a carpeted floor, and a table. The very last part of the dream, was Mama Karen appeared and called me. As I went up to her, she was talking or explaining to me about something seriously, I could hear her voice but I did not know what she was talking about in the dream. Then with a blink of the eye, she disappeared. And with another blink of the eye, I saw Khen Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup suddenly appeared before my eyes, standing right in front of me!  He was very close to me, barely a few centimetres away, and he seemed bigger than normal. He was smiling brightly, and looked well and strong. I think I was kneeling down in the dream, for Rinpoche's head was right above me when I looked up. He was holding a vajra vase which was unusually bigger than normal, and he gently tapped my head with it.  Why I said the vajra vase was bigger is because when Khen Rinpoche placed the vajra vase on the crown of my head, the base of the round vajra vase was able to cover the top of my head completely. Right after Rinpoche tapped on my head gently with the vajra vase, he too disappeared into thin air. Then I woke up.

I am amazed as this was the first time I had dreamt of Khen Rinpoche. Although I do not know the meaning of this dream, I take it that it is a blessing. Khen Rinpoche is currently in Kopan Monastery recuperating from cancer.   

Khen Rinpoche with Khandro-la.

When Lama Zopa Rinpoche was here a couple of weeks ago, he has updated us that due to his checks, the best cure for Khen Rinpoche would be from receiving treatment and supervision by one of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's top doctor in Dharamsala, as well as Khandro-la.  Khandro-la is a special healer who has cured a person with the similar conditions as Khen Rinpoche. Both Dagri Rinpoche and Khandro-la have been performing pujas for Khen Rinpoche's health and long life and reciting lots of mantras.  Khen Rinpoche has also received many blessed substances from high lamas such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Hence the stomach cancer is currently well controlled. Kopan Monastery has sent thanks to many people worldwide who have been very concerned for Khen Rinpoche. The Monastery said, "due to the vast number of messages, we are unable to give individual replies but please know that your kind thoughts are appreciated and that Khen Rinpoche is aware of all of your best wishes".

I am very thankful for this very brief dream. May Khen Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup live long and come back to Singapore soon in order to give us teachings and blessings.

My other blog posts on Lama Lhundrup:

29 Sept 2011 - Project Swift Return

25 Sept 2011 -  A closer look at the growing relics of Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup, an amazing blessing!

20 Sept 2011 - Discovering Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup's Holy Relics 

18 Sept 2011 - Devoting to a guru

13 Sept 2011 - My dream of Lama Lhundrup just after his cremation  

12 Sept 2011 - Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup's last days and cremation  

9 Sept 2011 - Beautiful memories of Lama Lhundrup  

8 Sept 2011 - Passing into Parinirvana - Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup Rigsel  

22 Feb 2011 - Dream of Khen Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup  

28 Jan 2011 -  Khen Rinpoche back in Kopan Monastery

19 Jan 2011 - Update on Khen Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup's health

14 Jan 2011 - Prayers for Khen Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup

20 Sept 2010 -  Healing in a matter of time, but it sometimes also a matter of opportunity

Our Chap Goh Mei dinner!

Chap Goh Mei means "the lunar 15th CNY dinner" in Hokkien. The Chinese New Year lasts 15 days, and Chap Goh Mei is the last day of the CNY. For some Chinese families, they mark the end of the 15 days of CNY with a dinner celebration. So does my family.

This was the evening of Chap Goh Mei's setting sun before dinner. I thought it was rather unusual and weird yet beautiful, that was why I snapped this photo.

This was our Chap Goh Mei dinner! Usually we would have dinner with my extended family of grandma, cousins, aunts and uncles. However this year, we decided we should just have our own dinner as everyone was too busy to get together. I cooked dinner.

Sis bought a small Yu Sheng again so that we could Lo Hei for the final round for this year. The sashimi slices that came with the Yu Sheng were pathetic.....

.... so we decided to "加料", add something more.... a can of abalone!

Topping the abalone and crisps and everything else,the Yu Sheng became quite sizable.

My Prosperity Dish - which included... Facai (the tiny black strips) which sounds like "to prosper" is a must, Fish Maw, Leek (sounds like "counting money"), Carrots, Pork, Chinese Mushrooms. First, braised the fish maw and facai for 20 minutes until they were soft, before adding the pork, mushrooms, carrots, and finally the leek. Yum yum!!

My Luxury Dish - XO Sesame Oil Chicken.  The Chicken pieces were marinated beforehand, then stir fry ginger slices with sesame oil before adding chicken. Stir frying them for a while before adding dark and light soya sauce, little oyster sauce, and water. Simmer for about 20 minutes and add a dash of XO Cognac. Smelled so good!

My Fulfilling Dish - Lotus Root Soup. It is a common soup in my household.  Ingredients used were pork ribs, dried scallops, lotus root, dried longan, red dates, wolfberries, peanuts or red beans.

My Auspicious Dish - Tiger Prawns in Tomato Sauce.  Tiger prawns are one of my favourite but we seldom cook them at home unless it is a special occasion. I had wanted to simply steam them with garlic but my mom wanted them in tomato sauce. So I stir-fry loads of chopped garlic till fragrant, and fry the huge prawns till they were 3/4 cooked before taking them out. Then I fry chopped onions before adding my mix of tomato sauce, vinegar, pasta sauce, chilli sauce, sugar, which made a great gravy, and then added the prawns in again and simmer till they were cooked.

See my generous use of chopped garlic and great tasty gravy?

Yummilicious!

We had the Lo Hei before our dinner. May we prosper and achieve everything we wish for this year! May my grandma and parents be healthy and free from any illnesses and pain. May my sis and BIL prosper in the business and career. May my niece and nephew attain great results for the PSLE and top class respectively this year.

Delish Yu Sheng with the generous abalone strips. Thus this was my simple Chap Goh Mei dinner, end of CNY celebrations.

You know the CNY is over when you see the pussy willows being dumped outside like this. Note: I am NOT the culprit!!!

From my 三菜一汤 kitchen

One soup and 3 dishes, that's our dinner at home a couple of weeks ago.

Stir-fry Cabbage with Fish Slices and Carrots

Sitr-Fry Kailan with Chinese Mushrooms

Steamed Egg with Chopped Onions and Tiny Ikan

Ginseng Chicken Soup

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

"I have looked into your eyes with my eyes. 

I have put my heart near your heart."
- Pope John XXIII

Meeting His Holiness Sakya Trizin

11 Feb 2011 was the first time I met His Holiness Sakya Trizin, the Head of the Sakya tradition. His Holiness is in town. I went, following the instruction of my guru. That night His Holiness was giving the empowerment of Buddha Amitabha and I was fortunate to receive the blessing, even though I am not familiar with the Sakya tradition. 

His Holiness Sakya Trizin Ngawang Kunga was born in Tsedong near Shigatse (South Tibet) on the first of the 8th Tibetan month (September 7, 1945). "Sakya Trizin" means "The Throneholder of Sakya". His Holiness is the 41st Patriarch of the Sakya tradition, one of the four main traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, and is a direct descendant in the Khon Lineage, a very ancient Tibetan religious family which according to legend had celestial origins.

In the course of intensive studies at Sakya, Ngor, Lhasa, and later in India, he received all the major transmissions of the Sakya Lineage such as the exoteric and esoteric Lamdre (Path containing its Result) Teachings, the Drubthab Kundu (a collection of Tantric empowerments and practices), the Vajra-yogini Instructions, the Zhenpa Zhidral, etc. From a tender age he memorised many texts, like the Hevajra-tantra, performed many retreats and gave numerous empowerments. He also received many teachings from the other traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.

He formally acceded to the Throne of Sakya in early 1959. Almost immediately after the coronation ceremony, he had to leave for India because of the Chinese Communist takeover of Tibet. He stayed first in Sikkim, where he started to learn English, then moved to Darjeeling where he spent three years mastering philosophical studies under Khenpo Rinchen. Finally he went to Mussoorie and in March 1964, founded the Sakya Centre in Rajpur, between the Mussoorie and Dehra Dun towns. At that time he studied the Tantras intensively and received many prodound explanations from Khenpo Appey until 1967. He also continued his studies of English. From 1971 to 1972 he received the Gyude Kundu, a major collection of consecrations, from the His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche. 

His Holiness has been ceaselessly serving the Dharma. He has countless disciples in India and other countries, and has made several journeys to the West where he has taught extensively. There are now several Sakya Centres in India, Nepal and Singapore, and more than 15 in Western countries.

The day someone scolded me 'No brain'

I had been attending Lama Zopa Rinpoche's teachings for the past few nights, and he had been finishing between 12-1am and one night he ended at 3am. So mostly I had to take a cab home.

Just last night, I boarded a cab. The plump driver uncle was not the chatty type and just drove quietly. Thank goodness for that as I was too tired/stoned from the teachings that I did not wished to engage in any small talk with anyone. Morever I did not want to chit chat with cab drivers at that time of the night. I just wanted to get home fast. Fortunately my house was nearby, and it took just 5-10 minutes from ABC to my house by cab.

It was at the traffic junction before reaching my house when I instructed the cab driver to keep to the left lane as he would need to turn left shortly after. The uncle paused, grunted, and commented that I should not have told him so fast as he would have thought I wanted to turn left AT the traffic light junction. And he added, "No brain."

I was thinking to myself, "You calling me no brain?! Obviously, at the traffic light junction, it was either go straight or turn right. There's NO left turn!".

Nonetheless, I tried not to get angry and jokingly said "I meant further down then turn left lah... as I see you're keeping to the right lane ma...." *pause*... Trying to keep my cool, trying to be light hearted, I asked, "Uncle, you mean some passengers did that to you before?", giving him no chance to grumble.

He said "Yes, people always don't tell you directions properly... follow their instruction I can't find...I blur. But follow my own thinking, I can find." Then he immediately changed his grouchy tone. During the last few seconds before I got down the cab, he was happily asking me about my house, how much I bought it for and how much it cost now, and that I would sure make a huge profit etc etc.... He even wished me a "happy new year" and kept saying "thank you, thank you, thank you" as I paid the fare.

I was a little surprised at his sudden change of tone, just as I was equally surprised I was not offended by his "no brain" comment, as I had expected I would. I was just relieved I managed to curb my anger by not flaring out. Maybe the teachings earlier had helped. Or I was just too tired to argue.

It was a beautiful night.

It's a dead cockroach!

I discovered something weird. On and off, I find a random small cockroach dead in my bedroom.  The weird thing is...

- my house is not infested with cockroaches

- I do not spray any insecticide before that

- I do not use any aromatherapy oils

- my bedroom is not dirty (in fact it's quite clean and neat)

- my bedroom is not too stuffy or too cold

- there are no food crumbs in my bedroom

- I never see any cockroaches running around before

So where did the cockroach come from? The few times I discovered a dead cockroach in my room, it was lying on the floor under a table where I had placed a small framed picture of the 4-Armed Avalokiteshvara (Kuan Yin) which has been blessed and consecrated.  I usually use a tissue paper to pick it up, chanted the Medicine Buddha mantra and Kuan Yin mantra a few times, blew on its body (blessing it) before disposing it. 

Although I did not harm or kill the cockroach, still, I did not wish to see it dead! And why in my bedroom?!  It is really very strange to me and I am still wondering about this.  Nonetheless, by blessing mantras over its dead body, I was trying to create the conditions for this cockroach who is dead to have a good rebirth as a human in its next life. I prefer to think that it died early so that it can have a faster and better, perfect human rebirth as soon as possible.

If you see any dying/dead animal or insect, do try to chant many of these mantras for them:

Kuan Yin mantra: 

Om mani padme hum

Medicine Buddha mantra: 

Tayatha om bekanzay bekanzay, maha bekanzay bekanzay, randza samudgate soha! 

Or you can read my earlier post, detailed advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on how to benefit your pet or any animal or insect who may be dying.

Mouth-watering CNY dishes in my household!

Today is the 7th day of Chinese New Year. The 7th day is called 人日 - Human Day. It is considered everyone's birthday! 祝大家生日快乐!!!

In this post, I showcase some of the mouth-watering dishes we usually prepare during the CNY. The feasting begins!

Yu Sheng

Most people celebrate 人日 by having Yu Sheng to Lou Hei ! Yusheng is deemed auspicious because of its homonymic quality - yu means "fish" but enunciated appropriately, it also means "abundance", while sheng literally means "raw" but enunciated appropriately, it means "life". Thus Yusheng implies "abundance of wealth and long life". In Cantonese, it is known as lo sheng with lo also meaning "tossing up good fortune". The tossing action is called lo hei, which means to "rise" (hei), again a reference to a thriving business and thus its popularity with businessmen during the New Year.

Steamboat with 20+ items

We had steamboat for Reunion Dinner this year.  I prepared more than 20 types of items for our steamboat this year. The longer you let the steamboat boil and cook with different items, the longer and sweeter the soup it becomes. That's the special thing about having  steamboat.

Steamed New Year Fish

These are "new year fish" which my aunt bought for us early in the morning of Li Chun. What is so special about this fish is that it is only available during the CNY period because it is the only time they do NOT taste fishy.  It is best eaten when simply steamed with ginger strips. People love the "baw" or the "egg" you can find inside and it is best eaten dipped with chinchalok chilli. 

Braised Hoo Kee (Fried Beancurd Sticks)

This is one vegetarian dish my mom usually cook on the first day of CNY, for those who were on vegetarian diet. It is one of my favourite dish.  It is  a dish of fried beancurd sticks which was braised in soya sauce with chinese mushroom.  Goes very well with white rice or porridge.

Braised Lou Soon (Bamboo Shoots)

I love love love this dish alot, and I get to eat this only during the CNY! It is Braised Bamboo Shoots with chinese mushroom, another vegetarian dish. You have to braise the bamboo shoots for a long time and it will soften and taste a little crunchy.  It is even nicer when dipped with chilli lime sauce. These bamboo shoots are of better quality compared to our local version.

Nonya Ngoh Hiang (Meat Rolls)

Ngoh Hiang is the Singaporean version of five-spice pork rolls wrapped with beancurd skin. My mom usually make these every year. I love it because it is much better than the ones you get outside, as my mom is generous with ingredients. The ingredients used were  minced pork, fish meat, shelled prawns, carrots, water chestnuts, chives, onions, eggs, flour, pepper, salt, sesame oil and ngo hiang special spice. The most tedious was probably peeling those water chestnuts and carrots and chopping them into teeny weeny pieces... I feel water chestnuts are very important as it makes the meat rolls more crunchy.

Here are some shots of how our Ngoh Hiang was made. The wrapped rolls were first steamed and then let to cool before keeping them in the freezer. We then fry the rolls as and when we want to eat and garnish them with cucumber or zucchini, plus our homemade spicy sour chilli sauce, it is heaven.

Leek with Pork Belly

This is another traditional CNY dish, although we can prepare this any time of the year - Leek with Pork Belly.  Leek in dialect and mandarin sounds like "sng" and "suan" respectively, which in turn sounds like "count". Hence it symbolises having plenty of money to count in the new year.

Roast Duck

In my family, we like Roast Duck compared to chicken. So on special occasions, we like to purchase nice Roast Duck as one of the dishes. This one is from Toh Kee, in People's Park, Chinatown. Not many places make good crispy roast duck as Toh Kee.

Fish Maw Soup

My aunt cooked this soup with lots of ingredients - fish maw, pork intestines, pork, fish balls, cabbage, pork ribs, tofu, sea cucumber, scallops etc... I think people are more willing to splurge on and be generous with the ingredients especially during CNY because it meant "abundance". The soup was delicious.

"Bitter Veggies" with Pork Belly

This dish is a very nice dish. I named these veggies "Bitter Veggies" because they taste slightly bitter than other veggies. However if you braised them long enough, the dish is very nice and wholesome with the permeated taste of both veggies and pork belly and carrots. You can add chinese mushrooms too.

XO Sesame Liver with Chinese Leek

This one is one of my favourite dish too - XO Sesame Liver with leek.  I love to use a little XO Cognac when I cook pork/liver and chicken. Cooked with sesame oil, soya sauce and a touch of XO Cognac, this dish tastes heavenly!   

Veggies with Prawns

During CNY, we usually have lots of prawns, big and small prawns. If we have tiger prawns, we usually steam them with lots garlic. If we have small prawns, we stir fry them with any veggies, hence a very crunchy and refreshing dish. 

It is again about abundance, especially food. During the CNY, we ensure we have different types of dishes of meat, fish, veggies, prawns, fish maw and all auspicious dishes which symbolise good luck and prosperity.