Chinese New Year in Malaysia

In case I haven't mentioned, I was born and raised in Petaling Jaya (commonly known as "PJ" by the locals), which was developed as a satellite town for the overpopulated Kuala Lumpur back in the 1950's but has been since granted city status not too long ago. To me, it always has been and always will be, the residential suburbia I grew up in. There are a handful of mega malls, but if you ask me what's there to do in PJ, I'd say eat.

Last month, I went back to PJ for Chinese New Year, and as much as I wanted to see my family and catch up with many of my childhood friends, I have to admit, I was equally excited to stuff my face with much-craved Chinese food.

Chinese New Year, is one of the more popular, and perhaps the only celebration we have in our home. The celebration lasts for 15 days, but the busiest day in our house is the day before the first day because it's the day where members of the family come home and have a reunion dinner, hence, the day where we (mainly my dad) spend many, many hours in the kitchen preparing the feast. There is no limit to how many dishes we make, as long as each dish symbolizes something auspicious.

Unfortunately, I don't remember the symbolic values of each dish, but I do remember them being super delicious! Here's what we made this year.

Here's dad's game plan.


Braised Chicken Feet.


Stir-fry vegetables with scallops.


Braised pork with shiitake mushrooms and sea cucumber.


Pak gai (or steamed white chicken).


Sweet and savory prawns.


Dung Gu Pau Yu (Braised abalone with shiitake mushrooms).


Woo tau kau yook (steamed yam with roast pork).


And last but not least, my dad's signature dish, fried tung fun which has been passed down from my grandmother. Usually eaten wrapped with butter lettuce. Yum!


And here's the full meal.

One very important point about Chinese New Year reunion dinners is that it is an absolute must to have leftovers because it symbolizes abundance of food available for the rest of the following year!