Chai Buey pictures (1 of 4)
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I hope everyone has had a wonderful Chinese New Year reunion dinner and a festive and fun celebration for the first few days of Chinese New Year. I looooove Chinese New Year, it’s the occasion that brings family and friends together, and it’s a tradition that reminds all Chinese of our root, culture, and civilization. Never mind the obnoxiously loud and cheesy Chinese New Year songs, the bright red and gold Chinese New Year decor, and the endless foods and offerings for the many prayers and rituals. They are what make us Chinese, and we should embrace all these unique practices for generations to come.
While I am always excited about the reunion dinner and the many courses of traditional Chinese New Year dishes, I have to confess that it’s the leftover that really tickles my taste buds. Yes, I am talking about chai buey, or 菜尾, literally meas “leftover.” In Penang, especially in my Nyonya family, the day after the first day of New Year is when we make a huge pot of chai buey—a soup or stew concocted with all the leftover ingredients from the reunion dinner. It’s generally consisted of meat (chicken, roast pork, duck), vegetables (preferably fresh “mustard green/gai choy/ 芥菜” or kiam cai/picked salted mustard green), and all the other leftover from the reunion dinner, including steamboat (hot pot). The chai buey is infused with tamarind juice, bean paste (taucheo), some dried red chilies, with some peeled assam keping (optional). You then stew the chai buey over low heat to bring out all the flavors of the leftover ingredients, and the end result is a pot of mouthwatering, appetizing, and utterly delicious stew that I can eat for days…
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Sambal Okra (Sambal Lady's Fingers) pictures (1 of 6)
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Before I came to the United States, I’d known okra as lady’s fingers.
I was in primary school in Malaysia when my English teacher first taught us the name of the different vegetables. The strange and awkward name of lady’s fingers deeply imprinted in my mind even though I didn’t like them back then.
In high school, I slowly learned to appreciate okra or lady’s fingers, especially when my mother made sambal okra. I started to love the slimy and sticky texture and its beautiful shape when sliced in pieces. Most of all, I loved the delicious good taste. I eventually fell in love with okra…(get sambal okra recipe after the jump)
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Acar Awak: Nyonya Pickled Mixed Vegetables
Nyonya loves pickled vegetables of all kinds. So, there is no surprise that my family in Penang is partial to pickled or preserved foods—vegetables, fish stomach (perut ikan), and cincaluk (preserved baby shrimp). Grandmother was a huge fan of pickled Nyonya dishes. I grew up watching her and my aunt making lots of acar (also called acar awak) or pickled mixed vegetables in a spicy and sour “pickle” sauce.
My aunt who in her 70’s now still makes acar religiously for celebrations or prayers to our ancestors. After I told her on the phone that I launched a Nyonya food blog, she made a big serving of acar for the purpose of this blog. Too bad I am based in the United States, but my siblings are the lucky ones who got to savor her fabulous acar…(get Acar recipe after the jump)
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Jiu Hu Char pictures (1 of 4)
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While Nyonya and the Peranakan are born and raised in Malaysia and Singapore, they mostly observe Chinese lunar calendar and celebrate numerous Chinese festivities. The year-round Chinese festivals call for festive foods—dishes that are significant to the festivals, for example: jiu hu char or fried jicama/yambean with shredded cuttlefish and loh bak.
In my family, jiu hu char is an indispensable dish that is prepared for all festivals: Chinese New Year, cheng beng (qingming/清明), month of the hungry ghost, winter festival (tang chek or 冬至), and prayers to our ancestors. I remember vividly my childhood days when I had to help cut the vegetables for jiu hu char. Let me just say that it wasn’t fun as my family believes in the most traditional way of preparing Nyonya food, hence no graters or slicers were used. Coming from a huge family, we would make a big batch of jiu hu char, which means lots of jicama/yambean. So patiently, all the women in my family would help slicing and cutting the jicama manually to fine thin threads–a requirement to make a killer dish of jiu hu char…
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