Gong Hei, Gong Hei!!! Gong Hei Fatt Choy!!!
May the Year of Rabbit brings prosperity and good health to everyone!
In my plans:
1. Yee Sang 2. Butter Prawns
3. Chinese-styled Roast Chicken
4. Tang Yuan with Black Sesame Seed Paste
5. Cornflakes Cookies
6. Peanut Cookies
7. Stir-fry Vegetables with Mushrooms
8. Chicken Rice
For the first time, I actually bought fresh salmon to be used for the Yee Sang. Previously, I have only used smoked salmon cos I was too chicken about fresh salmon. I mean, I absolutely love eating salmon sashimi...but that's at a proper restaurant. Managing it myself, I wasn't too confident. But I did gathered up my courage to try it this year! ;-)
To check if the salmon's alright, I had a few pieces to myself. XD. I have a really sensitive GIT. :-P Anyway, although the salmon's not sashimi grade, it's still pretty alright to be used for Yee Sang.
My Yee Sang will always only include ingredients that I actually eat :-P So I kinda cut out a lot of items. But! this year I am gonna include daikon and carrots as well!
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Yesterday, I managed to bake a batch of peanut cookies. My FIRST time ever baking something more complicated than cornflakes cookies. I don't know why I even wanted to bake peanut cookies...when I actually don't really like peanuts. or cookies. :-P But you know, it's Chinese New Year! Gotta have some home-made cookies....no matter how bad they look.
Anyway, they look pretty bad cos my dough was a bit 'wet' and I forgot the tips that I could add flour [I had that thought in my head...but I still didn't do it. Weird] if my dough was too 'wet....so I couldn't shape them properly. Plus, I don't have a proper brush to brush on the egg wash ---> used my clean fingers instead. Taste was surprisingly alright. I need my friends to judge for me cos I don't exactly like eating these kinda stuffs so I am biased. Anyway, this batch is actually alright....cos I didn't burn them. XD. The burned ones have a slight smoky taste to them...haha. Highly recommended. not.
Got my recipe from here. See how pretty hers are? I might endeavour to make these again......if I am so inclined to feel stressed and feel like crushing peanuts using a hammer. XD. Yeah, I don't have a grinder.
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Chinese-Styled Roast Chicken
I got convinced by Sie Ong to get a whole chicken instead of small parts. LOL. It was....an interesting experience as I have never bought a whole chicken which still reminds me of a chicken. Yeah I eat meat but I get queasy at the thought of the animal itself...being slaughtered and all --> hypocrite ME. >.< Holding up the chicken felt like holding Koko up; especially by its wings. Koko is my housemate's dog, btw. Anyway, I thanked the chicken for its sacrifice and promised that I will honor its existence by making it taste real good. :-)
I read up on how to handle the chicken including instructions on how to butterfly it here. The recipe.....I kinda pull every part of its recipe from random food blogs and based on what I feel right. lol.
I marinated the chicken overnight in a zip-loc bag.
The marination:
1. 1.5 tbsp Light soy sauce
2. 1 tbsp Toasted sesame seeds
3. 1 tbsp 5-spice powder
4. 1/2 tbsp Lemon juice
5. 1 teaspoon of Sugar
6. 1 teaspoon of Salt
7. Ginger juice
8. 3 cloves of Garlic
[This is roughly the amount I used...]
Mix all this into a paste in a bowl . Then give your chicken a good massage it deserved for being your meal. :-) Remember to rub some under its skin.
I don't know how this will taste yet. But the marination smells so goooood. XD.
