Ho Si Fay Choy
Hong Kong Kai Lan with Oyster Sauce
Stri Freid Prawns( Thanks to Lingzie)
Poached ChickenPopularity: 7% [?]
For those who have a sweet tooth… Tangyuán is a Chinese dessert made from glutinous rice flour. Glutinous rice flour is mixed with a small amount of water to form balls and is then cooked in boiling water and served with brown sugar sweet soup with a piece of ginger. Tangyuan can be either filled or unfilled with fillings. It is traditionally eaten during Yuanxiao (Chap Goh Meh), Lantern Festival (Tanglung Festival) & Dong Zhì (Winter Solstice). However, it has also come to be associated with the Winter Solstice and Chinese New Year. Today, the food is eaten all year round. Mass-produced tangyuan is commonly found in the frozen food section of supermarkets in Malaysia.
Tang Yuan is one of the festive food that is current widely used as daily desserts
Tang Yuan can be taken with Sugary Syrup and Ginger as a dessrt
Tang Yuan can also be eaten as main course in soups that the recipe are usually handed down generation to generation
A little of bit of Tangyuán history.
Historically, a number of different names were used to refer to the tangyuan. During the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty, the name was then officially called as yuanxiao, a name derived from the Yuanxiao festival, also known as the Lantern Festival. This name literally means “first evening”, being the first full moon or new moon after Chinese New Year. This name prevails in northern China.
In southern China, however, the prevailing names are tangyuan or tangtuan. Legend has it that during Yuan Shikai’s rule (1912-1916), Yuan disliked the name Yuanxiao because it sounded identical to “remove Yuan”, and so mandated that the name Tangyuan be used instead. This name literally means “round balls in soup”. Tangtuan similarly means “round dumplings in soup”.
Dong Zhì Dong means “winter” and Zhi means “arrival.” In olden Chinese society, the arrival of winter meant that the farmers would lay down their tools and celebrate the harvest by coming home to their families. A feast would be prepared to mark the occasion.
These days, Dong Zhì is still an important cultural holiday for Chinese all over the world. Even though it is not a formal holiday or sort, most Chinese families who still hold dear to the old culture and traditions, would try to make an effort toget together and savor tang yuán as a complete family.
Celebrated on the longest night of the year, Dong Zhi is the day when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest. The coming of winter is celebrated by families and is traditionally the time when farmers and fishermen gather food in preparation for the coming cold season. It is also a time for family reunions.
This celebration can be traced to the Chinese belief in yin and yang, which represent balance and harmony in life. It is believed that the yin qualities of darkness and cold are at their most powerful at this time, but it is also the turning point, giving way to the light and warmth of yang. For this reason, the Dong Zhi Festival is a time for optimism. Dong Zhi is celebrated in style. The longest night of the year is a time to put on brand new clothes, visit family with gifts and to laugh and drink deep into the long night.
In Chinese believes, it is also the day when everyone becomes one year older.
The traditional Chinese calendar is divided into 24 equal divisions each corresponding to 15 degrees of Celestial longitude.
The sun reaches 270 degrees sometime around December 21, the date set on most Western calendars as the winter solstice. Dong Zhì, however, can fall on December 21, 22, or 23. In 2008, C falls on December 21.
How to confirm the date will fall into the above date? we’ve heard the culculation from radio FM988. here goes:
This year is 2008 and divided by 4 = 502 (even).Whenever you get an even number from the result, Dong Zhì must have to fall on Odd dates like 21 or 23 of Dec. When the results are odd numbers, then Dong Zhì will fall on Even date. Another way to confirm the date of Dong Zhì is to refer the the Chinese Thong Su. Which is the manual for all Chinese cultural believes. This book is updated yearly.
How to prepare Tang Yuán
You can buy frozen t?ng yuán in the supermarket, but it’s not that difficult to make. You may get the semi prepared glutinous dough from the local’s wet market when come to D?ng Zhì, and just make it into small balls or customise the sizes to your liking 
. If you wish to DIY in every steps, just simply mix glutinous rice flour with water to make a dough. Place it in the refrigerator for about half an hour, then take it out and form it into small balls.
The balls are boiled in water until they float, and the next step is to put into cool water awhile and drained. This is the tips from my parents, is to drain the stickiness from the balls and it will become springy. To be serve, put balls into hot/cool brown sugar syrup soup or savoury soup and bon appeti. There are various fillings, it can be either sweet or savoury.
Sweet fillings can be:
Sesame paste (ground black sesame seeds mixed with sugar and lard) – the most common filling;
Savoury filling is usually a pork meat.
Tang Yuan Recipe
Pour the glutinous rice flour in a bowl and slowly add water until the mixture becomes the texture of dough. You may not need the entire 4 ounces of water to reach the proper consistency. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes. You can divide the dough in half and add food coloring to one half.
Pinch off pieces of the dough and roll it into small balls.
Dividing the dough to equal size or just let the mood swing
Family occassion
Preparing the dough for the filling
Ready to be filled
Placing the filling in
Folding the dough to conceal the filling
Almost done
Drop the balls into boiling water and cook them until they float – about 5 to 10 minutes. Take out from the boiling water and put into cool or cold water for awhile and drained. This process will immediately freeze the outer surface and prevent the tang yuan from sticking to each other and also to firm up the dough.
Sweet Syrup Tang Yuan is slightly Bigger
Prepare a sweet soup by boiling water and adding brown sugar. Fresh ginger can also be added to the soup.
Put the cooked balls into the soup and serve.
Have you try Savory Tang Yuan before? below are the steps and recipe.
Beging of the Yellow Bean & Anchovies Soup Base
Cabbage added to the Bean & Anchovies Soup
Chicken Gizzard to Give the extra texture
Tang Yuan In Bean and Anchovies Soup
We don’t really measure what we cook for this Soup, and is all according to the taste. Here is the receipy, enjoy cooking@!
Savory Tang Yuan Soup
Tang Yuan:
I don’t really know what and how to make the tang yuan dough, but all I know is its made from glutinous flour……heee
The only tips that I can share is, cook the tang yuan in boiling water and wait until its float on top of the water, and its cooked. And throw them immediately into Ice Water. This step is to make the ball springier and doesn’t go lumpy /mushy.
Soup base (basic soup base for wonton noodle soup):
Handfuls of Dried Soya Bean
Handfuls of Dried Anchovies
Chicken or Pig born
Water for soup
Ingredient:
Cabbage (coarsely shredded)
Chicken gizzard (thick slices)
Pork belly 600gm or more (in whole pcs)
Spring onion (4cm in length)
Home fried shallots
Step by Step:
Eating Step:
Just heat up the soup, scope all the precooked ingredient, tong yuan, cabbage, gizzard, pork belly, spring onion, and pour the steaming hot soup into the bowl and top with some homemade fried shallot. Here is the salty tong yuan for you 
Those precooked ingredient and soup can keep into the refrigerator and you may heat up for the next day. Except tang yuan, its good when eat its fresh.
Popularity: 47% [?]
Origin
Cultural Aspect & Ingredients
Popularity: 33% [?]
Popularity: 2% [?]
Last Wednesday we, the Penang Food Bloggers, had another small gathering, this time at The Sire. It was only a few of us enjoying the food, ambiance and company. We were exchanging ideas and skills, especially in the area of photography.
The Sire is actually under the same management as Ferringghi Garden. Not only that! They also share some similarities in the decor, especially with the usage of the plants and water.
The night started with some banquettes top with cheese. Quite cheesy and crunchy, but sprinkle with a pinch or two salt, it brought the taste some more.
Then the appetizers or starters begin to come, they were the beef tenderloin sandwich, prawn tartare and portebello mushroom. The Beef Tenderloin Sandwich was out of my expectations, I was expecting moist and juicy beef meat or fillet sandwich in between soft fluffy bread laced with lots of vegetables, but what we got was something the direct opposite. The beef was dry and the bread is like your common bun from the bakery. The only thing that was good about this dish was the accompanying fries. They were fried golden to colour, crisp on the surface and moist in the centre. The aroma and taste of the fries led us to order another plate of fries, but with added toppings of cheese. I guess they only used cheddar, not mozzarella and Parmesan as requested.
Beef Tendeloin Sandwich RM14.80
The Prawn Tartare was actually prawn salad on greens with button mushroom minus the mayonnaise. The salad was light on the taste bud, good for a starter to cleanse the senses for the coming main course. The salad was dressed in olive oil, herbs, some light seasoning and may be some acidity from vinegar or lemon,. The dressing was light, thus it actually brought out the flavours of the freshness of the prawns and the sweetness of the greens.
The Portebello Mushroom was a must try for me because one of my specialties are mushrooms. It looked appetising when served, but the used of balsamic vinegar killed the taste. Mushroom seasoned lightly with just salt and pepper and dressed in either garlic compound butter or just plain old olive oil and herds would have been sufficient. The fungus has very little taste, thus too mush used of seasoning or heavy dressing would destroy sensitive nature of the mushroom.
Portobello Mushroom
Portobello Mushroom RM12.80
After the starters, the pastas were served. We ordered Seafood Carbonara Spaghetti, Golden Linguine and Prawn Macaroni. The Seafood Carbonara, the spaghetti was springy and firm just right for me, but Gill preferred it to be slightly more cooked so that it is smoother and softer. As for the cream sauce, it was rough and dry. It felt like the cream was made from powdered creamer or the egg yoke was not properly mixed. Gill said that she could see powdery substance in the sauce, like when we make milk from instant milk powder.
Carbonara Spaghetti RM16.80
The Golden Linguine, was a fusion of Western and Asian flavours. The sauce had the aroma and taste of lemon grass, Thai basil, curry and lime or something citrus. The flavour combination is for those who enjoy Asia in their food.
Golden Linguine RM15.80
Prawn Macaroni, had the saltiness ‘ham heong’ and just the right creaminess, but it was a bit too oily for the liking. Texture wise, the pasta was a slightly undercooked, chewy and too firm to feel. I do not know about the comments from the other, to me the taste is something Chinese can relate to, especially the older generation due the ‘hum heong’ taste like fried noodles.
Prawn Marcaroni
Prawn Marcaroni
The Tenderloin Medallion, two piece beef tenderloin well done served with mash potato, grilled aubergines and some sort vege, which I suspect is spinach. For the sauce or dressing, one could choose from either Bearnaise sauce or just butter. We tried both. The Bearnaise sauce is made of clarified butter and egg yolks flavored with tarragon, shallots, chervil and vinegar.Normally I like my steaks medium to medium-cooked, therefore this plate would be not to my liking. But the mash potato was nice, different from those found in fast food outlets like KFC and in TGI. The mash potato came with some chunks of potato rather than all mash up. Creamy and smooth texture with something to bite on, quite nice experience.
Tenderloin Medallion RM49.80
Lamb Loin Chop, was one of the dishes that did not let down. The lamp pieces were coated and season with spices, although slightly saltier, it was one of the better tasting dishes we had all night. The meat was still tender and juicy, the fats were caramelised under the cooking heat. Nice! It was good on its own without dipping into any of the accompanying sauces, the whole grain honey mustard and mint sauce.
Roast Loin Chop RM32.80
The lamb shank was recommended by CK, but the nights serving was different her previous visit. The kitchen add in tomato puree, that is why the sauce looks red. The sour taste did not go well with the lamb shank plus the meat was not tender. It was flaky and dry. Again it was the mash potato that save the day.
Lamb Shank
Lamb Shank RM49.80
Finally, time for desert! For desert we had Tiramisu and Green Mousse. The Tiramisu and the Mousse was very firm not hard. After some asking, we were told that both Tiramisu and mousse have not totally thored. Personally, to compensate for that mistake, I experiment with spooning a bit of everything on the plate, and that did help to take away the firm texture of the Tiramisu and mousse.
Tiramisu RM 15.80
Green Mousse RM 15.80
Before the night was over, Ken had a glass of Bailey’s coffee and I had Espresso with Vanilla Ice Cream. The Vanilla Ice was from Movenpick, it really hit the note for me.
Bailey's Coffee
On average, I would give this place:
Popularity: 10% [?]
After much talk by my father-in-law, we finally tried out this joint! This Koay Teow Th’ng with homemade fish balls is situated in this kopitiam along Jalan Burmah, just after the turn in from Penang Road. The kopitiam name is Hai Oan, which is also famous for its ‘chu char’ and Hainanese chicken chop.
The KTT soup served at Hai Oan is very light, but with the condiments of fried garlic bits and pork lard it is immediately transformed. Even the soya sauce dip is specially concocted with raw garlic, chilies and a special type of soy. I know the brand of the soya sauce from their description, but I obliged not to reveal. We used to use it at home when my mom was still around with us. It was her favourite. The way to best try the bowl of KTT is to first take it as it come without dipping in the soya sauce, you will experience the sweetness and freshness contained in the fish balls and minced pork pattie. After a few mouthful, then you may take it with the special soya sauce. That will be another taste experience from the same bowl that you had. The garlic and chilly gives it an extra punch for those who enjoy heavier taste KTT.
Then the fish fillets are passed through this machine to separate the skin and small bones.
Popularity: 9% [?]
