Chinese New Year Eve Family Tradition: The Massive Cooking

Posted On February 25, 2019

Growing up in my Sarawakian Nyonya family, Chinese New Year is definitely the time of the year where family reunions are a must.

Alike most Chinese family cultures, family reunions commence from the Eve of Chinese New Year for the living as well as remembering the dearly departed.

Remembering The Dearly Departed

Ancestral Offerings: Fried Golden Pomphret, Tu Ka Chor (Vinegared Pork Trotters), Nyonya Acar (Nyonya Style Pickles), Ngor Hiang Bak Kh’ng (5 Spiced Meat Roll), Pek Cham Keh (Steamed Free-Ranged Chicken), Jiu Hu Cha (Stir Fried Shreded Turnip With Dried Squid), Pak Lor Ak (Hokkien Style Braised Duck, usually served with hard boiled eggs which were marinated in the Pak Lor), San Chang Bak (3-layered pork belly) and added extra family favorite dessert items Musang King Durian, and our homemade fruitcake

Ancestral offerings differ from family to another in terms of food and practices. For our family, we remember our dearly departed on the morning of Chinese New Year Eve.

I’d be cooking traditional family dishes that my dad and grandparents loved eating when they were alive. I guess it is my personal way of remembering them fondly.

From the extensive variety of dishes in my family’s ancestral offering, the cooking process usually starts a day before the eve.

Once the ancestral offering for the morning had been completed, the cooking will continue for the Chinese New Year Eve reunion dinner.

Celebrating Life As A Family

As the cooking comes to the end at dusk, family members will gather together on the night of the Eve to feast at a table with abundance of food whilst joyfully welcoming the New Lunar New Year.

I reckon that you would be able to see from the pictures below that our family was literally taking the word “abundance” seriously.

*The Tossing of Fortune: Yee Sang with Abalone*

*Abundance At The Table: Food which was enough for 10 adults, when the dinner seated 5 adults & 2 children*

First Giant Platter: 2kg Pak Lor Ak (Hokkien Style Braised Duck), with 500g San Chang Bak (3-layered Pork Belly), 1kg Ngor Hiang Bak Kh’ng (5-spiced Meat Rolls), and 2kg Pek Cham Keh (Steamed Free-Ranged Chicken).

Second Giant Platter: Stir Fried Leek & Pork Fillet, Jiu Hu Cha (Stir Fried Shreded Turnip With Dried Squid), and halved 9 large Pak Lor Nui (marinated braised eggs). The 1.5kg Tu Ka Chor (vinegared pork trotters) which was not photographed in this picture was sitting in on the kitchen stove for individual serving as we ran out of table space. Huge plate behind this giant platter contained Kuching Tomato Noodles.

*Seafood Soup contained crab meat, scallops, fish maw, and vegetarian vermicelli (to replace sharks fin; no sharks were harm in the making of this soup)*

And of course, the family reunion celebration would not be complete without some form of alcohol. (And the kiddos were served juice boxes!)

*The Alcohol: French choice for the night*

Ending The Night With The Beginning Of The New Lunar Year

After all the hours spent in the kitchen, we managed to stay up late till pass midnight to joyfully usher in the New Lunar Year.

It was definitely worthwhile seeing my loved ones sharing and enjoying the food that I’ve prepared. After all, food is the result of my labour of love towards my family.

Stay Tuned!

Thanks for reading my food stories. 😊

Do stay tuned for my next post where I will share restaurant dishes served during Chinese New Year.

Till next time… Much Love,

Elaine.

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Tags:Food Stories