3 Chinese New Year dishes you can learn to cook at home

By ExpatGo Creative

Posted on February 5, 2016

This post is brought to you in part by Tesco Online Malaysia.

Chinese New Year is a time for reunions, giving thanks, and feasting. Especially in Malaysia, we love attending open houses and digging into delicious home-made dishes that are especially traditional during the New Year. So why not welcome the Year of the Monkey by surprising your loved ones with some homemade treats of your own! Here are three recipes that you can make at home that will surely wow your guests.

1. Steamed fish

Fish is an important symbol during Chinese New Year, as the word for fish (yú or 鱼) sounds similar to the word for extra, (yú or 余), so it represents abundance. Traditionally, the whole fish is served during the reunion dinner, and it is considered good luck to keep the bones intact.

You’ll find a list of ingredients that you’ll need for a classic steamed fish dish and a link to the whole recipe at Nyonya Cooking:

Ingredients for the fish:

1 whole white fish
1 chilli (deseeded)
2 stalks of spring onion
12 pieces of ginger slices

Ingredients for the gravy:

1 tablespoon of water
2 tablespoons of soya sauce
2 tablespoons of oil
1 teaspoon of sugar
white pepper and sesame oil to season

You can order the above ingredients from Tesco Online Malaysia here.

2. Peanut cookies

The next Chinese New Year special is peanut cookies. Who doesn’t love a good peanut cookie that melts in your mouth? Peanuts are a symbol of longevity, stability and good fortune. Naturally, this little treat is a must-have during Chinese New Year. It is a cookie that is loved by just about any Malaysian who isn’t allergic to peanuts.

The full recipe can be found at Malaysian Chinese Kitchen, and here’s a list of the ingredients that you’ll need:

Ingredients

300gm raw peanut, shelled
150gm rice flour
90gm powdered sugar
1 tsp salt
160ml vegetable oil
White egg wash

You can order the above ingredients from Tesco Online Malaysia here.

3. Tāngyuán

Tangyuan2 — Photo credit: NukelarBurrito

Another Chinese New Year special is sweet glutinous rice balls, also known as Tāngyuán. These glutinous rice balls are filled with black sesame paste and served in a bowl of sharp and sweet ginger soup. This almost savoury dessert, which is also popular during the Lantern Festival, symbolises reunion and togetherness as the word Tāngyuán sounds similar to the word tuanyuan which means reunion.

The ingredients you will need for this traditional dessert are listed below, and a recipe can be found at Rasa Malaysia:

Ingredients for the rice balls:

8oz glutinous rice flour
3/4 cup water
1/4 black sesame seed
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter

Ingredients for the ginger syrup:

5 cups water
1 cup sugar
4 oz old ginger
2 pandan leaves

You can order the above ingredients from Tesco Online Malaysia here.

Benefits of Tesco Online Delivery

The festive season can be a hectic time for anyone and shopping for ingredients can be more daunting than usual, which is why you should consider Tesco Online Malaysia. Tesco offers an online shopping and delivery experience that is convenient and quick, with next-day delivery.

What’s more, you can opt to pay at the door, via your credit or debit card, or even online banking. To make things even simpler, you can use the Tesco Online Mobile App to do your shopping; it’s available on both iOS and Android.

As a special gift to Expat Go customers, first-time Tesco Online shoppers will even get an eCoupon that gives them RM15 off, with a minimum RM150 spent on their first purchase. But you’ll have to be quick because this offer is only limited to the first 1,000 redemptions.

Use the Tesco Online eCoupon code (GHSCNY15)

Save RM15 with minimum RM150 spent on first purchase (for first-time shoppers only). Try it here.

Valid until 29 February 2016. T&Cs apply.

  
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