New Year's Eve - Reunion Dinner

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! CNY is all about eating and drinking! Yummy cookies, scrumptious food all day long...yum yum yum and this celebration lasts 15 days. We start the celebration on new year's eve, that's when we have our reunion dinner. For most Chinese families, we normally go back to the "guy's side" for reunion dinner and its normlly held at the house of the most senior member of the family or nowadays, people just eat out. Our family's reunion dinner is held at my grandmother's house (dad's mum) every year. I had to miss this important event this year as I am not back for CNY =(


For reunion dinners, fish and chicken are normally served. Fish is served because of the Chinese phrase 年年有余 (nian nian you yu), which means 'may there be leftovers every year'. Leftovers in this case means money. And fish in Chinese is 鱼 (yu) which has the same pronunciation as 余. As for chicken, I am not too sure myself, I just know it symbolises prosperity. This year, we had our own reunion dinner on Sunday, just the 2 of us and our flatmate. I cooked 2 dishes that involved those 2 main ingredients.

For my chicken dish: I shall call it

Happy Reunion

Ingredients:

• Chinese Cabbage
• Bok Choy
• 8 Chinese Mushrooms - washed
• 1/2 cup Dried Scallops (Conpoy) - washed
• 4 pieces Chicken (2 thighs, 2 drumsticks)
• 1 can Abalone - cut abalone into slices, keep juice for sauce
• 500ml Chicken Stock (low-sodium)
• Sugar
• Pepper
• Corn Starch Slurry

Directions:
For sauce:

• Place mushrooms and dried scallops in a bowl, add enough water to cover mushrooms and scallops, cover with clingfilm and leave to soak overnight.
• The next day, place chicken pieces and chicken stock in a pot, bring to boil.
• Lower heat and simmer until chicken is tender.
• Remove chicken pieces from pot.
• Shred chicken pieces and leave aside for later use.
• Pour water that was used to soak mushrooms and scallops into the pot of chicken stock.
• Add all the juice from canned abalone into the pot of chicken stock.
• Add in mushrooms.
• Boil at medium low heat to reduce stock.
• Cook vegetables in stock and remove vegetables when they are cooked. Leave aside for later use.
  
• Continue to reduce stock.
  
• Add sugar and pepper to taste.
  
• Thicken with corn starch slurry.
  

To assemble:

• Line the inside of a bowl with clingfilm.
• Place a layer of abalone slices on clingfilm, lining the insides of the bowl.
• Spread a layer of shredded softened scallops.
• Followed by a layer of shredded chicken.
• Alternate between chicken and scallops, cover the top with leftover abalone slices.
• Wrap with clingfilm.
• Steam for 10 mins.

• Remove from steamer.
• Open up clingfilm. Place a plate over the bowl and flip over.
• Slowly lift up bowl and remove clingfilm.
• Arrange vegetables and mushrooms all around and pour sauce over.
  

For my fish dish:

Steamed Spicy Sea Bream

Ingredients:

• 1 Sea Bream (about 500g)
• Sesame Oil
• 10 slices Ginger
• 3 cloves Garlic - minced
• 1 Red Chili - sliced
• 1 stalk Spring Onion - diced
  
• Coriander

For sauce: I used the following seasonings but not sure the exact amount.

• Water
• Light Soy Sauce
• Maggi Seasoning
• Mirin (see below)
  
• Pepper

Directions:

• Fry ginger, garlic and chili in sesame oil until fragrant.
• Remove ginger, garlic and chili from pan, leaving the sesame oil in the pan for the sauce.
• Place a few slices of ginger on a plate.
• Make a few slits on the fish and place on top of ginger.
• Put the rest of the ginger, garlic and chili on top of fish, and stuff a bit in the stomach.
• Steam until done. (for this 500g fish, it was done after 12 mins)

For sauce:

• Add all the seasonings in the pan with sesame oil.
• Add spring onions.
• Bring to boil then lower heat to simmer.
• Pour on steamed fish.
• garnish with coriander
  

Comments:

• The mirin that I used: