Juniper
The Chinese New Year period is one of the best times of the year for indulging in food and drink. Nowadays, most families opt to have their Chinese New Year Eve reunion dinners in restaurants as it’s more convenient and less troublesome but there are still many families who prefer to have these dinners at home.
Growing up in a large extended family environment, Chinese New Year was always a time when my aunts would get together and do the marketing for the reunion dinner. My maternal grandmother used to make kuih kapit, those must-have crispy love letters over a charcoal fire. As a child, I’d help her pour the batter on to the moulds. I can still remember the aroma of the love letters as they were folded and tucked away carefully into Milo tins. For a year, we’d save all our empty Milo tins. We drank a lot of Milo in those days!
One of my aunts was in charge of making kuih bangkit and pineapple tarts and no, there was no ready-made pineapple jam in those days. The jam was made from scratch and I recall my aunt buying a lot of pineapples from the market. My task was to dot the kuih bangkit in red with a toothpick, a very delicate task! I was also entrusted with cutting the pastry for the pineapple tarts with the moulds.
Those were truly halcyon days when the entire family got together to discuss the menu for our reunion dinner and prepare for Chinese New Year. Before my aunts and uncles migrated to far away lands, there’d be at least a few tables in my house compound. The adults would be seated separately from the kids.
A whole steamed chicken was a must and this would have been offered to our ancestors first before we could tuck into it. There were so many dishes, I can’t remember all of them but I do remember they were excellent and nothing like the standard restaurant fare. In those days, we’d never even think of having our reunion dinners in a restaurant.
In the days before hypermarkets, our neighbourhood grocery man would drive up in his beat-up Volkswagen and deliver crates of bottled fizzy drinks. That was what I looked forward to the most – seeing the bottles and bottles of F&N 7UP, Coca-Cola, strawberry and vanilla soda. There’s a big difference between holding one of those old-fashioned bottles and a can. Somehow those from the bottles just tastes better.
As time passed and my relatives dwindled in numbers through migration, our few tables became just one big table but the festivities and merriment remained the same. If someone were to ask me whether I prefer having my reunion dinner at home or some fancy restaurant, I’d choose home any time.
This Chinese New Year’s Eve, I accepted a dear friend’s invitation to join her and her family for the reunion dinner. She’d taken the time and effort to prepare a sumptuous yet simple spread. She’s a wizard in the kitchen and can whip up culinary delights without so much as having to refer to any recipes.
There’s really nothing quite like home cooked food especially when it comes out of my friend’s kitchen. It beats eating out in any restaurant. Thank you to my dear friend for your hospitality, company and most of all your friendship.
