Reunion Dinner (Part 2)

It’s time for the 2nd reunion dinner at home. Every year, my MIL and BIL will cook up a storm in the kitchen. We will definitely have fish to symbolize abundance (余) and prawn which sounds like laughter(哈) in Cantonese dialect. Leek will also be served because it sounds like “count” (算) in Hokkien - basically it means “counting money”. We also feast on roast duck, chicken and pork. This year, we had a mini steamboat which symbolizes “reunion” as the steamboat is round in shape.

We usually start the dinner with yu sheng (鱼生) which J enjoyed as he gets to toss the salad. He also enjoys munching on the crackers. Although M would look on curiously while we tossed the yu sheng but when we settled down for the dinner proper, he insisted on having his share of the food.

Here’s wishing all a blessed Chinese New Year filled with happiness, good health and prosperity!

Reunion Dinner (Part 1)

Eating steamboat always make me reminiscence about the past.

When I was a kid, we always have steamboat for reunion dinner on Chinese New Year’s eve. During those days, we look forward to it as we only get to have such a big feast once a year. Before global warming, the period of CNY tends to be cold and thus it is really nice to sit in front of a steaming pot of broth and having a meal with my parents and grandma. After the dinner, I would happily help to set up the goodies which would await the guests who would visit us on the 1st day of CNY.

35 years later, I would still insist on having steamboat for reunion dinner every CNY. For the past few years, we have been dining out as it is tiring for my mum to prepare the ingredients. Now with 2 kids in tow, it is hard to dine out in peace, thus we had it at home instead. We had G joined us this year as it would be a good opportunity for the 4 cousins to hang out.

While we civilize adults sit down for a good meal, the 2 older cousins was happily playing among themselves. J and S seem to always enjoy each other’s company. Come next year, it would even more rowdy when the 2 younger ones join in their elder brothers’ silly antics. But hey, that is what reunion is all about!