An annual vegetarian treat of goodness & togetherness

Whenever the New Year comes, I am always looking forward to Chinese New Year. My grandmother would cook a dish that she cooks it only once a year and only on one day, the first day of Chinese New Year - her vegetarian dish. According to Chinese tradition, the Chinese people will be a vegetarian for a day because it is believed that this will ensure longevity. As for the Buddhists, a vegetarian dish helps to purify and cleanse out the body as well as it honors a Buddhist tradition that nothing living should be killed on the first day of the New Year. But for me, it reminded me so much of home and my growing up days having vegetarian dish for lunch although when I was a kid, I didn't like it at all.

Last year, the 'duty' has been transferred to my mother to cook this dish as my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I remembered that my grandmother was tutoring my mum and being the usual Kaypo girl, I sat in, helped out and learn from the guru herself : ) This year, being away from home, I decided to try this dish on my own.

I think for the proper vegetarian dish, it has 18 ingredients and each ingredient has a symbolic meaning. But my grandmother's was quite simple and I just like the mushrooms!!! Hehehe. After cooking and having it for dinner, I noted that it was nearly as good as my grandmother's. Only problem was the cabbage - it was quite fibrous and we made a mental note to never, ever buy cabbages in the UK. Not NICE : ( Oh yes, I also O.D.-ed the 'dong fun' too! LOL... so it was like vegetarian noodle dish... but not bad also lah!

TheLoyalFan says: 'Got transported back to a traditional Chinese New Year meal, eaten with chopsticks on a marble table... hehe it was good.'

This Chinese New Year has made me appreciate the people who prepare special meals for this season. I realised that it takes a lot of effort and planning for a meal to be really yummy and special. Well, this is just the beginning for me... and it has just started to get exciting.

Till then, keep nomming!!!


Ingredients: nam yee (red fermented bean curd), cabbage, mook yee, black mushroom, dong fun, foochook.