Chinese Celebration with 8-course set meal

The festive season is just around the corner; with the Lunar Chinese New Year exactly a week away.
Any festive celebration always brings food to mind, which is always the centerpiece to keep family reunions and friends gathering animated as conversations continue to flow while satisfying their appetites at the same time.

The Chinese are always lavish with their celebrations; a tradition which is traced back to the early days during the civilization era. A celebration feast is always associated with a table filled with carefully crafted and prepared dishes.
The preparation of the dishes are always with thought and delicate preparation, with extensive and meticulous efforts put into the cooking method, sourcing of raw materials, garnishing to the style of presentation. The whole process is to ensure that one can find fulfillment and happiness in the tastes of the food, and that will be a sense of achievement to the person preparing it.
The amount of dishes symbolizes the generosity and prosperity, to laud the joy which comes with the celebration and the types of food are well-balanced with a varied selection of staples like rice/noodles, fish, prawns, poultry, pork, soup and concluded with something sweet to soothe one's soul at the end of the meal.

While the West has their 4-5 course set meals, Chinese celebration meals always come in 8-9 courses designed to serve 10 pax. The Chinese loves crowds, and large numbers add to the merry environment and of course, shared happiness with rowdy banter and laughter going around.

These elaborate course set meals can be found in weddings, birthdays, besides the festive celebrations and those who attend Chinese weddings are definitely not unfamiliar with these courses.
However, the course set meals are grand and with the variety of food, they are definitely tempting, not to mention stimulating one's palates and memory to induce that craving for these dishes.

It was a birthday we celebrated at this restaurant, Green Bamboo Restaurant which I have previously blogged earlier last year.

Typical courses of Chinese course set meals, in a general orderly manner:-
(We have customize the number of dishes due to small number of diners in our group to avoid wastage of food)

Like Western dinners, appetizers always grace the start of the meal and names of the dishes are often associated with an auspicious term as the Chinese are great believers in good symbols for they believe it brings happiness, luck and all things good.

Four Seasons of Happiness typically comes in a variety of mini samplers presented on a round plate, and each could symbolize one element associated with good meaning charms.
(Sometimes, it could be FiveHappiness and Six Happiness - the usual number associated with good beginnings)


(Sauteed jelly fish with sweet and sour sauce)


(Fried yam basket filled with kung pow chicken cubes, assorted vegetables topped with cashew nuts)


(Braised fish rolls with light egg batter gravy)


(Mayonnaise pork ribs)


Appetizers platter


Steamed Garoupa in plain light soy sauce






Spicy Mango Prawns




Braised mushrooms and broccoli with pacific clams






A Birthday meal is never complete without the auspicious Longevity noodles.
The name says it all, and the braised noodles is simply my daddy's favorite.
Though I must say, the presentation is definitely not really what I was expecting, and I believe they could have done a much better job rather than making this look like a mess.




Desserts are popularly presented with a combo of sweet soup along with an assortment of pastries.

Fried and sweet flaky pastry filled with lotus paste and glutinous rice balls filled with peanuts.







Sweet chilled Longan soup to polish one's taste buds after the fulfilling meal.




This is only a customized version and an elaborate full course set meals are usually found in wedding dinners and also large birthday celebrations where a minimum of 10 pax fill an entire table.

This may be an idea for dishes to whip up for that upcoming Chinese New Year reunion dinner, though it is usually the favorite dishes of family members as everyone returns to gather around the round table.

The most important of Chinese meals are not about the number of the dishes, though significant, but rather, the union of all the loved ones and the sharing of laughter and stories which brings warmth to the soul, and that makes up the meaning of the celebration :-)

A Taste of Ampang Yong Tau Foo At Foong Foong

Growing up in the big city of KL, there are a few things that we knew (and are proud of) to introduce to our visiting friends and relatives when they are in town.
I remembered my parents would always be planning these itineraries for our visiting relatives; of which includes a trip to Genting Highlands (definitely, even though it is technically in the state of Pahang), the National Monument, Chinatown and shopping malls.
Yes, if there's one thing that KL is known for, it is the huge malls that we have here that boasts of all the brands not found in other states and we are proud of these icons of the city.

When relatives come to visit, food is definitely part of the itinerary and one of the most prominent food that KL calls its own is the Yong Tau Foo, and when one speaks of Yong Tau Foo, the only place that comes to mind is Ampang; from it originated from.
We made a road trip to Ampang, having recalled these memories to hunt for the famous place where we used to frequent, as dad guided us to the name of the outlet.

Foong Foong Yong Tau Foo, a name which had been in business for the past four decades, still stood proud in the busy town of the Ampang Village, ushering the crowds during its peak hours into its humble shop.



The place is buzzing with the enthusiastic city dwellers and local residents in the neighborhood during the peak hours of lunch and it can be really challenging to find a place if you are caught in those hours. It would be best to be there early if you would prefer to avoid all the hassle, and especially if you are going there in a large group.



The place is not air-conditioned, and like the old school shops, it is installed with ceiling fans and fluorescent lights and with the crowds, it can get really hot and stuffy at times.
They have a lot of workers, especially senior citizens who would help to usher and find a place for you, and perhaps gather chairs for your table.

Then you would head to the main counter to place your order, as there will not be anyone coming over to take your order; except for the drinks which will be ordered by the workers once you are seated at your table.
Place your order at the counter and watch as your orders are repeated over a hailer; yes, amplified as the guy at the counter sends the orders to the kitchen immediately.
(Pretty much the whole restaurant would be able to hear, but no one would actually bother as it is all the same thing anyway, when it comes to Yong Tau Foo, where only the quantity differs. Furthermore, with all that buzz and chattering going on all over the restaurant, the amplified orders are just merely part of the noise).



Sauce is an important part in enjoying the Yong Tau Foo; and these old-timers knew the secret to their success besides their skills in perfecting the tastes of their Yong Tau Foo.
Homemade sweet sauce and chili sauce (though I am not sure if it is really homemade) makes all the difference.
The Sweet sauce here had that old school taste in it; a rather traditional styled sauce which is becoming rare these days.



Mix them together if you want to, and they should be a good combination to complement all that yong tau foo on their way.


Deep fried Sui Kow and Bean Curd Skin Roll
These are the two famous items they are famous for, especially the bean curd skin roll, and they are served piping hot straight from the wok.
Be cautious or you might just burn your tongue from that hot stuffs!~ :-)




The deep fried sui low were stuffed with a mixture of minced meat and fish paste, while the bean curd skin roll is purely fish paste based.


A bowl of soup was sent over which is meant to complement the deep fried items (perhaps too dry?)


Sui kow in soup

If you are not a fan of the deep fried Sui Kow (dumplings), then the soup version might be your choice, or you could just try both.






Mixed Yong Tau Foo
An assortment of Red Chilies with fish paste, Lady Fingers, White Tofu, Bitter Gourd, Brinjals and their homemade fish balls.







The Yong Tau Foo each costs MYR1 per piece, which was reasonably priced for the serving size per piece.
The crowds here are probably made up of their regulars and perhaps tourists too, who have definitely heard of their fame.

This is not just a taste of the famed Yong Tau Foo, for me, as this is, as taste of childhood.... :-)

Sunday dinner at Sunshine Bay Seafood

Weekends are synonymous with crowds and holidays here in Penang island; and we have gotten used to the trend here where there are always eager tourists hanging around our little island.

It is not an out worldly thing when you are living in a world famous (if not Malaysia alone) island, famed for food, heritage and the hills and the sea and is one of the world's most livable cities.

With the island filled with tourists almost every weekend (and sometimes even weekdays during the peak seasons; public and school holidays), there is pretty much no place for the locals to escape to a quiet little sanctuary to have that piece of local life. Not that we are complaining much; but traffic can be really horrendous and worse, seems like the costs of living are just increasing exponentially, and there are just so many places which are falling into the zone of over-commercialization that sometimes, to be honest, it just gets a little tad, well, frustrating.

Anyway, as the saying goes, the going gets tough, we, just play tough and get going; hunting for different places to try out sometimes whenever we get bored of our usual places, or they are just starting to move into their tourism zone. *Laughs* Now it sounds like the locals are running away from the tourism, how ironic that sounds!

We are not really active hunters for new food places; mainly because I am also a rather habitual person where I tend to sink into the comfort zone when I like a place and the food served that I would tend to stick to that place and frequent it until I decide that I am bored, and usually that is not in a short term.

However, the good thing is, recently, I am starting to, and wanting to check out some new places because there is just way too many new places and I haven't been doing it in a while. So it seemed like a great time to spice it up again and just, be a little adventurous.

Sunday dinners, like everyone is usually with the family (unless we have prior plans or events) and we don't usually go to new places unless otherwise requested by the elders.

This round, we decided to go to this seafood restaurant in Tanjung Bungah.

Well, they have all visited this place before, and I was the only one visiting for the first time.

Sunshine Bay Seafood restaurant is located right before the traffic light and after the post office if you are coming from the Gurney direction, facing Harmony Residence in the opposite direction.
If you are at the traffic light, you can see Maybank. Therefore, you should turn left/keep left when you see the post office (which can be quite hidden) on your left and there is a slightly upward slope heading into their premises.

We were there quite early on a Sunday evening, and the place still looked pretty vacant at around 6-ish. However, we noticed that there were two tables with the reservation tags; reserved by their regular customers I suppose.

We had an elderly woman who came over to help us with the ordering and she gave a list of recommendations based on the menu they have and we just ordered a couple of simple dishes which would suit the tastes of the elders as well. (In fact, our parents decided on the ordering as well).

With the hot and dry weather in the afternoons, coconut juice seemed to be a perfect choice to complement the meal.
The coconuts were priced at MYR5.00 each.



Coconut juice is always a good thirst quencher and one can only understand the cooling sensation when the soothing taste of the clear liquid gushes down the throat. It is indeed a refreshing treat, and the best part is that it is rarely overwhelmingly sweet (unless it was sweetened in some way) which is the reason the coconut juice is also always referred to as coconut water, because it is just so similar to the pure H2O in so many ways except with that slight hint of sourish sweetness and that it comes in a hard husk.


Kung Pow Mantis Prawns (MYR10) is a delightful combination of deep fried mantis prawns which were then stir fried with the light touch of Lea Perrins sauce (or other similar sauce) along with spring onions, onions and dried chilies as the main ingredients.

There are many other ways to enjoy this delicacy of the mantis prawns, such as salted egg yolk being the other popular choice, but I would not have it any other way except this. It is just my own definition of the perfect way to enjoy this; provided that they do it well.
Somehow, I found this version a little salty for my liking and also, the mantis prawns were inconsistent with some being a little over the top in the deep frying process. It is never easy to perfect the deep frying of the mantis prawns, as I was told, as too much would lead to it being totally dried and crispy while an instant deep frying might lead to the prawns being undercooked.
The perfect texture is in the equality of the outer crispy texture, while maintaining the soft and juicy flesh inside when one bites into it, and so far, I have only found probably, less than 3 restaurants which could really perfect this dish.

(I am not sure about you, but it seems to be rather tough to find this dish being on the menu of many restaurants; perhaps of the scarcity of its kind? In Penang, it is still generally found in most restaurants, thankfully, but they are still seasonal items).

Homemade Signature Beancurd (MYR10) is a recommended dish by the restaurant; with their fresh and smooth bean curd braised with a light broth served with finely minced chicken meat and spring onions tossed atop the dish.

Most of the restaurants these days are all proud to call their own signature homemade tofu dish, and it seems that all the signature tofu dishes are made from their own kitchen. I am not complaining, as undeniably, the texture can be really smooth (though not fully delicate) and there is that tinge of freshness when one bites into the juicy bean curd.

Stir fried Qing Miao vegetable with crunchy fish crisps (MYR12) is another interesting vegetable dish, which was something new to me as I have often known the Qing Miao or any Miao suffixed vegetable to be in the form of a fine and thin shoot/stalk-like type of vegetable. After all, it is indeed a type of pea shoot. Therefore, when we first saw this dish, it seemed like it was a wrongly prepared dish.
It was still quite an enjoyable dish, as the vegetables were quite crunchy and fresh, though the same cannot be said of the fish crisps which did seem like they could do with a little bit more to kick that goodness into complementing the vegetable.

To complete the meal is this Steamed Fish (a sea perch) with sour lime sauce (MYR36)
The fish was half of a whole fish; and the spicy and sourish sauce was the highlight of the dish and was indeed an appetizing addition to the spread we have on our table. In fact, this dish stole the limelight (pun intended) from the other dishes with the slightly fiery taste of the wicked combination of pounded chili and finely grounded garlic mixed with the bitter and acidic sour juice of the lime as a surefire way to weasel into everyone's appetite. The tantalizing and tempting taste of the sauce, along with the freshness and lightly steamed flesh of the fish is the grand finish to the entire meal.

It goes without saying that this is my favorite dish of the night.

(Perhaps it was my personal tastes, but I did find the overall tastes of a dishes a little salty for my liking).

The overall bill costs approximately MYR85++ for four pax; and was a little higher than expected due to the price of the fish. This goes to say that the costs of dining out are indeed on the rise towards the higher end these days.

The restaurant do serve prawns, crabs and other seafood fare in a home cooked style and a homey environment.
This adds to another restaurant explored on my quest to hunt for more seafood restaurants on the island, to add to my personal list of favorite and frequented restaurants :-)

Dim Sum delights

Sundays are by default, days for rest and to be with families and loved ones after a whole week of slugging away at work. Of course, while it is denoted the Sabbath Day and seems like the end of the week, it also actually marks the beginning of the new week.
Sounds confusing, probably not, if you were to just focus on everything's good on Sunday, that would help.

For those who are up early on Sundays (some prefer to sleep in, catching up on their lost sleep over a long working week), typically they would be on the prowl for breakfast joints everywhere; crowding the coffee shops and market stalls as they go about doing their weekly grocery shopping from the fresh market.
I am a big fan of dim sum, and the term "morning tea" enlightens that whole concept which is practiced by most Chinese communities worldwide, especially in Hong Kong and China, where you can find long queues and overcrowded tables with strangers sharing their space with each other, nudging elbows just to enjoy some quality time with their families over little plates of dim sum for breakfast on Sundays.

Thankfully, our dim sum restaurants here are not as bad; though crowded, we do not have to go to that extent to share tables or take waiting numbers for a table.

If I am back in town, occasionally we would go for dim sum breakfast at this shop located in Bandar Sg Long, Koo Hiong which is just right in the first row of shophouses after the morning market.
I have previously blogged about this here, and I still love to post about it :-)

A glimpse of what we ordered off the bamboo steamer trays hand-carried by the workers here (they looked pretty heavy to me)

Braised pork ribs with fermented beans and chilies



Siew Mai (wrapped pork dumplings topped with colored sago balls to emulate crab roe)


Steamed fish balls (the ones here are my personal favorites)



Har Gao (steamed prawn dumplings wrapped in crystal skin)


Lor Mai Kai (Glutinous rice braised in a metal bowl with chicken meat and mushrooms)


Fish paste with century egg and celery wrapped with seaweed



Steamed stuffed pork with a topping of flattened shrimp with crystal skin


Minced meat with fish paste rolled with fried bean curd sheets


Meat paste wrapped with cabbage


Homemade Hong Kong style Chee Cheong Fun; with a combination of bbq pork (char siew) and shrimps as filling


Dim sum is just a delightful way of enjoying the variety of small bites in different flavors and style.
Though it can be pricey; with each of them priced between MYR2.00-MYR5.00 per plate each (relatively higher in cost compared to having a bowl of noodles or pastries for breakfast), it is still a fun treat to indulge in once in a while.
After all, what is the price tag to put on family quality time and the laughter on the faces?
Priceless....