Salmon Yee Sang - Chinese New Year

17 more days till we celebrate Chinese New Year. This year we welcome the Year of the Goat (Sheep or Ram). 

Around Sydney, there will be many events to herald in the new year. See Thang Ngo's blog post festivals around Sydney. 

In our family, my Mum will make a special dish called "Yee Sang" - a fresh salad mix topped with fresh salmon sashimi tossed in a sweet dressing. This dish is a colourful mix of colours. Everyone is given a set of chopsticks to toss the salad as high as they can without creating a mess. It is believed that the higher the toss, more luck will come your way in the new year. 

Malaysian Monday #1 - Sang Har Meen (Crispy Fried Noodles with Prawns)

I love reading Gert's My Kitchen Snippets blog. She is a talented cook who enjoys baking and cooking great meals for her family and friends. I showed hubby a photo of her Sang Har Meen the other night, and he recalled the best Sang Har Meen he ate when he visited Malaysia over 10 years ago. When he saw the king-size prawns at the fish shop today, he asked if I wanted to cook Sang Har Meen for dinner.

Here's my version.

5 large size prawns, halved

Dry egg noodles (I bought noodles that were already par-boiled)

a knob of ginger, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

35stalks of kailan 

1.5 cups of chicken stock

1 egg, lightly beaten

corn flour mixed with water

Seasoning

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbs of light soy sauce

1 tsp of Shao Shing Wine (chinese cooking wine)

1 tsp of sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the freshwater prawns into halves. Sprinkle lightly with a little salt and pepper. Heat a pan with a little oil, place the prawns in when pan is hot and cook until they turn red. Dish out and set aside. 
2. Loosen the noodles and fry the noodles in small batches till golden and crispy. Drain and set aside in serving dish. Place the prawns on top of the noodles.
3. Heat a little vegetable oil in the wok and add the chopped garlic, sliced ginger and sesame oil.
4. When fragrant, add in the kai lan. Fry for about a minute or two on medium high heat and then add the seasoning, followed by the chicken stock . Lower the heat and let the mixture simmer until boiling.
5. Then add in the corn flour mixture to thicken the gravy. Stir in the beaten egg.
6. Ladle the gravy over the prawns and noodles. Serve immediately. 

P. S. I am submitting this to Shaz's blog as my 1st entry for Muhibbah Malaysian Monday.

Butter Prawns

We had this dish at our CNY reunion dinner at the restaurant. Elin also cooked this dish for her CNY reunion dinner. My 1st attempt. Taste was good but it was a challenge to get the egg threads crispy. Have to try making this again to improve.

The curry leaves are from our garden.