Decorate your house with Pussy Willows to represent the spring time that’s due after Chinese New Year.

CNY, also popularly known as the Spring Festival (note that there is no Spring in Malaysia, we are blessed with only the monsoon rain and shine), marks the start of the first month of the Chinese Lunar calendar. Rotating Chinese Zodiac cycles are used to name the year after an element and an animal -the present year which started on February 10 2013 is the Year of the Water Snake.The festival lasts for 15 days, with different traditions assigned to each day, although only the first two days are official public

holidays in Malaysia. To know your personal annual outlook you can visit Joey Yap

Interestingly it was only last year that I discovered the real significance, how Chinese New Year came about. According to one of the Chinese legends, villagers were terrorised by a mythical monster named Nian. It was discovered on the first day of the Spring new year that Nian was actually afraid of the color red and loud sounds. Hence from that moment onwards, every item from t-shirts, dresses, napkins, pillow cases, shoes to traditional house decos and greetings, are all red at this time of the year. This also contributed to the loud bang of red mandarin firecrackers and how they have played such an important role in the celebration.

What excites most Malaysians before CNY are the elaborate preparation and frenzy shopping for new clothings to wear, new shoes and jewelleries among the young and old. Supermarkets and hypermarkets are all geared up till midnight to serve the constant stream of consumers stocking up their home with their bulk buying of fizzy drinks, beers and wines for the modern households and younger generations in the run-up to the festival. The hussle and bussle starts a week or two before ending on the eve of CNY.

Pumpkins decorated in red ribbons

The Reunion Dinner at my home serves the traditional home cook food by my Aunty Lai Wah and mom. This include a steam village chicken, steam fish with Chinese parsley, ginger, soya sauce, Chinese mushrooms, sea cucumber and ‘fatt choy’ (a black hair like algae) symbolising prosperity or more money/profit earned for the new year. The hard work of spring cleaning begins after, organizing and arranging food items, fresh flowers, helping my family to hang traditional red decos, clearing and hiding of all the brooms. Sweeping on the first few days of CNY is a no-no and considered a taboo, as it clears all the luck of the year away.

Celebrating Chinese New Year the Malaysian way is fascinating and filled with a blend of local Malaysian Chinese traditions and roots, symbols originating from China. An array of greetings and sales promotion signage in the multi-ethnic languages (and spellings) from ‘Gong Hei Fatt Choy’ in Cantonese, ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ in Mandarin, ‘Kiong Hee Huat Tsai’ in Hokkien dialect, Selamat Tahun Baru Cina in Malay and Happy Chinese New Year, together with red lanterns, are clearly displayed and hung everywhere from pedestrian bridges, lamp posts to shops. I am proud to say that Malaysians (Chinese ethnics and other races) celebrate CNY and many other festivals in a harmonious, peaceful and united ways.

Oranges to compliment Chinese New Year

The Malaysianism (Malaysia Boleh-Malaysia-Can) love and passion for both culture and food are evident especially during the ‘Open Houses’ hosted for neighbours, families, friends and colleagues. Basically it’s an invitation to one’s home where you will be spoiled by the buffet of food, drinks and selection of home-made kueh kapit (love letters), peanut cookies and pineapple tarts offered by the family(host). Especially in a Chinese home, you will never encounter shortage of food, as more than often there are enough portions, signifying an abundance of resources and prosperity from money and other forms of blessings. So if you are a foreigner around town during CNY or any other major celebrations (example Hari Raya Puasa or Thaipusam) this is a must on the check list. Not invited? Get to know a Local and speak for a few minutes on either topics food and culture, you will be invited through the spirit and warmth of a Malaysian.

What excites most Malaysians during CNY? Especially for the young and single, the great collection of Angpows (red envelopes with money) from the elderly and married is definitely one of them. Some of the finest fireworks displays from the heart of Petaling Street( Chinatown) to local residential neighbourhoods, lion and dragon dances and the non-stop eating from one ‘open house’ parties to another, leaves no room for complaining.The typical CNY loud, traditional songs ‘dong dong chiang’ aired on both

radio and tv stations, with series of fun filled episodes of singing, laughing, welcoming the God of Prosperity/ Wealth (Chinese: 財神; Choi San) and dancing reminds all of the holiday season and CNY spirit.

Lotus Root found on markets in Malaysia.

This is the only time of the year when Chinese businesses, from big construction firms to small proprietors are closed for a good one week or the full fifteen days to rest, relax and do nothing. Most of the people who live and work in KL (Kuala Lumpur) originate from cities like Penang, Ipoh, Malacca and Johor. Hence many travel back to home towns to be with their families. So for me this is the perfect time to enjoy KL with peace and tranquillity on the roads with no traffic at all. You can even swim and dance in KL roads, time stands still. Love it!

Savoring on the various auspicious food, learning, understanding their true meanings and symbolism, I feel so thankful for customs and traditions. CNY is indeed a time of catching up with relatives and friends, renewing relationships and re-uniting once again after all the busyness for the year.It’s a season of re-connecting, forgiving, reflecting and showing love and kindness through charity. The togetherness, happiness and family values are truly exemplified in this period each year. I have learnt the quality of family time, no matter where you are.

I wish for everyone to take a break and cherish these precious moments to live and experience the spirit, the authenticity and ambiance for each month or day, Happy Chinese New Year!

Lion Dances are a popular way to celebrate prosperity the New Year will bring.

A Checklist of things to do during Chinese New Year:

1. Be invited to a CNY open house
2. Go get a nice pack of free Angpow envelopes from the bank, give and receive.
3. Do the house visits from one Chinese home to another. (Eat mandarin oranges, snack on the various home made cakes, cookies, arrowhead chips, prawn crackers, dried melon seeds and peanuts)
4. Witness a lion /dragon dance and the mandarin firecrackers
5. Do the Lo Sang (Yue Sang) – The tossing and mixing of combination of preserved and fresh vegetables with a whole significance and meaning to each ingredient. For more details click on ingredients and meanings
6. Savour the Nian Gao (Lin Go) – Glutinous rice cake steam or fried
7. Enjoy the last 15th day of CNY “Cap Goh Meh” – Chinese Valentine’s Day and witness the last loud bang of fireworks and the lighting of incese candles in a Chinese temple. If you are single, make a wish and join in the crowd in throwing oranges.

We love to share our passion for food with you on: Simply Enak - The Truly Malaysian Food Experience

Zongs come in various shapes, sizes and tastes (sweet, savoury, spicy and a mixture of it all) according to regions or states in Malaysia.

A delicious home-made Zong ready to be eaten to celebrate the Dragon Boat or Dumpling Festival

Chinese Folklore

The story of Chinese Folklore behind Zong makes this dish so important and interesting. The Zong / Dumpling Festival (Cantonese: Tuen Ng Jit / 端午節) is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, June 23 this year 2012. It honours a famous and successful scholar-poet Qu Yuan who took his life by jumping into a river after the fall of the Qin Dynasty to the Zhou Dynasty. He was greatly saddened when the king refused to take his advice, leading to a great war. It is said that the local people, who admired Qu Yuan, dropped sticky rice triangles wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river to feed Qu Yuan in the afterlife. The paddling of the boats in those days apparently were meant to scare the fishes away (in modern today we have the famous Dragon boat racing). Another, equally convincing, folklore explained: fearing that fishes would eat Qu Yuan’s body,  friends and supporters had made dumplings and threw them into the river so that the fishes would eat them instead of the body. Hence the dumplings Zong was given birth.

Interested in making your own Zong?

The link below features Amy Beh’s version of Ham Yuk Zong (Savoury Dumpling in Hokkien dialect)
http://kuali.com/recipes/view.aspx?r=307

Zong around Malaysia

Here are a few places around Malaysia where you can still enjoy a good Zong.

Kuala Lumpur

Location: Petaling Street/Chinatown
Web: http://che-cheh.com/food/bak-chang-petaling-street-kl/
The stall is located around the corner of Jalan Petaling & Jalan Hang Lekir, next to the famous Air Mata Kucing stall.

Petaling Jaya

Name: Restoran New Seaview

Location: 81, Jalan 20/7, Paramount Garden Petaling Jaya, Selangor 46100

GPS: 3.110416, 101.627416Till date I find this the best Zong / Bak chang. There taste comes closest to the Zongs of my family’s roots. You can’t miss this stall as dumplings are hanging up at the stall and it’s the only one in the area selling Zong.

Penang

Name: Cintra Food Corner
Web: http://www.bakchang.com/index.asp
Zongs here are delicious in taste and perfect in color for a Hokkien Zong.

My Love for Zong

Find out why I love Zong so much on http://www.wonderfulmalaysia.com/food/zong-chinese-dumpling-festival-malaysia.htm

We love to share our passion for food with you on: Simply Enak - The Truly Malaysian Food Experience

Simply Enak features in AirAsia's Travel3Sixty June edition

Travelers who are using the great services of AirAsia in the month of month of June, go read AirAsia’s in-fight Magazine Travel3Sixty!

On page 32 of the magazine a modest corner in the Food Section features Simply Enak’s services. Simply Enak is proud to be featured in Malaysia’s no 1 budget Airline’s magazine.

Can’t wait to your next flight? Then click here to visit the AirAsia Travel3Sixty Magazine now.

We love to share our passion for food with you on: Simply Enak - The Truly Malaysian Food Experience

Are you interested in experiencing local culture, eating the most delicious food and having great conversations with fellow food and travel enthusiasts? Then ‘Dine with a Local’ is the event for you!

For more information and bookings click here.

We are looking forward to sharing our passion for Malaysian Food with you!

We love to share our passion for food with you on: Simply Enak - The Truly Malaysian Food Experience

On March 24 ‘Dine with a Local’ will be launched with a traditional Malay meal at a private home located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Interested in dining with a local? Click here to read more and make your booking. There are only 8 spots available so be quick and book now!

We love to share our passion for food with you on: Simply Enak - The Truly Malaysian Food Experience

The name we have been looking for has to fit many requirements. It has to be creative and attractive, give our potential clients an idea of what they are up for, and last but not least it should show up in Google searches. The names suggested all have some of the above qualities and this resulted in some debate given the poll results on Facebook.

The winner:
We would like to thank all of you for your participation voting, suggesting names and liking our page!

It’s great to see your engagement and we encourage you send us many more messages from on Facebook and Twitter! Our final decision has been to combine the winning suggestion with the name we have been using internally.

The winner is: “Simply Enak off the beaten track!” by Mirelle.

The final name of the new Food Tour will be: “Flavours of Malaysia – Off the Beaten Track!”

Mirelle you are the winner of a FREE Food Tour, we look forward to having you on our Food Tour some day in the near future!

Selamat Makan!
Simply Enak Team – Pauline, Mark and Maarten

We love to share our passion for food with you on: Simply Enak - The Truly Malaysian Food Experience

Think now and shout your most creative thoughts on our Facebook! Feel free to participate as many times as you like.

A short description of the new Food Experience:
We will drive you around the less touristy neighbourhoods of Petaling Jaya.
Sit back, relax and soak in the diversity of Malaysian kitchen, we will sample the great array of Malay, Chinese, Indian and Nyonya food!

We love to share our passion for food with you on: Simply Enak - The Truly Malaysian Food Experience

We will be closed for 2 days (23rd and 24th of January) and will re-commence after.

Sign up now for a Simply Enak Food Tour in this year of the Dragon (龍).

We love to share our passion for food with you on: Simply Enak - The Truly Malaysian Food Experience

May 2012 bring you all the best food to share with your family and friends.

We love to share our passion for food with you on: Simply Enak - The Truly Malaysian Food Experience

We love to share our passion for food with you on: Simply Enak - The Truly Malaysian Food Experience