It’s only a few days to Chinese New Year! That being said, our gang of foodies were lucky enough to be sponsored for a Chinese New Year Cover Shot session, which was our very 1st Cheongsam photoshoot! It is safe to say this is something novel which no other team of food bloggers have done, a very creative brainchild by Sidney of BigBoysOven 🙂

Saucer, MeiYee, ME, Bok, Coco, Sunny and Xin

as models of the day

First and foremost, I would like to thank our venue & meal sponsor, House of Tangs in Bangsar, Carven Ong Couture as our wardrobe sponsor and BigBoysOven as our dessert & cupcakes sponsor. Without them, today wouldn’t have been made possible anyway!

Master Chef Koh then joined us right after he whipped out his Yee Sang specialty served especially for us by House of Tangs. Yee Sangs are a total must have during this Chinese New Year festive season. It’s a trademark yo!

Remember I mentioned to yall previously that the method of eating a Yee Sang isn’t exactly very dainty nor adhering to any table etiquette? Well.. this is it. Look at all the hungry tiger plushies! I guess their appetites ain’t as ravenous as ours. After a long day of shooting, we were certainly famished

Ladies gossiping and table chatting ala Hong Kong-Shanghai drama series

And the insanity streak in us begins! The higher the better! Prosperity, success, wealth and health will be roaring ahead for the year of the Tiger! Hit ’em up to the ceiling if you may! 😛

I swear if we were any stronger, bits and pieces of Yee Sang

would be flying all over the room

Check out what pastry chef Sunny Yaw cooked up this time! I don’t read Chinese characters but my two cents tells me it should be Gong Xi Fatt Chai (Happy Chinese New Year). The mini tiger cub heads popping outta the pink icing were such a squeeze! Such meticulously decorated cupcakes, very detailed indeed 😀

A very adorable set of brightly colored cupcakes!

His lovely creations are of course to commemorate the year of the Tiger.

After a while, we took our seats for the food shots and nomnom shots. Yes nomnom shots (as deemed by me) are shots that are taken while someone else is eating. Here’s a fine example of nomnoms at its finest 😛 😛

OMMMM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM

Remember my previous food review about the House of Tangs CNY menu? Yup, it IS that delicious. But ya know what the best part is? They allowed us to share with our readers some recipes of 3 out of their many signature dishes. Did you hear right? Of course, you did – because sharing is caring!

So as promised, here the recipes are. You could make mom or granny cook this at home for your reunion dinner! Pork Ribs – every non-muslim’s favorite! Tender and succulent, it’s impossible not to sink your teeth in it

Ingredients:
– Pork ribs 1kg
– Ginger in fine slices 20gm

Marinade:
– Garlic 1 spoon
– Oyster sauce 1 spoon
– Sugar 1/2 tea spoon
– Tapioca flour 1 tea spoon
– 1 egg

Sauce:
– Water 1 spoon
– Black vinegar 1 spoon
– Sugar 1 spoon
– Dark soy sauce a little bit
– Sesame oil a little bit

Steps:
1. Cut the pork ribs into square for about 2 inches, marinate with the ingredients above for 3 hours.
2. Place the pork ribs into pre-heated oven at 180c to bake for 15 mins till golden brown and cooked.
3. Deep dry the fine ginger slices in hot oil till crispy and place on top of the pork ribs, and pour the sauce over, and serve.

The next one imma share with yall is the prawn dish. Served in a small portion, it will leave you wanting for more! I certainly did, as it was only a mouthful 😀 can’t have enough? Nevermindddd… let’s get your folks at home to cook this too ey?

Ingredients A:
– 2 large prawns
– Huge cabbage 2 pcs
Note: Slice the prawns into half to butterfly shape, add a little salt and pepper to marinate for about 5 mins. Then fry the prawn till cooked.

Ingredients B:
– Carrot 20gm
– Enoki mushroom 20gm
– Mushroom 2 pcs
– Celery 20gm

Ingredients C:
– Chick peas 20gm
– Green peas 20gm
– Corn 20gm

Marinade:
– Garlic 1 tea spoon
– Oyster sauce 1 spoon
– Sugar 1/2 tea spoon

Steps:
1. Boil the cabbage till soft, sift and let dry.
2. Slice Ingredients B thinly, boil, and sift dry.
3. Sauteed the garlic and pour in the Ingredients B and stir fry.
4. Wrap the ingredients with cooked cabbage into roll, and cut half.
5. Sauteed Ingredients C with butter and add sugar 1/2 teaspoon and salt 1/2 teaspoon. Cook with medium fire for 3 mins and pour onto the plate.
6. Serve the prawn on top of the cabbage roll on the plate with Ingredients C.

It’s time for dessert! The famous Chinese traditional dessert comes in many varieties, among the notable ones are of course the Chrysanthemum Rice Cake.

Ingredients A:
– Boiled water 1.3kg
– Chrysanthemum 10gm
– Vietnamese Rice Net Wrappers 10 pcs

Ingredients B:
– Glutinous flour 1.2kg
– Tang flour 240gm
– Santan flour 1 pack
– Corn flour 240gm
– Cooking oil 120gm
– Sugar 600gm

Steps:
1. Boil the water, put in Chrysanthemum and let it soak for about 20 mins. Sift the Chrysanthemum and keep the water for use.
2. Mix Ingredients B then mix the Ingredients A evenly. Pour onto a plate and steam for 2 hours. Let it cool.
3. When it is cool, cut it into pieces and wrap with Vietnamese rice net wrappers. Deep fry till golden brown and serve.

Good luck cooking those at home!

Let’s hope your version is just as nice as the ones we had 🙂

By the end of the evening, we were more or less done. Thanks to the awesome team of photographers of the day. Ken, Andrew, Alex and Chai! Gracias to the 4 of you for being so patient with us and lugging your gear and lighting equipment, withstanding hours and hours of shooting us! Trust me, I know exactly how that feels 😉

AND ONCE AGAIN, THEJESSICAT.COM AND THE REST OF THE FOODIES

(my 1st time wearing a cheongsam wtf!)

WISHES ALL YOU DEARIES A SAFE TRIP BACK TO YER FAMILY THIS CHINESE NEW YEAR!

_{GONG XI FATT CHAI!}

_xoxo