0 Enjoying toss of time-honored tradition with feasting, fun and family

As the Year of the Dragon lets out its final roar, the water snake will slither onto the timeline with great expectations ahead. This year’s Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 10, gives families and friends the opportunity to gather for merry making, feasting and honoring tradition. Their homes, malls, restaurants and other public places will be decked in glorious red. Chinese legend has it that the predatory beast Nian descended on villages causing destruction on the eve of Chinese New Year. 

A wise man chased it away with firecrackers and red paper, hence the preponderance of the color for the celebration. Special dishes are another mainstay of the celebration. Stallone Tjia said that his family usually celebrated New Year with a family dinner at grandparents’ house or the family’s elders on the eve of the big day. “My grandparents like to serve home-cooked dishes, such as fried carp in sweet and sour sauce, crab soup, sea cucumber soup, pork satay and cold ham,” said the 27-year-old. 

Yulyani “Yani” Meilia Suhinto, an insurance company employee, said that on Chinese New Year’s Eve, her family prayed in a Buddhist temple before the family dinner. Some of her family’s must-have dishes for the Chinese New Year are fried noodles and milkfish. “We also decorate the house with the imlek tree adorned with oranges and angpau (red envelopes) containing between Rp 5,000 and Rp 100,000,” she said, using the local term for the Lunar New Year. 

“If our guests have small children, we let the kids take the envelopes by themselves so that they can pick their own fortune.” Stallone said that if the family did not have a tradition of cooking at home, they would usually dine at a restaurant and partake of Yu sheng salad. The appetizer, also known as yee sang or the Prosperity Toss, consists of seven ingredients, including slivers of raw salmon, sliced carrot, cucumber and radish, and is served with condiments of sweet plum sauce and poppy seeds. 

Chef Jeff Lee from Mandarin Oriental Jakarta’s Chinese restaurant Xin Wen also chose Yu sheng when asked about special foods for Chinese New Year. He said that in China and other countries in Asia where the new year is observed, the family would eat Yu sheng together at a celebratory dinner. “Yu sheng is a special dish only served on that day. The tradition of eating Yu sheng symbolizes abundance and achievements. Every member of the family has to toss the dish, the higher it goes, the merrier and luckier [it will be],” he said.

Local tastes
With its own sizable ethnic Chinese population, Indonesia is also preparing to bring in the new year with a bang. In Jakarta, many eateries have Chinese cuisine promotions during the period, including Bunk Lobby Lounge and Collage at Pullman Central Park. Stallone said celebrants also ate special cookies, usually sweet as a metaphor for a sweet year ahead, such as nastar (pineapple jam-filled cookies) and lidah kucing, a paper thin biscuit. 

“Other snacks that are usually available during the Chinese New Year are kue keranjang (made from sticky rice), which is a metaphor for a close, harmonious family relationship, kue lapis legit (layer cake) to have layered blessings, and candies,” he said. Yani said her family usually stacked kue keranjang into a pyramid shape on the special table designated to hold the ashes of ancestors. 

The cake is only removed from the table two weeks after new year. “There are many ways to enjoy kue keranjang. You can simply eat it or deep-fry it first, with either method it’s delicious,” said the 28-year-old. Chef Lee said that during the Chinese New Year, people also have glutinous rice balls, which signify turning one year older. Both Stallone and Yani said it was a time to strengthen family ties as they visited their extended family and asked forgiveness from each other. 

“We usually stay up late on Chinese New Year’s Eve because members of the extended family come to our house and we’ll have a very long chat. It’s nice to keep up with your family,” Yani said. Every New Year celebration may have different cuisines and traditions, but the fundamental meaning is shared by all: reconciliation, releasing grudges and wishing peace and happiness to all.

source : the jakarta post