Family that eats together, stays together. Won’t you agree with me with that statement? This statement is true for me and I think it’s the same with everyone else too. We may not see eye to eye and we may have disagreements with our family members every now and then but good food is always something what everyone can always enjoy, despite our differences.
My family and I love good food during our get togethers. Here’s sharing some of the must have family favourites whenever we eat together in family gatherings. They’re all Chinese food with great taste in Malaysia.
Spring Rolls– Spring rolls, or also known as popiah, are well loved Chinese pastries. It is usually deep fried and served as appetizers or snacks. Rolled in thin pastries stuffed with vegetable fillings and served with a side of dipping sauce, they’re pretty much addictive and a must have in family gatherings. For the Chinese, spring rolls also symbolises wealth as it looks like gold bars.
Dumplings– Dumplings is another one of the top delicacy that’s a must have in my family dinner or reunion gatherings. It’s a dish of dough stuffed with vegetable or meat fillings and we’d usually serve those either boiled with a side of black vinegar dippings or in soup.
Longevity Noodles– Longevity noodles is not something that we would order every time we get together. This is a dish exclusive only for birthdays and we only will order or make them when we celebrate someone’s birthday. So what’s so special about this dish? Well, unlike the regular noodles that we eat during normal days, these longevity noodles are served uncut or broken while being cooked. It’s supposed to symbolise good luck and long and healthy life ahead of you.
Assam Chye– Assam Chye is another one of my family’s favourite dish. It’s a spicy and sour vegetable dish. Really good to be paired with a bowl of piping hot rice, but strangely good on it’s own too. What’s special about this dish is that it’s actually known as the ‘rubbish’ dish in amongst the traditional Chinese. This is because This dish is made by dumping leftovers in one pot to be cooked with sour tamarind. This dish is made and served when we have too many leftovers and don’t know what to do with it.
Zong Zi– Zong Zi, or more commonly known in Malaysia as Zhang, are actually sticky rice dumplings. This dish is made from glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves, or sometimes with reed or other large flat leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. My family’s version is always the vegetarian version, stuffed with salted egg yolks, vegetarian lock meat, chestnuts as well as Shittake mushrooms. This is usually served during Dragon Boat Festival gatherings.
Angkoo Kueh– Another special Chinese delicacy that’s worth mentioning is the Angkoo Kuih. Made to look like a red tortoise, this is a sweet Chinese pastry with soft, sticky glutinous rice flour skin wrapped around a sweet filling in the centre. This used to be traditionally served to celebrate baby’s full moon, but these days it’s more like a daily teatime desserts.
Tangyuan– Usually served during Winter Solstice. It symbolises togetherness, but in my family, it’s usually served as desserts.Tang Yuan is type of round dumpling. The dough is made of glutinous rice flour and water, and filled with sweet fillings like red bean, lotus paste, peanuts or black sesame seeds.
If there’s one thing that I miss dearly before Covid19 restriction strike the country is the get together sessions with my family. We used to get together over lunch or dinner in restaurants and we’d catch up on each other’s lives over the meals. But these days, we don’t do that anymore. Dining out is a real pain with so many SOPs to follow and we rather order food delivery via Foodpanda. It not only saves us the hassle of having to travel unnecessarily but it’s quick and convenient too. Fancy some delicious Chinese food for your get together? Try ordering some from Foodpanda. You’ll be spoiled for choices.