My mother in law is an expert at cooking char siu pork. She gave me her recipe seven years ago but I had never tried to cook it. This is one of my husband’s favourite dishes and he gets to eat it whenever he visits his mum. So I decided it is about time that I would try to learn!

Last week, on the eve of Chinese New Year for our reunion dinner, I had cooked a steamed fish. I mentioned in the post why a fish dish is a must on the table, so today, I am writing my recipe for you if you wish to follow.

Pop the fish in the steamer for 6-8 minutes or until it is cooked. Mix 4 tablespoons of Kikkoman soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 1 teaspoon Shaoxin Chinese wine and pepper. Pour in the mixture once the fish is cooked. Serve while hot. It is that simple! They are fantastic!

Today, I would like to take you on a journey to see Chinese New Year goodies found in Singapore Chinatown. Living there for over 20 years and going to Chinatown in Outram Park is one of my highlights and recommendations to soak in the new year atmosphere.

Since I moved to the UK, I miss the opportunity to shop for the full range of Chinese New Year goodies. Some of these goodies can be found in UK Chinese supermarkets though so take a closer look if you get chance!

Now here are the streets in Chinatown. These goodies can only bought a month prior to Chinese New Year. All the street stalls will close after 1 – 2 am on Chinese New Year. So if you want to join in the festivities, make sure you time your travel before the New Year!

I have no idea why these varieties are only available for this limited time, like waxed salted food such as duck, sausages, ham etc. Maybe during the olden times, the only presents/gifts you can bring to visit your family and friends are preserved food. Hence the reasons of them being popular.

These are the varieties of waxed salted duck, salted ham, salted fish and Chinese sausages:

As many of you will know, I’ve been writing a series of Chinese New Year posts from crafts to foods. Check out my Chinese New Year’s Pinterest board for ideas!

Many Chinese will cook a fish dish on Chinese New Year Eve reunion dinner as it represents 年年有余 (Nian Nian You Yu) meaning abundance through the year. It is a great auspicious dish for all to eat. It is also traditional to serve fish with its head and tail intact to symbolise a positive beginning and end to the New Year.

This is the Steamed Seabass with Shredded Ginger recipe from Wing Yip. Its serves 2 – 3 person.

Earlier this month, I wrote about different types of Chinese New Year goodies including Nian Gao! Nian Gao is always one of my favourite foods during Chinese New Year. So this year I decided to make my own. After much research from various sites, I decided to use this recipe from my friend.

Today marks another year of the Winter Solstice Festival. I can’t believe how time passes us so quickly and it is going to be another new year in less than two weeks time. If you don’t know what the Winter Solstice Festival/Dongzhi is and why we are celebrating it, please click here to read what I had wrote in last year’s blog post.

Each time you go to buy a Chinese takeaway, are you tempted to buy a bag of prawn crackers? Sometimes in Chinese restaurants, they may serve you a basket of prawn crackers too. My children love it and we always have to stop them eating too many in case it spoils their dinner!

Ever since I tried a Pork Floss Bun from Breadtalk, I always wanted to find out how they make it. Pork Floss Buns are Breadtalk’s signature product in Singapore! If you ever visit Singapore, do give it a try. I absolutely love it. I am not sure if they still taste the same to what I had 10 years ago though!

Why is the bun so unique? It is because of the spread inside the bun. There are so many competitor bakeries who have tried to copy Breadtalk’s Pork Floss Bun ever since. but no one else’s tastes as good as Breadtalk.

I tried to recreate the spread by asking a Singaporean friend for recipe ideas. This is what he gave me. To make the spread, fill a rice bowl 3/4 full of normal mayonnaise and mix with 2 tablespoons of condensed milk. I have a sweet tooth and I prefer it to be more sweet so added 4 tablespoons of condensed milk!

There are so many recipes of Pork Floss Bun out there where you use salt and sugar for the spread! But I love this recipe as it is so simple to make and yummy! If you don’t have any pork floss, why not just try this spread on toast! It is great!

Fresh Gourmet is the biggest provider of salad toppings, especially croutons, in the US and have brought their delicious products exclusively to UK Tesco stores to inspire us Brits to become more creative with our salads. The range includes three crunchy croutons flavours – Cheese and Garlic, Basil Pesto and Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper – along with Crispy Onions and is ideal for people who like a salad in the summer but need that added texture to jazz up the dish.