Chinese New Year Goodies

Chinese New Year is not over yet hence I decided to feature the goodies we have at home for the festive season. We usually make small batches of cookies for our personal consumption i.e. pineapple balls and peanut cookies. Moreover tradition states that once you make Chinese New Year cookies each year, you must continue the tradition every year or else bad luck will befall on the family. The rest of the items were bought from the store or from other homemakers who sell them during Chinese New Year.

These beauties are whimsically known as love letters or in Malay, Kueh Kapit. A lot of work goes into making these as you need to slowly bake them over a charcoal fire in metal moulds. Once they are done, you need to remove them slowly from the moulds and fold them quickly before they harden. Che-Cheh made them this year so hop over there to see how they are made.

This year, we were lucky to get tins of Hornet's Nest and these ones are super nice. Light and crispy with just a tinge of honey sweetness. I can't stop eating these as they are super addictive. There are lots of different names for this crispy delight - Achi Muruku, Honeycomb Cookies and etc. which you can find everywhere. I never knew there were savoury ones which Foodcrazee featured how to make on his blog.

Another must have for Chinese New Year - kuih bangkits which is made from tapioca flour and coconut milk. They usually come in different shapes but I like the animal ones best. Little Corner of Mine has a step by step pictorial on how to make them at home.

Chinese New Year will not be the same with our Pineapple Balls. Simply yummy which you pop into the mouth for the melting goodness. They're essential for Chinese New Year as the pineapple means, "wong lai" i.e. success and prosperity.

I love these Almond Biscuits from Macau. Usually during Chinese New Year, there will be an influx of goodies brought in from Hong Kong and China, this one is a must have in my family. The biscuit is made from green pea powder and chopped almonds. I like this particular brand as they come in individual packets that make it easier to keep. Dimsum Dolly has pictures of them making the biscuits in Macau.

Something new this year, these walnuts that come in packets from China for only RM5. They are so yummy that one packet is never enough that even Splashie Boy got hooked on them. They are slightly cracked so it's easier to open them. We suspect, they have been dipped in salt water as they don't taste like the walnuts you buy which have been peeled already.

My aunt will always do the frying in the family and she will fry up batches of prawn crackers before she flies off to Melbourne for all of us.

This is another specialty of hers, arrowhead crisps. The arrowheads are sliced thinly and then deep fried in hot oil. Colours of Life has a detailed description on how to make them which look great.

Hope you enjoy the goodies run down and thanks so much to all the bloggers who have diligently taken pictures of the process of making them.

Tagged with: Chinese New Year