Happy Bunny Year!

It's the first day of the Chinese New Year! A bunny bento for the boys, to start off the Lunar New Year! Welcome, Bunny =)

A sketch of what I wanted to pack for their bento! I realise that when there is no sketch, I end up with either too much food, or not enough food to fill the space! A lot of time is wasted in trying to get food here and there, or to arrange and re-arrange the food. The rabbit didn't turn out as round as I wanted it to be ... it was a challenging task shaping the hot rice!

In the bento, we have ... Japanese steamed fishcake, broccoli, "flower" ham, and a strawberry.

在新的一年里，祝大家新年快乐， 大吉大利，心想事成， 好事成双！

Tank, the Triceratop!

Meet Tank, the Triceratop from PBS Kids' Dinosaur Train! Ok, he's supposed to be a blue triceratop in the show, but I'm not keen to use food dye, hence the yellow triceratop made with cheese slices =)

Darling son YW is going to the Geology Museum today, to learn about rocks and fossils, and dinosaurs. When I showed him his lunchbox this morning, he said "This is Tank!". In the lunchbox, he gets rice, fried with eggs, carrots and canned mushrooms, plus a little oyster sauce. The extra ingredient which the boys were looking forward to ... Bak Kwa! Bak Kwa is similar to Beef Jerky, but softer in texture.

With Chinese New Year just around the corner, I made a batch of Bak Kwa yesterday and reserved half of it for today's lunch. Frying the rice didn't take up too much time. Cutting and putting together the triceratops took up as much time as frying the rice, if not a little longer! Oh well, as long as the boys bring home an empty lunchbox, I'm happy!

The different stages of making the Bak Kwa.

• Marinade the minced pork and leave it overnight in the fridge.
• Place a sheet of parchment paper on a overturned cookie sheet.
• Spread the meat as thinly as you can on the sheet of parchment paper.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 250F for about 15 minutes, or until the meat is cooked, but not browned. Remove and let cool.

• Cut up the cooled sheet of cooked meat into smaller slices.
• You can pack them into a ziploc bag and store in the freezer for later use. Or you can continue to go on to the next step to broil or bbq them.

• Put the slices on a sheet of parchment paper in a baking tray.
• Spread some honey on the slices if you like it sweet.
• Place the rack on the second or third level from the broiler, depending on your oven.
• Keep an eye on the pork slices, as they browned really fast!
• Turn the slices over.
• Remove when it is sizzling and starts to brown.
• Let cool on a rack. The slices will turn a darker color upon cooling.

Bak Kwa from my kitchen! The little one came running into the kitchen as the slices were sizzling under the broiler and said "I smell something good!" =) They happily "chewed" on a small slice I gave them later, and asked for more when they finished! They were happy and satisfied when I told them that they would be having the Bak Kwa for lunch the next day.

Bunnies and The Magician's Hat

I'm the Magician's rabbit, and I'm happy to be with my friends again!

Don't tell the Magician that I'm here! I stole his hat so that I could visit my friends. Can you see the Magician's Hat?

When I showed Hubby dear the caption and the photo, he asked "Where is the hat?". Erh ... ok, it's camouflaged by the lettuce leaves. So, I uploaded another photo. Can you see the Hat now?

I was exhausted and sleep deprived, after having stayed up the night, looking after Darling son KW who was down with a fever and stayed home yesterday. After a day of rest at home, he could finally go back to school. But he was still coughing badly. I wanted to prepare something light for school lunch, and so settled on Japanese fishcake. Since I had no time to do my "homework", I recycled old ideas, and gave it a different look.

Don't you think the rabbits look very festive? I'm sure the kids will be happy to have it as a side dish for reunion dinner on Chinese New Year's eve =)

Bak Kwa!

I'm sure most people will agree with me ... Chinese New Year is not complete without Bak Kwa! It's like Mid-Autumn Festival is not complete without carrying lanterns and eating mooncakes. Since we can't find/buy any Bak Kwa in the woods, I will have to find a way to make some!

I got the recipe from Lily's Blog.

Thank you Aunty, for the wonderful recipe!

1 kg Ground Pork
11/2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
11/2 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 cup Sugar
1/8 tsp 5-Spiced Powder
1/2 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/2 tsp White pepper (I use only 1/4 tsp)
1 tbsp Oil
2 tbsp Rose Wine (I use Shaoxing Wine)

• Season pork with marinade for at least 4 hours.
• Preheat oven to 175F.
• Oil the underside of a baking sheet.
• Spread a portion of the seasoned pork, as thinly as possible, over the baking sheet.
• I cover the underside of the baking sheet with parchment paper, and spread the pork on the parchment paper instead.
• You can also put the pork, spread thinly on asheet of parchment paper, onto a baking tray/grilling pan to bake. Some fluid may be released while baking, and the tray is good for containing the fluid. You don't want the fluid to drip onto your heating element in the oven.
• Bake for 10 minutes, or till the pork is firm to the touch.
• Adjust the temperature or time, depending on your oven.
• The pork is not supposed to be browned when done. Just firm.
• Remove from oven, and let cool.
• Cut into pieces.
• The meat is now ready for Grilling (using broiler), or to be wrapped in foil and freeze!
• For grilling, brush a little honey onto the pieces of baked pork.
• Broil for a couple of minutes, and turn the pieces over.
• Do not leave the pieces of pork under the broiler for too long or they will be burnt.

I am really grateful to this kind lady. She is very generous and shares many asian recipes in her blog. Without her recipe and step by step explanation, I will not be able to make any Bak Kwa for this new year. The boys were very excited. They kept coming into the kitchen and asked if the Bak Kwa were ready, ha ha. They had it as their snack that night, and I packed some for their lunchboxes the next day.

We received an envelope containing some Chinese New Year decorations in our mailbox during the first week of Chinese New Year. It was from Hubby's friend. The kids were excited as their papa opened the envelope containing the decorations.

The lantern does make the house look more festive =)

... and ... I am looking forward to Spring!

Happy Niu Year!

Found some clementines at the supermarket. They are real tiny.

How tiny? Fits nicely into my palm. They taste and resemble the mandarin oranges we get during Chinese New Year!

Oh ... I am starting to miss the new year goodies and the festive mood back home. But to be able to find such festive items here, it brings me nearer to home. Eating them (in the woods) makes me feel like I'm celebrating Chinese New Year back home ...

Here's wishing my family and friends ... from the woods to a tiny island called the "Little Red Dot" ... Good health and a prosperous year ahead! Happy Niu Year!

Homemade Sweet Treats!

Think of pineapple tarts, you think of Chinese New Year.

You eat it once a year, and you never seem to get enough of it, especially when the pineapple tarts are baked well : the moist sweet jam and the

melt-in-your-mouth crust.

Back home, there are so many brands and varieties of pineapple tarts :

the open type with pineapple jam on top, or the closed type.

One is really spoilt for choice.

But in the woods, things are somewhat different ...

We are limited to the ones sold at the asian mart if we really want some pineapple tarts for the occasion. The feeling is different. The pineapple tarts come in a box, a very pretty box. It's more like a gift a friend will bring back to you from Taiwan.

We cannot find any pineapple tart moulds here. There's no ready made pineapple jam. Pineapples are expensive. What can you do if you want to make your own pineapple tarts?

Well, I used my cookie cutter instead of the pineapple tart mould. I made my jam using canned crushed pineapples instead of fresh pineapples. Instead of the normal sized tarts, I made mine into mini tarts. Not too bad, considering it's the first time I'm making the tarts.

So mom and dad, don't worry ... we do have homemade pineapple tarts for Chinese New Year!