White almond cookies

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year. I should be busy getting ready, really. So this will be a quick short post.

Last year, I share the recipe for peanut cookies. Yesterday, I made these cookies. I couldn't help doing some last minute baking.

To be honest, they look great and taste okay but they're not as melt-in-the-mouth as I expected them to be. Perhaps I shouldn't have added the extra oil, but the dough was way too dry and crumbly to handle otherwise.

I got the recipe from RasaMalaysia.  Here it is with some minor adaptations:

I'd like to wish all my Chinese friends a very Happy Chinese New Year. Happy eating everyone!

Chinese New Year - Meat Rolls

Today is the 15th day of the Chinese New Year, or Chap Goh Meh. In the old days young maidens would take a walk under the full moon and cast oranges into the river to wish for a good husband. Or something like that, more or less.

Anyway, as the celebration comes to and end, I would like to share something from my mother's kitchen. Unlike my little kitchen, hers is large and airy, with plenty of natural light, which is perfect for food photography.


I helped my mom make meat rolls for CNY dinner. They are either called Lor Bak or Ngo Hiang in Chinese. I'm not sure if there is a difference, but one thing I'm sure off, these meat rolls are yummy! Unfortunately, they take a bit of work. But it's okay, it's a labour of love for the family!

Here are some of the snapshots....


This is me, chopping up some stuff. The things that go into the meat rolls are carrots, water chestnuts, shitake mushrooms, crab meat and pork meat.

Here's the meat filling all ready to be rolled.

The filling gets spread onto a bean curd sheet, rolled up, and sealed with cornflour mix.

These are the meat rolls, frying in in hot oil.

And here they are..... hot Lor Bak, ready to be cut and served!

We also had other food, which I'm not showing here. But take a look at this claypot on charcoal fire. Duck soup simmering inside.

That's all for now. Happy Chap Goh Meh and Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Traditional Peanut Cookies

The festive seasons is far from over. Christmas may have passed but Chinese New Year is just around the corner and can't seem to wait to burst.

I don't usually make Chinese New Year goodies as most of them require a lot of hot oil and frying. However, these old-fashioned cookies are lovely and are my nephew's favourite. This recipe produces delicious melt-in-the-mouth cookies.

Making these cookies isn't difficult, really. The only tedious part is removing the skin from the roasted peanuts. If you do not live in an apartment, however, you could rub the nuts and blow the skin away. Do this outdoors, or course. That's how my mom used to do it.

Also, if you're roasting the nuts yourself, remember to measure out more than the required quantity and they will lose weight upon roasting.

Another tip: you may add the quantity of the flour or oil to adjust the dough consistency. If it is too wet and soft, add more flour. If it is too dry, add a little more oil. Simple.

Okay, so here's the recipe:

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone! Gong Xi Fa Cai!