Thai Fish Sauce Tasting

From left to right (also from darkest to lightest): Juthatip, Tiparos, Tra Chang (2-yrs), Megachef, Abalone, Squid, Tra Chang (1-yr), and Oyster.

With all the recent brouhaha over fish sauce and Sriracha sauce, I thought, heck, might as well do a tasting for Thai fish sauce.  (Will do the Sriracha sauce another day.)  Back when I was growing up there were only a few brands in the market.  Today, practically every sauce company makes it.  I was going to do a tasting for all the fish sauce I can get at my local upscale supermarket but in the end I limited it to 6 brands and another one made from tuna fish.  That’s right. Tuna. Fish. My guess is it’s horse mackerel.

I’ve never done any kind of tasting (apart from wine) but I thought this should be fun.  And it was except I craved for something cloyingly sweet so bad afterward.  Plus I was drinking ice cold water non-stop.  I usually buy Tiparos, Squid or Tra Chang brand.  But lately I’ve been using more of Tra Chang than anything else so I am going to use it as a benchmark for the tasting.

I admit I was vastly surprised by the woodsy and whiskey/brandy-like and cheesy aromas.  Either that or my nose is playing tricks on me.  I don’t know how experts would do the tasting but the best way for me was to dilute 1 tablespoon of fish sauce with 5 tablespoons water.  I initially dipped a spoon into the undiluted fish sauce to taste.  Somehow it was very difficult to get past the harsh saltiness.  I was actually put off by it and was all about to give up when I remembered reading one of Jeffrey Steingarten’s articles in which he did a salt tasting by diluting it in water.  I find diluted fish sauce also makes it easier to pick out the mellower and lingering (if any) sweet taste.  In the end I tasted it first undiluted then diluted.

I only found two brands that were fermented for two years : Tra Chang and Megachef.  Good fish sauce should be fermented for at least a year.  Tra Chang also sells a 1-yr fermented fish sauce which I included in the tasting.  The other brands are Oyster, Tiparos, Squid, Abalone, and Juthatip.

Tra Chang - 2 years fermentation.

Brand: Tra Chang

Frmentation: 2 years

Color: Amber/whisky-like

Smell: Charred-smoky, slight woody/brandy, mellow dried fish smell; soft cheesy (somehow reminds me of well-aged Comté) and musky smell.  I like the smell of this one best.  Maybe because it bizarrly reminds me of cheese and brandy…..

Taste: Starts off with an ocean-like saltiness then mellows out with a soft lingering nutty and (dare I say) cheese taste.

Ingredients: 70% anchovy, 29% salt, 1% sugar.

Left: 2-yr Tra chang. Right: 1-yr Tra Chang.

Brand:  Tra Chang

Fermentation:  1 year

Color: Amber/whisky-like but a bit lighter than the 2-year fermentation

Smell: Mellow charred-smoky and dried fish smell.  No much brandy-like smell but has a soft well-aged cheese smell.

Taste: Sharp saltiness then mellows out.  Light dried fish aftertaste.

Ingredients: 70% anchovy, 29% salt, 1% sugar

Megachef - 2 years fermentation.

Brand:  Megachef

Fermentation:  2 years.

Color: Amber/whisky-like.

Smell: Softer brandy smell than Tra Chang 2-years; charred smoky dried fish smell; aged cheese and musky smell.

Taste: Has the longest lingering aftertaste; nutty and very soft overall well-rounded sweet taste.  Not sure if it’s because of the added sucrose but the saltiness is slightly less harsh than Tra Chang 2-years.  This would also be great as a dipping sauce.

Ingredients: 70% anchovy, 27% salt, 2% sugar, 1% sucrose.

I still can’t find out why the added sucrose except that glucose and sucrose are supposed to ferment well.

Oyster - 1 year fermentation.

Brand:  Oyster

Fermentation:  1 year.

Color: Pale honey-like color.  In fact it is the palest of all the brands tasted.

Smell: Light, mellow dried fish smell.

Taste: Light saltiness and little aftertaste.

Ingredients: 75% anchovy, 24% salt, 1% sugar.

I am actually surprised by the outcome .  Because of it high anchovy percentage I was expecting stronger smell and taste but they were mild in comparison to the others.

Tiparos - fermentation year unspecified but listed as 1st grade.

Brand:  Tiparos

Fermentation:  Unspecified.  1st grade.

Color: Amber/brandy-like.

Smell: Very faint, almost none, dried fish smell.  Very mellow and sweet note.

Taste: Sharp saltiness with long lingering sweet taste.  Barely there cheese taste.

Ingredients: 65% anchovy, 30.5% salt, 4.5% sugar.

Of all the brands tasted, Tiparos has the darkest amber color which is unexpected.  I had thought one of the 2-yr fermented sauces would have the darker color.  It also has the least fishy but very well-rounded smell.  This is the one that makes me wonder how long has it been fermented.  I have used this brand for a long time in the past.  The sweet smell and taste were a surprise.

Squid - fermentation year unspecified but listed as 1st grade.

Brand:  Squid

Fermentation:  Unspecified.  1st grade.

Color: Amber/whisky-like.

Smell: Dried fish/squid (hence the name?) like smell.  The smell reminds me a bit of Megachef but lighter.

Taste: Strong salty taste with slight cheesy-dried fish after taste.

Ingredients: 60% anchovy, 37% salt, 3% sugar.

Abalone - year unspecified; listed as "starter".

Brand: Abalone

Fermentation:  Unspecified but listed as a “starter” or หัวนำ้ปลา as printed in Thai.  Most likely this means this is the 1st filtration of the fermented product.  I am told the starter is actually hard to come by as this is liquid gold for fish sauce companies.  It is usually diluted with the 2nd or 3rd fermentation of the same batch of anchovy (as is the practice).  I am assuming this is pure starter and Abalone hasn’t diluted it.

Color: Amber/whiskey color.

Smell: Dried fish, smoky and slight cheesy smell.

Taste: Smoky fish head note with a light lingering well-rounded dried fish taste.  A bit cheesy.  The saltiness is not as sharp as I thought starters would have.  Surprising , actually.  It’s my new favorite.

Ingredients: 76% anchovy, 23% salt, 1% sugar.

Juthathip tuna fish sauce.

I have included a tuna fish sauce because, well, I am not sure if this is how the future is going to be with diminishing anchovy supply.  Many of the pla kratuk are caught in the oceans of Thailand’s neighbors.  Some companies even import them pre-fermented.  Plus I was curious about the taste.  Juthathip suggests mixing it with wasabi to be eaten with sashimi.  I don’t eat raw fish so I can’t tell if that’s a good combo.  I might try making some kind of fried rice or noodle out of it.

Brand: Juthatip

Fermentation: Unspecified.

Color: Dark soy sauce.

Smell: A mixture of light fish sauce with soy sauce.

Taste: As the label says, it does taste a bit like soy sauce….mixed with fish sauce.

Ingredients: 73% tuna, 24% salt, 3% sugar.

Overall I have to admit there are slight nuances among the various brands with the 2-yr fermented sauce having a more profound and complex taste.  I also like the smoky  and cheesy taste of Abalone brand. I can’t say which is better than the other.  It’s all a matter of taste.  Different ones, I say.  But I did become more aware of fish sauce, something that I took for granted.  It’s actually making me want to try all the other sauces that I have never really paid much attention.  Can’t wait till the Sriracha sauce tasting.

Le Violon d’Ingres

I dined at Le Violon d’Ingres a few years ago and never went back until this past August when I visited Paris again.  The food was a winner.  Unfortunately, the service was rude and horrible even by Parisian standards.  Its only saving grace was the 2 bottles of Chatelon that it forgot to charge us.

Friends urged us to go back since the rude waiter and manager weren’t there any more.  Plus they assured us the food is still as good as ever.  Well, since it was August and many places were closed, we relented.  Who knows they might forget to charge us for the wine.  Ha.

My friends were right.  The service was friendly and un-snotty. And the food?

Superb!

I know it’s summer but the cassoulet here is one of the best I’ve tasted.  Especially the beans.  They are not mushy but soft and hold their shape at the same time.

The last time that I was here I also ordered this lovely soft cloud of a souffle.  It was so good that I forgot about the bad service for the few minutes that I was savoring it.  Hence, this time I wanted to recreate that experience with the bonus of nicer service.  It didn’t disappoint.  The souffle arrived in a pillowy fluff on the table.  Then a yummy buttery caramel sauce was poured into it……….heaven!

They didn’t forget to charge us for the Chatelon nor the wine (damn it) but it’s since made its way to my list of favorite bistros in France. 

Bael Mini Cakes

Many, many, many weeks ago, my sister came to bake.  We had been talking about making bael cake for the longest time but the opportunity never presented itself until then.  Since we had more candied bael than we could use, we also made a batch of bael cookies adapted from an online recipe that didn’t deliver, so no post on that.  But the cakes or mini-cakes came out perfect.

We adapted the recipe from a Thai Macrobiotic cookbook – อาหารชีวจิต ตำหรับอาหารบ้านคุณชูเกียรติ.  Yes, there is such a thing as Thai Macrobiotic.  Do not be duanted by the word Macrobiotic.  The cake was moist and sumptous with the salted butter. That’s right.  There is butter in this Macrobiotic recipe.  Why else would I even use it, huh?

Instead of wholewheat flour I use regular white flour.  I also added Chinese red dates to the 1/2 cup of bael juice.  Other changes?  I used salted butter in place of adding salt to the batter with unsalted butter.  Lastly, I baked everything in those cute small Nordic Ware molds.

Recipe adapted from Aharn Cheevajit Tumrub Aharn Baan Khun Chookiat (อาหารชีวจิต ตำหรับอาหารบ้านคุณชูเกียรติ)

2 cups           White or cake flour (sifted twice)

1 teaspoon   Baking powder

1 teaspoon   Baking soda

70 grams     Salted butter

1/2 cup        Muscovado sugar

1/2 cup       Candied bael(chopped)

3 medium-sized  Eggs

1/2 cup   Bael and Chinese date juice (Lightly grill about 3 slices of bael and boil with 5, more or less, dried Chinese red dates (not the candied kind) and 1 cup water.  Leave to cool before use.)

1. Beat butter until soft.  Slowly add in the sugar and continue beating until creamed.  Add in an egg and mix well before adding another.  Continue until all three eggs are well mixed in the mixture.

2. Roughly divide the flour into three equal parts.  Slowly add one part into the egg mixture.  Mix lightly.  Add in half the bael juice.  Mix.  Add in the second flour part.  Mix lightly and add the rest of bael juice.  Mix well.  Add in the last flour part and chopped candied bael.  Mix well and set aside.

3. Preheat oven at 170 degree Celcius.  Lightly butter then dust the molds.  Shake all excess flour.  Fill the molds 2/3 full.  Bake 40 minutes.

Red Yeast Rice

This is another long post in coming.  Twelve days to be precise.  It took that long simply because, well, the recipe took that long.  Right after I wrote previously about my fear of fermenting raw meat, I went ahead and made some.  Heh.  My mom had given me a bag of red yeast rice or ang chao in Taiwanese and I figured might as well now or never.

I love love love the smell and taste of ang chao.  I don’t know how to describe it but it imparts a toasty fermented taste.  In Taiwan it’s usually made with pork belly or chicken but this time I am using duck breast.

At first I was afraid the end result would be tough and dry but somehow all that fermenting made the breast tender and moist.  It takes time to make this dish but I find it much better than any store-bought-ready-made-red-yeast-rice paste.  Some recipes add in ginger and sugar but I like them without.

Ingredients:

The ratio given by my Ahma (Taiwanese for grandma), who is an amazing cook, is 2 cups ang chao : 5 cups of uncooked sticky rice : 1 bottle of rice wine.  I used half the amount.  I also prefer using Taiwanese rice wine (especially Hsiao Sing) or Japanese sake simply because they taste so much better.  Actually the better rice wine used, the more fragrant and more tasty it will be.  The main precaution is to make sure the rice/sake’s alcohol’s content is not too high or the yeast would be killed.

1 cup ang chao

1/2 bottle of Taiwanese rice wine or about 350 ml

2 1/2 cup uncooked sticky rice

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 duck breast

Potato starch

1.  Lightly crush the ang chao and soak it with the rice wine in a clean glass jar.  Leave in room temperature for a day.

2. Cook the sticky rice and let cool until lukewarm to the touch.  The trick here is to make sure the rice is less than 30°C.  The slight warmth of the rice would help with the fermentation.  Higher than that the yeast would be killed and a different kind of nasty fermenting would happen.

Mix #1 with the sticky rice thoroughly.  Place in a large bowl or jar (big enough to put the duck breast in later) and make a hole in the center.  This is so as the rice ferments, the gas can escape easier.  (Not sure how true this is but MANY housewives use this technique.)  Cover with saran wrap and poke a few holes.  Leave in room temperature for 4 days.  If the weather is incredibly hot like in Bangkok, it will take only 4 days.  By then, the rice will be making a a soft pop pop pop sound like soft drinks frizzling.  If the weather is cold, will take a week or more.

Oh, on the second or third day, it’s a good idea to stir and mix everything around evenly.  Make hole and cover.

3.  Clean and pat dry the duck breast.  Mix #2 and the salt thoroughly.  Put in duck breast.  Make sure the breast is well submerged in the red rice paste.  This time put it in the fridge for 7-10 days.  Any longer the meat will start to taste bitter.  I read that somewhere.

4. Remove duck and scrap away the bits and pieces of red rice paste.  Coat with potato starch and fry in low-medium heat until golden and crispy.  When my Ahma makes this with pork belly, she usually steams it and slices it thin to be eaten with thin shreds of ginger.  I also like to serve it with sliced cucumbers or daikon on the side.

What to do with leftover rice paste?  It can be used a few more times if more salt is added.  I’m not sure how many more times.  I’ve just put in the second batch. of meat  Let’s see how long I can stretch it………….

Oh, the paste can also be used in stir-fry’s.  Will write about that soon.  Less than 12 days, I promise.

Update May 15, 2009:

I just made the BIGGEST boo-boo!  Found out from my mom earlier that I was supposed to blanch the duck breast before soaking it in the rice paste!  Oh, well.  But I have to admit I quite like my version. 

Nem Chua Fried Rice

When I was growing up I wasn’t allowed to eat naem (แหนม) or fermented pork.  All of Mom’s Thai friends say it’s “not suitable for children.”  So I was deprived of that delicacy until I went away to college in San Francisco.  In fact, it was in the USA that I “discovered” many forbidden Thai food.  Funny that.

There is another version of naem made with baby ribs and fried crispy.  Lovely with just a plate of rice.  But my favorite is naem fried rice.  I have been told naem is easy to make but I don’t like taking risks when it comes to fermenting raw meat.  Instead for years I rely on a popular Thai brand until I moved to Paris and make friends with the patron of Oriental Kitchen.  It’s the best commercial fermented pork in my opinion.

It’s actually Vietnamese and is known as nem chua.  I find it a lot more flavorful and believe it or not, I haven’t bought my usual Thai brand since.  Even when I am now back in Bangkok.  (I keep a stash in the freezer.)

I googled around and found out that it can be eaten raw and I am not the only one crazy about it.  But being germphobic, I like to grill them first.  It also gives them a smoky flavor if grilled over charcoal, that is.

The kind of fried rice I like are those not overloaded with a gazillion ingredients.  I like it best when it’s stir-fried simply with a few main ingredients so that they complement instead of clash with each other.  For nem chua fried rice, I omitted the garlic and instead sauteed some shallots, add in the rice, give it a quick stir, push aside and add in an egg.  Mix everything together quickly and then add the grilled nem chua and chopped scallions.  Mix mix mix and season with fish sauce and pepper.  Yummy with lime and fish sauce and chili on the side.

Songkarn in Hua Hin

As the title says, we were in Hua Hin for the long Holiday.  Songkarn is the Thai new year and also the hottest time of the year.  The family decided to escape the heat by heading for the oh-no-it’s-turning-into-Pattaya beachtown Hua Hin.  We were happy to see the kids splashing happily in the water, catching all kinds of shellfish on the beach, getting tanned or sunburned, feasting on fresh seafood……………….it all seems so far away from the sad chaos in Bangkok.

Even after we received news about the “calm” in Bangkok, we didn’t feel like leaving.  But all good things must come to an end as they say.  Well, not before we make the stop at Daeng Seafood in Mahachai. Daeng has another branch but I’ve been told the original shop in Mahachai is “the one to go.”

The place was jam-packed when we arrived at 6:30 PM.  Luckily we only waited half an hour for a table of 13.  We ordered all of the special (listed in Thai above) except for one.  Unfortunately, because of Songkarn and the large crowd, Daeng ran out of many things.  Including my favorite mackerel in a sweet and salty sauce and steamed whole crabs with roe.  But we were glad they still got those jumbo shrimps baked lightly with just salt to bring out the natural sweetness.

Another thing not to be missed is the shrimp fried rice.  It’s the only place I know that uses those jumbo shrimps to fry with the rice.  Plus, I suspect, shrimp tomalley has been added.  The texture of the rice was just right – not soggy, not tough – and has absorbed the delicate flavor and smell of those creamy tomalley.  I ate two HUGE plates.

Next up was my new favorite that Daeng calls garlic squid but there is nothing garlic-y about the taste in a bad way.  The sauce was a beautiful blend of fish sauce and palm sugar with just a pleasant hint of garlic.  Yup, no bad breath afterward.

The only dish I didn’t like was the crab meat curry.  It was a little too light for me but the crabs were like everything else super fresh.

There was a huge fried sea bass, stir-fried kale and other dishes that I didn’t take pictures of.  Too busy feasting!

Kofukudo Warabi Mochi

One of my favorite dessert is mochi. Especially Japanese warabi mochi.  It’s not the typical mochi made from rice but from bracken according to this site.  I have a bag of warabi flour stashed away somewhere and when the weather turns cooler I will slave over the stove to turn out some decadent mochi.  As for now I will savour this:

It’s a gift from my Hubby’s aunt in Taiwan.  (She sure knows the way to my heart.  )  I was surprised to see them coated in cocoa powder.  They’re usually coated in soybean or red bean powder.  I was even more surprised that the cocoa was only slightly bitter.  Once I got through that full dry cocoa taste, the bite leads to a very soft pillowy cool smooth lightness.  The perfect dessert for summer, I say.

I liked it so much that I did a quick googling and found out that these warabi mochi are from Kofukudo at the Grand Formosa Regent Hotel in Taipei.  It’s a partnership between the hotel and the 100++ year old Japanese store.  (Why can’t we have this in Thailand??????)

They only keep for a day so I guess no one can blame me if I finish the whole box by myself.  Can’t let anything this good go to waste. 

Ginger Poached Pineapple

This is a recipe I adapted from the Thai magazine Food Stylist.  It’s from the pastry chef, Shannon Moeran, at The Metropolitan Hotel.  The recipe calls for smaller and younger pineapples that I can’t find anywhere.  I used the smallest one I found instead.  And the result is still decadent.  Thanks chef!

I love the way how pineapples are peeled in Thailand.  The tough green peel is thinly removed, leaving the eyes intact.  Then the eyes are removed in slanted slits, resulting in a lovely spiral of a fruit gem.

I remember the first time seeing how pineapple was peeled on American TV and was shocked.  The skin was thickly cut to remove all the eyes.  So much of the fruit wasted!  I found out later other Southeast Asian countries do the same spiral thing and pretty much elsewhere good pineapple is wasted.  Which then made me wonder how difficult is it to “spiral remove” the eyes?

Not much at all!

Ok, mine didn’t turn out perfect like what the street vendors can do but, hey, they have more practice than I do.  But it was great fun and a lot easier than I thought.

The recipe stuffs the pineapple with dry mango, tamarind and pineapple cooked until jam-like.  I stuffed mine simply with candied Chinese dates but I am thinking dried persimmons would be a better choice.  I didn’t like the tough skins of the dates.  I also adjusted the amount of sugar and water used.  The original recipe calls for “600 grams of water to 250 grams sugar to 4 baby pineapples.”  It doesn’t say how many grams those pineapples are but 250 grams is about 1 cup of sugar………..yea, I really had no idea how to figure out.  Ha. Ha. Ha.  In the end, I decided to use 3 cups sugar to 8 cups water.  Just enough to cover my non-baby-but-not-big pineapple.  I topped it off with a vanilla bean since the chef serves his with vanilla ice cream.  I am serving this as it is.  Haven’t invested in an ice cream machine, yet………….

I used my Staub for this dish because it requires two hours of baking in the oven.  I am also planning to make this again as a topping for shaved ice to be served with cold, cold, cold plum sake……….yummy!

Adapted from Food Stylist.  Recipe by Chef Shannon Moeran

1 small pineapple (mine is about 500 grams)

1 medium knob of ginger

3 cups sugar

1 vanilla bean

5 candied Chinese dates

8 cups of water

1. Peel the tough green skin of the pineapple thinly.  The pineapple is actually an interesting fruit.  The eyes grow in slanted rows all around the fruit.  Make slanted slits on the top and bottom of the eyes to remove.  This can be done individually but I find that if the eyes are removed in multiples, it makes for a prettier spiral.  Trim away the bits and pieces of the tough skin as needed.

2. Core the pineapple.  This is just about the only difficult part for me as it doesn’t work with my apple corer.  I had to use a small fruit knife to cut it all around.  Stuff it with Chinese dates and set aside.

3. Make the ginger syrup by adding the ginger and sugar to boiling water.  Slit and scrape out the seeds of the vanilla bean. Add to the syrup.  Infuse for 5 minutes. Remove from stove.

4. Put the pineapple into the syrup.  Make sure there is enough water to cover the fruit.  Top with a lid and bake in the oven for 2 hours at 120 Celsius.  The pineapple should be soft but maintains its shape.

5. Remove the pineapple and reduce the poaching liquid to a caramel consistency.  Slice the pineapple into 2 cm thick pieces or leave it whole to be cut at the serving table.  Pour caramel over pineapple.

6.  Alternatively, the fruit can also be served with the dried persimmon cooked in the poaching liquid until a thick sauce-like consistency.

Vegetable Stew

One of the most versatile dishes in this world is the Thai-Chinese Jab Chai (จับฉ่าย) or vegetable stew or soup.  I personally think this is the perfect dish to cook after Chinese New Year.  A great way to use up all the pork, chicken, duck and whatnot that played such a vital part in the celebration.  I mean, honestly, what else does one do with 9 whole chicken, 9 whole ducks, or 9 large slabs of pork belly????  Yes, a lot is given away but I like to reserve a few to make jab chai – that hodgepodge of vegetables and meat boiled together until all are soft and brown.

Jap chai is commonly found in Chinese Congee places.  It’s never on the menu of fancy Chinese or Thai places.  In fact, I have been told it’s Teochiew in origin and was created by putting all leftovers in a large pot and let simmer together until all the flavors merge into one large hearty soup. Then again, there are purists who claim jab chai must include Chinese Mustard.  I have to agree with this.  It’s the mustard greens that gives jab chai its special light bitter taste. In fact this humble stew has had it’s fair share of facelifts in the past years.  It used to be just mustard greens and pork belly.  Then there is the more elaborate version with dried shiitake, cabbage, and daikon.  Today I see jab chai made with carrots, purple cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach……..but no mustard greens.  That to me is just plain veggie stew.  No mustard green, not jab chai.

Many households have their own versions.  Some add betel leaves and fermented soy beans.  Others add tofu.  My parent-in-law’s maid adds in cilantro roots, whole black peppers and galangal.  I like chewing on the black peppers and feeling them pop in the mouth.  But the galangal is a whole different story.  It doesn’t do much for the stew except gave it a very faint citrusy smell that I just don’t think works for this dish. As for the meat, I find the more various kinds added the more flavorful the broth.

At my mom’s place, jab chai is simply made by frying a few cloves of garlic, slices of pork belly are then added and fried lightly, the radish and bitter melon are added in with enough water to cover, then mustard greens are placed on top, a few tablespoons of soy sauce is added and everthing is left to simmer until soft.  (At this point the pot may look like it’s about to burst but in a few minutes the mustards wilt and shrink.)  What makes my house’s jab chai different from others, and I have yet to see it elsewhere, is the addition of lookchin or meatballs (the springy Asian type).  And we always made it with bitter melon and a few chili.  It’s one of my favortie versions.

Lately, I have been making a different version that merges my mom’s with my parent-in-law’s.  I made it with fresh beancurd sheets, meatballs, all the veggies chez Mom, cilantro roots, garlic, whole peppers, and schechwan peppers.  The first and last are my own additions. I like the texture of beancurd sheets and the szechwan peppers give the dish an extra kick.  This is probably the best thing about jab chai.  You don’t need a recipe.  It’s one of those add-whatever-and-as-much-as-you-like dishes (as long as mustard greens are included). Plus you get to use up all those neglected things in the fridge.  Including the turkey carcass from Thanksgiving.

Happy Chinese New Year

A late post. Chinese New Year was a few days ago but I am still in a very festive mood. Not much cooking but lots of eating and eating and eating………..which is not such a bad thing if I still don’t feel so gorged from Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year and birthdays and weddings in between.

When I was growing up I like CNY best for the hong pao — red envelopes with money inside for good luck, given by adults. Now that I am not so young any more, I have become, as dictated by tradition, the giver. No complaints. Nothing delights me more than seeing my younger relatives break into large grins when I hand them the red packets. The best part is when one of them opens it right in front of your eyes and asks everyone else if they have all received the same amount. Yea, I better be fair.

Apart from the gift/money giving, there is also the spiritual side to attend to. Every year to ensure a prosperous 365 days (or more for leap years), my mom would offer all kinds of food at the temple, to deceased relatives, and to the house altar. And each year she would set up a separate table in front of the house and place all kinds of sumptuous fruits, cooked chicken, duck, pork, hard-boiled eggs, dried noodles, mushrooms, seaweed, tofu, all kinds of canned fruits, canned vegetables, steamed sweet buns, and many other Chinese sweet and savory delicacies. All for what my mother refers to as the “good brothers” or more specifically, the wandering spirits. It is believed that these relative-less spirits must be made happy and appeased or they will cause trouble for family members.

Someone once told me that once you start making offerings to the “good brothers”, you have to do it every year or “things will become catastrophic”. I am one of those people who like to scoff at superstitions but somehow I fear this one. To avoid any catastrophe, I simply just don’t make any offerings to these spirits. Even as I write this, I realize how illogical the situation is. If I don’t make them happy, they will cause trouble. And if I do and forget to do so next year, they will, literally, come back to haunt me.  Makes sense? No. But one doesn’t question tradition, do they?

But like every holiday, the best part is getting all family members together again. The laughter, the sharing, the food, the traditions (that we may or may not understand), and just being with the people we love and love us most. It’s just a time for celebration despite the bad economy. Or maybe partly because of it, we all just want to be together and count our blessings. Now I understand why Mom wants all to be happy. “Good brothers” included.