Ramblings: Chinese New Year cookies

"Look at the love-letter moulds!"

We've been blessed with getting to know some good people who have migrated here from our part of the world. Yesterday, we visited one of them and caught a glimpse of what life is like making a home away from home. With CNY just around the corner, M had arranged for her Chinese friends - a group of overseas Singaporeans, Malaysians and PRC - to come over to bake some Chinese New Year goodies.

I've grown to take the various CNY goodies for granted - the pineapple tart, the love letter, the assortment of yummy festive cookies. In Singapore, stacks and stacks of them can be bought from NTUC neatly packed in layers in plastic containers. In fact, I have never seen CNY goodies made from first principle, so being invited over to bake them was a real treat.

We first made the 蜜蜂窝 - a honeycomb shaped deep fried cookie.

Later that evening after a delicious dinner of homemade satay complete with ketupats - rice-steamed in little square packets - the ladies tried their hand at traditional love letters - made in metal moulds dipped in batter and then held over charcoal. After it is cooked, the waffle is placed around a baton to mould it into the cylindrical shape we're familiar with.

It was eye-opening for me to see how each love letter takes a good 10 minutes to make, especially since back home I'd just be popping them into my mouth one after another without regard! I guess the ones sold in supermarkets are mass produced and machine made, but these ones were absolutely yummy.

Little D was busy entertaining himself and playing with gor gor R's toys, while the ladies were hard at work and the gentlemen were busy eating up the products. E earned his share of the goodies by throwing the kiddies up in the air.