Cooking Lab - 2013 New Year's Eve Feast

New Year's Eve Party!

Count down to the new year in style with a selection of glamorous party dishes designed to share.

(c) GMV - Got My Vote! ❤️

New Year's Eve is always important and lavish at our household. We all gathered around doing count downs in merriments & happiness. Ample food and drink should last till the wee hours into the new year's morning!

Festive food always take some thoughts & preparations. My contributions to tonight's party menu are:

Appetizer - Mentai Potato Salad

Entree - Korean round Dumplings in kimchi and Pork & Chive flavors 

Main - Grilled Wagyu Beef

Sushi - Salmon Chirashi Platter

Call me superstitious, but I like to start the year with food that will bring wealth, prosperity and abundance. 

Sharing the meanings behind my dishes and see how quickly the guests rush for a serving of those :)

After the champagne toast, it's time to feast! We are welcoming the new year and a symbolic time to eat food that bring good luck and fortune in 2014.

Mentaiko (明太子) cod-fish roe and their red colour symbolize bounty in the coming year.

Like most round food, green peas symbolize the colour of money. One boy was most fascinated by his impending wealth after eating all the green beans :)

There were more younger kids, so we mashed the potato salad up and served in smaller bowl. While the adults help themselves with the chunkier version.

Kyoja Dumpling $7.99/650g packet

In Pork & Chive Flavour 

In Kimchi Flavour

(Manufacture by Kyoja Dumpling

149 Georges River Road Croydon Park NSW 2133 Tel: 8004 9661; 0434311715)

Scattered some pink flowers to share the love, joy and beauty all around.

The round plump dumplings represents full money sacs, which are said to bring good luck and wealth for the new year.

I specifically pick Pork & Chive flavor. Pork always have positive association to wealth & prosperity. Chive is symbolic of richness of life for a long time (韮=久)

Lucky food and charming decorations.

This is (鏡餅) 'Kagami Mochi' decoration and is displayed as a good luck charm.

It is stacked together from 2 rice cakes (mochi) and an orange (代々) placed on top. It symbolize the continuity of generations and longevity.

The 9:00pm firework started!

The Japanese eat prawn for longevity - the curve of the prawn resembles the hunched back of an elderly person and they have long mustache :D 

While we young people may not think too much about it, but I am the elderly parents appreciated the thought.

The Chirashi Sushi is served on a circular bowl to symbolize things coming in full circle.

Wagyu Karubi $60.00/kg

(Osawa Enterprises

15 Bellfrog Street Greenacre NSW)

We all believe New Year is the time to start fresh. The soaring sparkling fireworks marked the new year with a loud bang!

Happy 2014 everyone !!!

A year filled with loads of happiness,luck, love and of course food!!!

Lots of Love xoxo