Crystal Jade Chinese New Year Specialties 2012

Chinese New Year is around the corner and I am sure everyone is busying with sending auspicious gifts and hampers to business partners, relatives, friends and etc. And last week while at the mist of our spring cleaning, I received a big surprised from Crystal Jade. I was quite shock when the deliveryman hand over a big bag to me as I was not inform before hand on this "surprised".

At first I thought the big box might be "Yu Sheng - 鱼生" since the packaging is more or less quite similar but after removing the cover we are all excited about the assorted flavour of the steamed cakes inside the "Eternal Bliss Gift Set". As you can see above, isn't it look gorgeous as a gift set for Chinese New Year!

Inside the bag there is also this Fortune Bo Lo Pineapple Tart  - 旺上旺菠箩黄梨挞 that comes in a floral design rectangle box with 2 individual sealed packets contain 8 tarts each. To be honest this is our first time trying Bo Lo Pineapple Tarts which is a signature pastry from Crystal Jade My Bread that comes with a combination inspired from the famous Hong Kong "Bo Lo Bao(菠蘿包)". Each bite you would be surprised by it's hint of sweet crispy crust on top which follows by generous amount of tasty pineapple jam fillings. Indeed our family finds it very special compared to the usual buttery taste pineapple tarts that we used to eat.

This Fortune Bo Lo Pineapple Tarts comes is 4 different packaging ranging from S$14.80 - S$30.80. The twin packet shown above is known as "Double Happiness Pack" priced at S$16.80. (more details HERE)

If you still can't decide on what to get during Chinese New Year gathering for your Potluck dishes or tea-snack to impressive your guest especially the elderly. I suggest you could consider getting this Eternal Bliss Gift Set - 五福临门(S$37.80). This set consists of both sweet(water chestnut cake, pandan aloe vera cake, glutinous rice cake) and savoury cake (carrot cake, yam cake) which represent auspicious meaning during Chinese New Year.

And if you ever tried their Dim Sum served at Crystal Jade Kitchen, I am sure you would love these delicious carrot/yam cake which is so soft, flavorsome and made with generous amount of ingredients.

Other than pastries and cakes from Crystal Jade My Bread, there are other Chinese New Year proudcts such as "Peng Cai - 盆菜", "Yu Sheng - 鱼生", "Pagoda of Eight Treasures - 开运八宝塔", "Buddha Jumps over the Wall - 佛跳墙" and etc which is available at different Crystal Jade outlet. (Detail HERE)

Above shows the "Golden Abalone Treasure Pot - 金装鲍鱼盆菜" at a promotion price of S$408.80(10 pax) or S$248.80(6 pax) available from now till 06 Feb 2012.

Glutinous Rice is another auspicious dish to have during Chinese New Year and this year Crystal Jade has come out with this NEW "Pagoda of Eight Treasures - 开运八宝塔" for S$88.80. There are 8 "treasures" arranged neatly on bamboo basket such as:- Fried Glutinous Rice, Preserved Sausage, Preserved Liver Sausage, Deep-fried Chicken Fillet, Fried Quail Egg, Marinated Octopus, Sauteed French Bean and Sauteed Shrimp with Mushroom.

All the Chinese New Year goodies are available for Promotion Price from 05 Jan - 22 January, 25 Jan - 06 February at selected Crystal Jade Outlets. More details and full promotion booklet can be found HERE.

Lastly I would like to thanks Crystal Jade and Linea Communications for the Fortune Bo Lo Pineapple Tarts and Eternal Bliss Gift Set.

Happy Call Pan Recipes - Baked Sweet Potato, Sizzling Tofu and Claypot Rice

It's Happy Call Pan(HCP) recipes again! As I have mentioned before this is an "IN" kitchen gadget which is it one of the hot discussion topic in forum and Facebook. With it's quick and easy pressure cooking method, this pan has won the hearts of many people especially homemakers who aim to cook healthier dishes for the family.

In this post I would be sharing another 3 recipes using this HCP to Bake Sweet Potato, cook Sizzling Tofu and our favourite Claypot Rice (without using claypot).

Usher In the Lunar New Year with PrimaDeli

This year we excited to be able to try out different types of Pineapple Tarts/Cakes from well-known bakeries in Singapore and Taiwan(read more HERE). Despite of their origin each product has it's own unique taste and packaging which are eye catching for consumers.

Here we have PrimaDeli which is a Singapore’s first home-grown bakery franchise and the longest-running Singapore food franchise since it was launched in 1992. They have many bakery outlets located in major business, shopping and residential areas serving a wide range of top quality pastries, buns, breads and cakes.

Fortune Pineapple Tarts are specially shaped like a pineapple to symbolise prosperity and good luck which you could purchase as gift sets or add on accessories for Chinese New Year decorations. These "Fortune Pineapples" are individually wrapped to retain its freshness before packed in auspicious gorgeous red organza bag priced at S$1.60 each.

And after consuming you could still recycle the organza bag by filling it with some dried scented flowers to act as decorative item or air refresher in the toilet or car.

Since Pineapple Tarts are the most auspicious gift due to it's name ("Ong Lai - 旺来" which mean luck come) and taste which is well received by most of the people. So for a more presentable gift set perhaps you could consider either this Divine Pineapple Tarts at S$14.80 per tin(16 pieces) or Pillow Pineapple Tarts with the same price.

Personally I preferred their Divine Pineapple Tart which has a melt in mouth buttery pastry plus generous amount of their sweet and sour pineapple fillings which are just to hard to resists from popping them one by one. And other than these pineapple tarts, PrimaDeli also have others Chinese New Year goodies available at their outlets which you could take a look at their on-line leaflet HERE.

Ya Kun Handmade Kaya Cookies

Ya Kun Kaya Toast(亚坤) is a well-known "kopitiam" style kind of chain cafes established island wide in Singapore and varies part of Asia such as Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Philippines. And as the name suggests, Ya Kun sells kaya toast, bottled kaya, soft boiled eggs, local Singapore-style coffee/tea plus some other varieties of toasts and beverages too.

If you are regular customers who often patrons Ya Kun I am sure you would have notice their lovely "heart shaped" Kaya cookies which is available in most of their outlet selling at S$2.50/pack (80g each).

Ya Kun Handmade Kaya cookies are the new addition to the Ya Kun merchandise line where each cookie is made using Ya Kun’s authentic specially formulated kaya. And for your information both their Kaya and cookies recipes does not contain any preservatives, artificial coloring and artificial flavoring.

We love their Kaya Butter Cookies with is soft, buttery and munching with hint of kaya fragrance which makes it unique and great for tea time among family and friends.

This new year, Ya Kun has its Chinese New Year edition to encourage family sharing time and bonding over a heartwarming tin of their kaya cookies. Each tin is priced at S$16.80 (about 45 cookies per tin) or you could get 2 tins for S$30.20 at most of their selected outlets.

Although there are 3 different flavours (kaya, cereal and pistachio) of the kaya cookies available from their usual 80g packs which are selling at most of their outlets. But the Chinese New Year version is only available Kaya Butter or Kaya Pistachio flavours.

For our family who prefer butter cookies over nuts, we tends to prefer the above more than this Kaya Pistachio Cookies. But as you could see if you are loves, especially Pistachio which is well-liked by most of the people during Chinese New Year due to it's name in Mandarin - "开心果 - Pistachio Nuts"(translate as Happy Nuts). For this pistachio version, you could taste more on the nutty flavour rather than buttery taste and it tends to be a little bit harder when bite compared the Kaya Butter Cookies above.

In addition, with minimum spending of S$8.00 in a single receipt, customers will be entitled to a limited edition of their exclusively designed Ang Pow(red packets) set (10 pieces).

Lastly I would like to thank Grace from Ya Kun Kaya Toast for these wonderful Chinese New Year Kaya Cookies. For more latest connection on Ya Kun products and promotions you could also follow them on their facebook page HERE.