Happy Winter Solstice Festival to you, dear friends from all over the world! 
My children made 2 odd Tong Yuen - a giant ball in the left bowl, and a green “mushroom” in the right bowl! 
My family and I have had a great feast today with ample helpings of Tong Yuen or glutinous rice balls in sugar syrup – the symbol of this happy festival. I had cooked so much food that there was enough to serve 7 persons for lunch and dinner, with some leftovers for tomorrow, too!
Preparations for our Winter Solstice Lunch began the day before with the rolling of Tong Yuen…as usual, my kids like to make odd-shaped rice balls and since it was all in the joyous spirit of this festival, I let them do what they wanted. Henced, you can see 2 abnormal Tong Yuen in the picture above! 
*
I bought the Tong Yuen dough from the market…there were many stalls selling this dough made from groundingpre-soaked glutinous rice into a wet paste and the liquid is removed by putting the “paste” into a muslin bag and hanging it up to dry. Traditionally, there are only 2 colours, with the much larger portion being white. I had added in other colours for the fun of it.
*
A tray of multi coloured Tong Yuen freshly rolled out…to be kept in the fridge and cooked the next morning
*
A pot of freshly cooked Tong Yuen in sugar syrup, flavoured with a few Pandan Leaves. Most people would use a few slices of ginger instead of Pandan Leaves, but my kids don’t like the ginger taste
*
Because it was going to be a lunch feast instead of dinner, I prepared and marinated the meats the day before and put them in the fridge. As in all meals in celebration of Chinese Festivals, it is essential to have at least on the menu a Roast Pork or Siew Yoke dish, steamed “white cut” chicken, a noodle, a vegetable sitfry, and the popular Pig Stomach White Pepper Soup. All the food cooked were then offered with prayers to our “ancestors” to celebrate with them the Tung Jut festival, say our thanks for a bountiful year (during ancient times in China, it was for a bountiful harvest instead), and have a reason to be merry on this longest night in the year!
Below are the dishes that I had cooked for my family…today (Monday), I am just going to sit back and relax and buy some takeouts for dinner because I am tired with 2 days of preparation and cooking of this feast. Moreover, I am taking a breather now as tomorrow I will be busy buying stuff to cook my family’s Christmas Eve Roast Turkey Dinner!
*
Longevity Noodles – dried flat egg noodles cooked in boiling water for 5 minutes, drained and then stirfried with Chinese cabbage, Mustard Greens, julienned carrot, slices of Shitake mushrooms and pork slices. Oyster sauce and some chicken stock left from steaming the chicken are used to flavour this noodle.
*
A platter of fresh, homemade yummy crispy Roast Pork Belly or Siew Yoke
*
Instead of using a whole chicken, I used 3 whole legs instead to make “Steamed White Cut Salted Chicken”
*
A colourful medley of assorted vegetables stirfried with some “Tau Kan” or wheat gluten – a “Chap Chye” or “Mixed Vegetables”, flavoured with oyster sauce
Malaysian Chinese style of Chicken Potato Curry, very tasty when eaten with the noodles. I cooked this because it has been a tradition in my husband’s family to have Curry Chicken on all festive occasions.
*
A very delicious, peppery, spicy pork ribs and pig stomach soup…another popular dish or soup to be had during festivals.Only thing was this was the first time that I had cooked this – I will write about this famous soup in another post.
*
Now, I am planning my Roast Turkey menu and will write about it in a few days time! 
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
With peace and joy,
choesf
