Blissful Happiness

If you have read my previous post, you would know I was awfully late for Christmas, so I promised myself  I must have something up for the Chinese Lunar New Year before it arrives.  The Chinese have this tradition of ushering in the new year with lots of auspicious sounding dishes especially during our reunion dinner.  These dishes come mostly with an ingredient that has an auspicious sounding name. Prawns is one of them, it's Cantonese name "Ha" sounds like HAHAHAHA...when one is happy and in laughter or what we also know as LOL in the modern lingo today :)

All set to put something with the 'hahaha' element on the reunion table, I tried out this prawn dish that I saw in our local daily.   I thought it was a refreshing break from other more common styles like butter, ketchup, pepper etc etc and I always love dishes with a fruity twist.  So, Orange Marmalade Prawns was interesting to me.  Verdict? Me and hubs love it but unfortunately little one didn't really like it.  He prefers butter prawns, I suspect it is because orange marmalade has a slight bittery taste that children might not like.  So, will this dish get a spot on the reunion table?? We shall see...

Next came the task of coining a name for it since the dish and its name is equally important for CNY.  Not superstitious but it is all part of the CNY fun, that's how it is for me at least. It never fails to put a smile in my heart when I come across some auspicious sounding dish, it's all about appreciating the creativity behind it. When I saw my "friend" posted on Facebook that she is "Blissfully Happy", i thought, yes..., isn't happiness the bottom line in life? Ultimately, that's all that matters, isn't it? Only when one is happy can one LOL from the heart, so I thought I would name this dish Blissful Happiness hoping that the "Ha" in the prawns will bring us lots of  happiness (If you are reading, thanks for the inspiration).  So, come roaring in dragon and bring us all Blissful Happiness :)

Will be submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers Event#15:Auspicious Chinese Dishes for CNY (January 2012) by Wen of Wen's Delights

Source : Amy Beh, Kuali.com
Ingredients


(A)

• 500g medium large prawns with shell
•  1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• Cornflour
• Oil for deep-frying

(B)

• 1 tbsp chopped cili padi
• 1 orange, shred rind finely
• 1 tbsp chopped ginger

(C) Sauce

• 3 tbsp orange marmalade (jam)
• 2 tbsp honey
• 125ml freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• Thickening 1 tsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp water 

Method 

1. Wash prawns and trim the feelers. Season prawns with salt and pepper with a little cornflour.
2. Heat oil and fry prawns till just cooked. Drain and leave aside.  
3. Leave 1 tbsp hot oil in the wok and fry ingredients (B) till aromatic.  
4. Add sauce (C) and bring to a boil.  
5. Return prawns to the wok and fry until sauce coats evenly over the prawns and the gravy is reduced. 
6. Add thickening if required.  (Didnt add any, prefer the dish with some gravy)
7. Dish out and serve.

Posted in: Chinese Dishes,CNY Stuff