Chinese New Year Goodies To Feast Till You Drop
Chinese New Year is one of the longest and probably extravagant celebration amongst the Chinese. It is the time of the year where families/friends go for several rounds of Lou Hei, take up CNY set menu in restaurants, eat Peng Cai, enjoy a walk in Chinatown and not forgetting the seemingly endless shopping for festive goodies.
Everywhere you go, you can see bright red containers filled with new year snacks calling out at you from almost every bakery. With that said, these snacks are already bought and eaten even before CNY actually starts! I mean, who can resist right!
Some of my CNY favourites include Lim Chee Guan’s Bak Kwa, Seaweed Crisps, Crab Stick Crisps and Pineapple Tarts. Snacks that made it to my list consist of Irvin’s Salted Egg Crisps and Divine Cookies’ Hae Bee Hiam Cookies which can be bought all year round.
If you don’t have a favourite brand or are unsure which are the best ones to get, I suggest making a trip to Takashimaya CNY Fair held annually. There, you can try the new year goodies from the various stalls ranging from bakeries to hotels.
This 2017 CNY, I made my mandatory trip to Takashimaya again for its conveniency due to the wide range of stalls available, and I was also really lucky to receive some recommendations and new year goodies from friends as well!
The Pineapple Tart $10 (Small), $22 (Large) features a buttery crust with not-so-sweet fillings. It is rather decent overall. I particularly enjoyed the Lychee Cranberry Cookies $15 with crumbly textures and hints of lychee and cranberry within. Close to achieving the melt in the mouth consistency but still good.
The Commerze @ Irving #01-30, 1 Irvin Place, Singapore 369546
Mon to Fri: 12PM-9PM
Sat: 11AM-9PM
Sun: 11AM-4PM
Founded in 2015 by three guys, The Golden Duck has gained popularity as one of Singapore’s brand offering delicious salted egg yolk crisps. Choose or just grab both the Signature Salted Egg Yolk Potato Crisps and Signature Salted Egg Yolk Fish Skin, selling at $7 each.
The prominent taste of the salted egg with the thin crispy chips was addictive enough that I could finish the whole bag at one go.
The Golden Duck
One of my new-found favourites has to be Ong Seng Choong‘s Yuzu Pineapple Tart. Some interesting flavours are the Coconut Pineapple Tart, Rose Pineapple Tart and Charcoal Bak Kwa Pineapple Tart (hot seller!).
I bought the Yuzu Pineapple Tart at $22.30 (UP $24.80). Surprisingly the fillings was not so sweet in my opinion. The yuzu and pineapple lent a tartness to the overall taste. While most pineapple tarts have a higher fillings to crust ratio, Old Seng Choong’s one has a different take on this. if you like your crust to be as much as the pineapple fillings, you will enjoy it!
Recommended by one of my friends is this brand called My Mum’s Cookies. I heard that their Peanut Cookies and Green Pea Cookies are good and I managed to try the Green Pea Cookies at the Takashimaya CNY fair. Very light and fine textures with tinges of savoury green peas.
Their cookies are well made, especially the Nasi Lemak Cookies ($22.80) which I tried and loved instantly. Each bite-sized cookie consists of Ikan Bilis, chili, rice crisps and peanuts. Spicy and packed full of flavours. It really tastes like eating Nasi Lemak.
My Mum’s Cookies
I loved seaweed crisps so much, but it takes a lot of time and effort to make my own batches. Many places are selling a tub of seaweed crisps for $10 and more, and it is so addictive that my family could easily polished two tubs in a day.
Fortunately, I found a great deal near my house. At level one of Vista Point, there is a Tidbits N Tidbits stall selling Seaweed Crisps at $4 for 100grams. You can buy by the grams or, if there is stock, in bulk which is 500grams. The uncle is usually quite kind to give a few grams more. That said, I am also a regular 🙂
Tidbits N Tidbits
Blk 548 Woodlands Drive 44, Vista Point #01-30, Singapore 730548
I was gifted these pineapple tarts by one of my friends who bakes. You may check out her Instagram at @dorisgoz. While the smooth shiny surface of the pineapple tarts looks appetising, the thickness of the crust is just nice without overpowering the fillings.
Of course, this list is exhaustive. There is simply so much new years goodies out there! So I would just like to share with you guys what I have eaten and some of my favourites as well.
Enjoy your Chinese New Year and and enjoy snacking! Huat ah!
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