EXCHANGE INTERFACE

Okay, so, I wasn't going to say Happy Chinese New Year to my f-lists.

Then I went around to my parents' house for dinner and discovered my mother in the middle of a storm of cooking.

THEY'RE MAKING CHA SIU BAU, PEOPLE! BBQ PORK BUNS! THOSE SOFT WHITE FLUFFY BUNS WITH THE RED PORK INSIDE THAT YOU GET IN THE BAMBOO STEAMERS AT YUM CHA. MAKING. FROM SCRATCH. OMG.

A day ago, if you had asked me if my family was traditional, I would have said, "Um, no. Not really." I may have to rethink that. CHA SIU BAU OMG.

There's also tsai (I don't know what else it's called - it's an entirely vegetarian dish: mushrooms, thin rice noodles, assorted black funguses, this...tofu sheet stuff) and tzin dui (deep fried dough balls with red bean past centres, rolled in sesame seeds). And roast pork belly. With the crackling. Which is sort-of Chinese BBQ.

It's kinda funny, I s'pose. I didn't participate in Potluck because I feel like a) no-one's interested in my Chinese identity posts, b) have nothing of any importance to add to the race + SJ thoughts required of such collections. And yet, come Chinese New Year, here's my mum and stepdad cooking up a very Chinese storm for a big family dinner tonight. Which makes me feel I should have something, and yet I don't, other than food porn and reminiscences about festal eating.

One day very soon, I'll have to pin my mum down and have her look over my shoulder while I cook these delicacies. I think that Easter may have to be it - we have a five-day public holiday during that time.

Anyway, KUNG HEI FAAT CHOI everyone!