For the Chinese New Year, it is common for the parents to make tiger theme costume for their children. We have incorporated the tiger pattern with the biker’s head wrap which make it more fashionable for teenager and adults alike.
Tiger is admired for its strength and bravery, it is believe that not only will the tiger protect the children but they will also grow up to be as strong as the tiger.
See our our tiger items.
Original tiger hats are also available.
We will like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy Chinese New Year!
Kung Kei Fat Choy!
The shop will be closed during the festival and reopen again on 4th February (Tue) Chinese New Year day 5.
Got your appetite ready for the Chinese New Year fest? Would this slow cook pork belly make your mouth watery?
Fear not for the cholesterol, this is in fact a piece of stone which naturally reassemble the most desirable cut the “5 layers belly” where five thin layers of muscles is sandwiched in between layers of fat.
The most famous pork belly dish in China would have to be the Dong Po Rou, invented by the Sung scholar Su Dong Po. He was arrived in Huang Zhou as the new governor only to find half of the West Lake was covered with a kind of wild grass, he ordered for the grass to be cleaned up and developed a waterway system that not only prevented flooding but also made use of the water for cultivation. For the revival of the beautiful West Lake, the residents brought also their precious pork and order them to him. Su Dong Po accepted all the offerings, but instead of keep them all for himself, he asked his chef to cook the meat with his special recipe and give a piece to every household. They have never tasted anything so delicious and here it is;
INGREDIENTS
1 piece of pork belly 120x120mm
a couple of spring onion, cut half in length
few slices of ginger
strings
50g sugar
120g Chinese wine or dry sherry
70g light soya sauce
water
METHOD
tied the pork belly as if you are putting a ribbon on a present
blanch it quickly in boiling water and take out
in a casserole, put the spring onion and ginger slices at the bottom, then put in the pork skin side down
follow by the sugar, soya sauce and wine, then top up with water, put the lid on.
bring to boil then turn the heat down to the smallest and slow cook for 30 mins then turn the meat over so that the skin faces up and cook for another 30 min.
cut the meat into four piece and serve with a hot bowl of rice.
This is my newly completed pottery project, continuing with the Something Old Something New theme and the Lotus Leaf Vessel project. I set out to make containers for these antique coconut lids which were featured on the blog a while back. They are beautifully carved with the word “longevity” and the 8 lucky treasures and on the back are sealed with a lead lid.
The containers are glazed with bronze oxide on the exterior to match with the golden longevity symbol on the lids. They will be perfect for offering sweets and other goodies over the Chinese New Year.
Once again, its the time of the year to thank the Kitchen God.
It is believed that at the beginning of every Chinese New Year, on lunar January 4th, the Jade Emperor will sent the Kitchen God to monitor the activities of each household (a bit like the NSA, I guess) and at the end of the year, lunar December 24th, the Kitchen God will depart to make his annual report back to the Jade Emperor. To thank his for a year’s hard work, before his departure a special meal will be prepared for him.
If you still havent prepare the farewell dinner, hurry up before he leaves!
This green glazed capsule is actually part of the architectural feature, Bao Ding, a feature that completed the apex of a pitched roof that has four or more sides or circular. It is a detail for closing off the standard ridge tiling enabling a rain proof roofing, in some cases it is so the cover for the counter lighting device. As it is highest point of a building, like the spire of the tower, it is usually of a larger size. I suspected this bao ding was that for a smaller decorative architecture, perhaps one in the garden, that require a smaller size.
Li Bai, the famous Romanticist poet of the Tang dynasty which brought poetry to a new height during his time. In the “300 Tang Poems”, now seen as the canon of poetry, Li Bai had 34 entries. Equally famous was his enjoyment of the Chinese wine. He enjoyed a carefree life in youth, worked briefly for the court he was cast away for being out spoken, in later years he came a Taoist and continue a life of wandering. He wrote over a thousand poems, on the subjects of nature, solitude, friendship and drinking.
Li Bai’s character was portrayed in a Beijing opera “Tai Bai Zeoi Se”
The story begins with the 2 corrupted generals, Yang and Gao who are in charged of the court examination, both were hoping to make some money out of it. Li Bai had been recommended by the court scholar He to enter the exam. Upon seeing the scruffy clothes Li Bai was wearing, sensing there would be no money out of him, the examiners gave him a hard time. Without looking at his paper, he was teased and mocked; feeling unjust Li Bai vowed to give equal humiliation to the two and walked out of the examination hall.
Then one day, the Tang Emperor received a letter from the neighboring country, the letter was written in their own language and nobody in court could read it. Feeling embarrassed by their own failure, the officials wanted to take the blame out on the messenger. The messenger replied, if the Emperor wanted to be friend with their country, he should seek a way to read the letter, then the two countries could become friends, otherwise they would be at war. Among the hundred scholars at court, nobody could read a word of it and Li Bai was recommended by scholar He. “But Li Bai was not an official.”, said Yang, “and he drinks too!”. The Emperor said he himself drinks as well and award Li a grand title so he can help out in the palace. Li finding his new earned power, took his chance to played tricks on the two. Here is what happened.
This is a section of a patchwork from the Miao tribe. I find the creatures on the patchwork processing a lot charm, as this is handmade even if they are the same kind, are different. This simple beauty is already hard to find in the digital age.
On this patchwork there are flowers, butterfly, fish, birds and dragons. The Miao believes that creatures are interchangeable; a man can become a dragon and vice versa, fish butterfly, flowers and bird can also turn into dragon. Recorded in one of the ancient songs, the butterfly has 12 sons, they had a fight and the water dragon was chased away. He escaped through the waterways and into the ocean, then he realised he has forgotten to bring his money! The fish surrounded his and offered him the money and he was able to become the king of the ocean. There used to be a lot of these ancient songs which get passed down by mouth through generations, sadly only 12 songs were left.
Mountain Folkcraft 