Today marks the start of Chinese New Year, a holiday celebrated by the large segment of the Khmer community that’s of Chinese descent. My co-teacher/Khmer tutor is half Chinese, so he’s celebrating, along with my ming (aunt) Ohn, whose mom is Chinese. In honor of the occasion my market is a much more festive scene than usual with lots of fruit not typically available—Jazz apples (Hyvee, are you responsible for this??), bright orange oranges (usually they’re green), juicy grapes, and a variety of others. There are also oodles of noam (cakes), ranging from the typical bland but likeable enough muffins and sticky rice cakes to more glamorous offerings like crown shaped cakes with a cherry in the middle.
Ohn has been busy for the past week preparing for the three-day festival, getting up at three in the morning to start cooking noam, not finishing until six or seven at night. One day she cooked ten batches of muffins (each batch takes about an hour and a half and probably produces about fifty muffins). I came over and there were ten or so people helping her, working systematically at different stations: one person churning the batter, someone filling muffin tins, someone packaging the cooked muffins, another team of people working on the noompia (biscuit filled with milled peanuts), and yet another group working on the an soam jay— one person laying out the banana leaves, another spreading sticky rice to roll with boiled bananas and coconut. I was amazed at the efficiency of the operation and tried to slink out as quietly as I could.
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Extended family, in from Phnom Penh for the day. That’s Mama, Ohn’s mom, in the background. Although the Chinese New Year isn’t an officially recognized Khmer holiday, Khmer never miss an opportunity to party, so everyone takes time off anyway to relax and be with family. My host brother, who I’ve only met once previously, has come home from Phnom Penh for a few days to hang out at the house, taking my mom for rides to the market (a whopping 2k away) in his shiny black Toyota so she can show him off to her friends. |
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Offerings to the ancestors: plates of fruit, platters of entire roasted chickens, dried squid, spring rolls, noam, and some Coke and Fanta in case they're thirsty  Praying for good health, happiness, and wealth in the new year.  the whole smorgasbord  Ohn’s adorable niece  Ohn’s adorable nephew, whose definitely gotten pudgier since I last posted a pic of him  |
I’m not sure if this badass All-Star pose was intentional or just fantastic luck
2 comments:
Happy Chinese New Year! Love the pictures--what a celebration! Is that the same baby you called "Kramer Baby" a few posts back? If so, he's…very well fed. Wow!
Year of the Dragon! Did you know that you and I are both dragons? Here's what Wikipedia says about us…
Dragon – 龍 / 龙 (辰) (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Magnanimous, stately, vigorous, strong, self-assured, proud, noble, direct, dignified, eccentric, intellectual, fiery, passionate, decisive, pioneering, artistic, generous, loyal. Can be tactless, arrogant, imperious, tyrannical, demanding, intolerant, dogmatic, violent, impetuous, brash.
That is Kramer baby. :) He is a fatty- in Khmer they say "Mein prolong" which basically translates to "that's one hell of a fat baby." I didn't know we're both Dragons! Thanks for the description, that's interesting. Had to refresh my memory on the wood element since my TCM class- here's what I found:
Wood is the most human of the elements. It is the element of spring; the creative urge to achieve - which can turn to anger when frustrated. It is associated with the capacity to look forward, plan and make decisions. Wood energy is rising, expanding, and is the force of growth and flexibility.
This element represents all the activities of the body that are self regulating and/or function without conscious thought; i.e. digestion, respiration, heart beat and basic metabolism. The liver (which converts food into fuel which is then supplied to the muscles, tendons and ligaments) is associated to the Wood element.
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