Lymington lass leads Chinese New Year celebration

MIDNIGHT on Sunday ushers in the Chinese New Year of the Monkey, a character typified by enthusiastic energy.

Sushi made by Sally Ives. Picture: ELAINE REEVES

MIDNIGHT on Sunday ushers in the Chinese New Year of the Monkey, a character typified
by enthusiastic energy.

Sally Ives and her lovely dumplimgs. Picture: ELAINE REEVES

Sally Ives was born in the year of the monkey (meaning she is either 24, 36, 48, 60 or 72) and is a poster girl for enthusiastic energy.

In China, the New Year reunion dinner is rather like a blend of our Christmas and New Year.

Sally says her family in Beijing will all head home to the oldest relative’s for NYE.

Dinner will begin at 8pm — and the television will be on for a show that culminates in fireworks th midnight.

“After we finish dinner, everyone will be making dumplings — one will have a coin in it like the Christmas pudding — and then at midnight everyone eats fast trying to find the coin.”

Sally and her friend Ja Yuphin Inaphai are holding a New Year celebration.

The TV won’t be on and it won’t be at midnight, but at lunchtime this Saturday on the veranda of Sally’s home overlooking Copper Alley Bay at Lymington, near Cygnet.

A whole fish is usually served at new year dinners because the Chinese word “fish” sounds very like the word for “surplus”, which everyone is hoping for in the coming year.

Sally says steamed fish is tricky for 24 guests and locals “don’t like bones” so the fish at their lunch will be a green seafood curry with oysters, prawns and squid in Ja’s (pronounced Jar) own traditional Thai curry paste.

Ja is married to an Australian and divides her year between Cygnet and a town north of Bangkok, where she and her brother own a restaurant.

The two women met over Sally’s stall at Cygnet Market, where she cooks spring rolls and dumplings to order.

Both women run cooking classes from home and do catering together. Their most recent event, also on Sally’s veranda, was an Asian afternoon tea.

There was not a scone nor cucumber sandwich in sight, rather prawn and pork dumplings, sushi, prawn and crabmeat golden bags, Thai fish cakes and garlic chives and egg steamed buns.

The garlic chives, and many other ingredients are from Sally’s gardens and the eggs are from her own chooks.

“It makes a big difference to the flavour, growing things yourself,” she says.

A selection of sweets made by Sally Ives. Picture: ELAINE REEVES

Sweets included little buns concealing chocolate, fresh raspberries and raspberry jam; steamed pumpkin cake and Thai pandan and coconut-milk layer jelly cake precisely cut in heart shapes.

Sally describes herself as “household” cook.

“My food tastes good but does not look particularly pretty,” she says. “Ja’s food is very professional, so nice and dainty, just beautiful.”

Soon after the NYE lunch, Ja will go to Thailand and that will be end of the women’s joint ventures until she returns in late July.

The lunch will, of course, include dumplings — prawn, pork and shiitake.

And there will be Ja’s peasant-style prawn toast, a Chinese hot and sour soup served with spring onion pancake and Chinese New
Year cake.

The cake is made with sticky rice, adzuki bean paste and dried fruit (not unlike Christmas pudding).

“It’s pretty nourishing,” Sally says. It will be served with Sally’s homemade blackcurrant ice cream.

Sally used to work for a Beijing company that was an agent for a NSW company where Michael Ives, an engineer, worked as a project manager on big public works, such as power plants.

They met when Sally brought a Chinese delegation here that Michael looked after.

They married in 2000 and moved to Cygnet in 2006, and then to the house they built themselves three years ago.

Contact Sally Ives at [e-mail] for information about the lunch
or future events.

Sushi made by Sally Ives. Picture: ELAINE REEVES

MIDDLETON FAIR

This Saturday, the tiny Channel settlement of Middleton welcomes about 2000 people to its Country Fair.

Different from agricultural shows (although there is shearing and many farm animals), it is a fair showcasing rural talents, including baking, preserving, gardening and needle skills.

There are games, pony rides, music, games, shopping, eating and drinking.

It runs from 10am to 4pm.

Scarecrows will line approaching roads and there will be a free shuttle bus — so no need to park on the road.