The Scribble Corner: Chinese New Year Festival

As mentioned in my previous post, Chinese new year of the dragon was celebrated not long ago. There is a large presence of the Chinese community in Melbourne so this means week long festivities and celebrations! Yay :)

Lion display -typically used in lion dancing

Most of the festivals held are quite similar (mostly with food stalls and cultural performances). Last Saturday, I decided to check out the Box Hill festival.

Welcome

Prayer station

I usually visit these festivals for the food stalls (these are set up side by side, each selling different Chinese inspired dishes) but I was actually a tad disappointed this year. The variety of food was repetitive and I was unimpressed.

Deep fried potato twists

Grilled squids

Toffee fruit for dessert

However, one dish that never disappoints and I look forward to every year are the lamb skewers. These are not ordinary BBQ skewers, they originated from northern China and are intensively grilled on hot coals.
The marinate used on these skewers are perfectly infused all types of spices and herbs. Don't forget to add some extra chili on top for extra kicks!

Yummy skewers

Close up

We couldn't get enough of these! for $2.50 each, one will never be enough :)

There are still a few more Chinese new year celebrations in the next couple of weeks, so if you have some spare time on the weekend - why not pay one a visit?

Melbourne's Chinatown