Home cook Wendy Chong's vegetarian CNY dishes embrace the three multi-racial neighbours who have become family to her

Chong learnt how to cook all her mother's heirloom vegetarian dishes for the first day of CNY and has maintained the tradition of making these meals ever since, although now she cooks it for her three close friends. — Photos: YAP CHEE HONG/The Star

In her cosy home in Subang Jaya, Selangor, the ebullient Wendy Chong, 59, is bustling about her kitchen with a palpable sense of excitement. Ladling just-cooked portions of loh hon chai (a Chinese vegetarian dish) onto a platter, she smiles happily as she says, “This is exactly what my mum used to make when we were growing up.”

The gregarious, fun-loving Chong grew up in Kluang, Johor, and recalls her mother being fastidious about maintaining vegetarianism on the first day of Chinese New Year. As a consequence, it is something she too has become particular about, especially as this is the meal she will be serving her three closest neighbours come Chinese New Year.