The 2021 Lunar New Year gift guide
Following the success of the 2020 ESEA Christmas gift guide, we have put together a Lunar New Year gift guide full of meal kits, homewares and art. As Lunar New Year may be celebrated differently this year, why not order a gift for a loved one instead? Enjoy shopping from this wonderful array of ESEA businesses - click the names for the link to the shop.
By Charley Wong and Kai
FOOD
Kit-Eats works with restaurants and food producers to bring you restaurant-quality food in meal kit form. Give the gift of food and a low-effort, high-quality Lunar New Year meal to your loved ones or yourself, with Laksamania, who are bringing celebratory specials of Yee Sang and Danny's Signature Beef Curry (available 12/2 and 19/2 only), alongside regular favourites Singapore Laksa and Penang Assam Laksa, and all our other meal kits, including bowl-lickingly delicious ramen from Goemon Ramen Bar Brighton.
Eat Lah is a street food business serving Malaysian street food, specifically Nasi Kerabu on the street of London since August 2019. They are offering a special Lunar New Year feast of Malaysian cuisine of Lo Sang (a traditional Malaysian salad), roast pork belly with sambal, braised pork belly bao, tofu fritters, kuih talam and more. Order before 4 February to get yours.
KayKay offer a range of plant-based Chinese food. To celebrate Lunar New Year they have put together an eight course meal to enjoy at home.
Born out of their love for all things buttery and Lockdown 2.0 comes Rumble Crumble, an Asian home bakery started by a Malaysian Chinese and Australian couple living in London. Lunar New Year is fast approaching and if you’re in need of a taste of South East Asian flavours, Rumble Crumble is here to bring you fresh and homemade pineapple tarts, London almond cookies and German butter cookies. Using only locally sourced premium ingredients and recyclable packaging, Rumble Crumble offers deliveries across UK - which is also perfect for a special gift.
Yee Kwan Ice Cream is an award-winning artisan ice cream producer. A successful pitch on Dragons’ Den and several Great Taste Awards later, they’ve gained a strong reputation for being the leading East Asian ice cream brand in the UK and they don’t plan on stopping any time soon! Follow them on their socials for updates on the launch of their online store which means exciting limited edition flavours straight to your door.
For Lunar New Year, they’ll have a limited number of Hong Kong Milk Tea ice cream tubs which you can purchase here.
British-born Burmese food writer MiMi Aye has spent her life soaking up Burmese food, language, and culture through trips to see family back home, as well as in the UK. Her award-winning book ‘MANDALAY: Recipes & Tales from a Burmese Kitchen’ was described by Nigella Lawson as ‘a really loving and hungry-making introduction to a fascinating cuisine’. MiMi co-hosts the food and culture podcast The MSG Pod and she also hosts supperclub and online community Burmese Food & Beyond.
Founded by Victoria Poon of HK-Polish heritage, Alpaca are sharing the craft of amazing coffee farms, estates and cooperatives of the South American Continent. Alpaca offer 3 single origin coffees from Brazil, Columbia and Peru. Not only that, as a result of their successful Kickstarter in 2020, they’ve been able to create fully compostable packaging having raised well over 200% of their target. Sustainability is at the core of Alpaca Coffee: from the lining to the zip locks, it can all be composted. Who doesn't love an ace cup of coffee, especially one as good for the planet and farmers as Alpaca?
ART
Little Egg Crafts is co-founded and co-owned by 2 best friends. They design and create their own original amigurumi plushies. Amigurumi (編みぐるみ in kanji) directly translates to 'crocheted or knitted stuffed toy'. As HongKongers, their creations are inspired by their shared culture, their multicultural heritage and the things they love. They launched Little Egg Crafts in September 2020 on Instagram as a creative project to bring them closer together during tough times whilst far apart from each other. Their small independent shop is an opportunity for them to develop their skills and meet other artists, creators and makers globally.
They are currently operating from Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. All orders can be made either via Instagram DM or by using the Order Form on their website.
Nicole Chui is a Hong Kong born embroidery artist & designer based in London. Nicole's work is described as messy, brash & disruptive, where her bursts of emotion and reactions guide her hand embroidered art and customs. Through her work, she hopes to change the perception of embroidery by showing that it is a modern, relevant and unashamedly outspoken form of expression. She currently sells embroidered photographs/illustrations & custom embroidered accessories via her Instagram and is about to set up a shop section on her website.
Faith is a self-taught illustrator and is the owner of the online shop Ever Sincerely. She creates watercolour art inspired by her British Chinese heritage and by her travels. All proceeds from the sales in Jan-Feb from her 'Hong Kong, Home Kong' collection (art prints and LNY greetings cards) will go towards funding the work of @britishchinesebiz which she founded in Nov 2020.
AtelierJessie is a small business in homeware, and digital illustration. They sell small-batch, minimalist pieces for the considered home. Each ceramic item is handcrafted with the utmost care and attention to detail. Her ceramic pieces have simple shapes and forms, with a neutral palette throughout. When Jessie, the founder, is not getting her hands messy with clay, she creates digital illustration for designers and architects. She has freelanced to architectural firms and design agencies across the UK.
Yi Crafts is a business offering authentic experiences of the crafts and cultural traditions of China. Its focus is on the beautiful but vanishing traditional handicrafts and cuisine of China’s minority ethnicities. Intercultural sharing is constant and often unconscious throughout our daily lives, and handcrafts are the physical embodiment of culture and cultural sharing.
Jason is a self taught Graphics Designer who is based in Kent. During the second lockdown, he was interested in learning more about his Hong Kong roots and culture. He has linked his design passion with his heritage to remind people of “home”. He designs and draws his own designs, and specialises in Location Prints and Chinese Greeting Cards.
Jessica Yeong is the artist behind Bert and Roxy making block prints and artwork inspired by the ordinary everyday, intertwined with cultural nostalgia. She is British born Hong Kong Chinese with a Malaysian Chinese partner - and as such, her work is influenced by both these rich cultures. Specialising in relief prints, these start off as observational drawings that are translated onto carving blocks and carefully hand-carved and hand-printed (with only a metal spoon!) to produce truly unique original artworks.
LIFESTYLE
Joelle is a certified Life Coach & NLP Practitioner specialising in guiding women of colour to build restful and grounded lives through embracing all of themselves. She works with 1:1 clients on a variety of issues, from eliminating self-doubt and discovering your life purpose, to creating habits and tackling communication issues. She offers payment plans and sliding scale pricing, especially during this tough period of time.
Linda and Suyin are a Chinese-Malaysian-British mother-daughter duo with their natural skincare brand. They are based in south east London, and all their products are handmade with natural ingredients and our planet in mind. Their products consider the importance of a holistic approach to healthcare and wellness, and the complete connection between the mind, body and soul.
A South East London based make-up artist, Maya makes homemade hydrating hand sanitisers, scented with essential oils, finding a way to keep hers and other hands sanitised and soothed daily on set. The sanitisers have been formulated since July 2020 and encased into 100ml glass bottles, and you can choose between 11 of the suggested blends or make your own potion. As Maya says, ‘they smell waaaaay better than the chemical smelling ones’.
Start-up company Nascera offer the next-generation solution to winter comfort, agility and warmth through their patented heat-generating vest. The heated vest works by connecting to a power bank and has 3 heat settings to suit different users' needs. The product is light, foldable, and machine-washable; no animals were harmed while producing the product as it does not include down or fur that traditional puffer jackets do.
The Flower Factory is a unique, seasonally inspired floral studio and floristry school located in the heart of Clerkenwell. This Lunar New Year inspired bunch is made with care using a mix of funky and unusual dried blooms. Perfect for a festive gift or celebration centrepiece, it’s full of bunny tails, amaranths, eucalyptus and golden poppy, palm and physalis (Chinese lanterns). The bouquets can be placed directly into a vase - there is no need to add water and it lasts years!
Have any other recommendations for us of ESEA businesses that we need to know about? Get in touch on Instagram or Twitter.