Chinese New Year

[Ben Hong]

"Peen tong" is also correct, maybe more correct.

[srhcb]

Send someone you know a free Chinese New Years Message:

http://www.timelydecisions.net/holiday/chinese.html

SB

[Shalmanese]

Hoo boy.... Well, that was the big one just over. 25 people, 19 dishes, a whole LOT of work. I was just a lowly sous chef so I can only claim minor credit for any of these dishes, the really praise will have to go to my mother this time.

I'm not even going to apologise for the crappy pictures this time, I was lucky to snap them at all before the food completely disappeared. The occasional arm is to be expected. Dishes listed below are in no particular order.

Here's a picture of the table set up with about 2/3rds of the dishes already on it by my count. More dishes came on later and some got taken off as they were eaten so I couldn't get a comprehensive pic. Everybody ate outside on the balcony where the weather was perfect.

Steamed Flower buns. Yeasted dough, moulded into a flour with spring onions and oil on the outside. Delightfully light and fluffly, same texture as man tao. These came out really well.

Fried eggplants and... Pork I think. Incredibly popular, I never got to actually taste this dish :(, it was gone before I could grab a plate.

Chinese bean with Pork. These are a type of bean that resemble gnarled green beans except they are over 1m long. Slightly bitter flavour, I love them.

Steamed whole fish with ginger and spring onions, Red snapper I think although I'm not certain.

Not one to buck tradition, no matter how recently established... Tofu with 1000 year eggs

Blurry pic, excellent dish :(. This was some sort of special traditional chinese meatball of which even *I* am not allowed to know the ingredients of. Served over snow peas and tastes out of this world.

Beef stewed with Turnips and Potatos, unbelievable tender and very subtle in flavour, I guess it would be an asian Pot-au-Feu.

Smashed Cucmber Salad. Cumcumbers, Tofu, Garlic, Sesame. The garlic really gives it a kick and it's unbelievably simple to make and SOO refreshing on such a hot day.

Wood ears sauted with pork and Chinese Cabbage. A traditional dish up north where these wood ears were grown. They are a category of fungus that only grows wild and each region seems to have a particular species which tastes nothing like any other type of wood ear. I love the taste of all wood ears but they are impossible to obtain in Australia so we stock up big every time we go home.

Red Fired Pork. Pork with the skin attached braised in soy and sugar. These wen't fast as well, I got about 2 pieces before they were gone. I can understand why.

Stir fry noodles with Chicken, Capsicum, Mushrooms & sesame. Uh... noodles. Good but not extraordinarily so.

Chicken braised with "Jin zhen"(lit: Golden Thread) Mushrooms and vermecelli. Again, this mushroom is a local delicacy and only grows in the wild in one region of China. These were actually picked by my cousins & uncles in the woods next to their house and are the absolute best specimens of all the ones they picked as a gift to their relative from abroad. As far as I'm concerned, give a choice between truffles and these, these win.

I'm not sure how to translate this... I guess the closest would be aspic, or pigs skin jelly... It's pig's skin, simmered in water until all the gelatin is extracted. It sounds gross but tastes fabulous. A very subtle flavour but the texture is refreshing and cool, simply garnished with some very good chinese soy, raw garlic and spring onions, it just slides down your throat.

Shrimp fried with Salt & Pepper. One of the things you can't get in China is such beautiful shrimp, One of them almost fit's across the plate. Just a simple cornflour batter and the natural flavour of the shrimp just explodes in your mouth. God I love Australian Seafood.

Uh someone else brought this... Mashed potatos with Mayo, pinapple, ham & cucumber. It was one of those dishes that sounds like it couldn't possibly work but amazingly manages to do so. Was meant to be for the kids but I think the adults kept stealing spoonfuls until it was gone .

Roast Duck from Chinatown, brought by a friend

Unbelievably enough, there was NOT ENOUGH FOOD cooked so this was out backup dish. It's some sort of salted spring chicken bought from chinatown, shredded and served plain, because we didn't COOK ENOUGH FOOD . Bunch of hungry barbarians *mumble, mumble*.

These next two were brought on near the end of the meal as a sort of light, palate cleansing courses. Chinese greens, stir fried with garlic.

I'm not sure how to translate this, it's congee with a type of green, dried bean thing in it. Slightly bitter and very minerally, A nice finish to relax the palate again after so much fat.

After dinner, I served dessert. This was a plum sorbet made from some absolutely fabulous plums we bought 3 days ago. Nice, sharp sweet/sour flavour. Very nice.

After dinner was over, we all relaxed on the balcony with some fruit and ice-cream (say what ever else you like about the chinese palate but they are complete and utter failures at appreciating good ice-cream ). I don't know what happened to the grapes in that pic, the condensed mist must of done funny things to the flash. The watermelon was, by happy coincidence, one of those watermelon you might ever taste only half a dozen times in your life. Intese ruby colour and a crystal clear sweet flavour.

you think we were finished?

you were wrong...

I present to you...

Gyoza! Made and cooked just before midnight as a traditional send-off into the new year. Chives & Meat, Celery & Meat, Chives & Egg, Prawn, Egg & Meat in the 4 plates although I don't remember which was which..

[chefzadi]

WOW! Your family really knows how to eat! This is incredible.

[Shalmanese]

WOW! Your family really knows how to eat! This is incredible.

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Well... We get to do it all over again on Saturday, stay tuned .

btw: I realised rather belatedly that I posted this exactly 13 minutes before midnight in Beijing. I should have waited and made it symbolic :P.

Anyway, Happy New Year everybody!

[johnnyd]

Absolutely mind-boggling feast! I'd heard Chinese New Year was quite a culinary occasion, now I get a chance to see it!

Thank you Shalmanese, and Happy New Year!

[jo-mel]

Shalmanese --- that mashed potato dish threw me for a loop! Is it based on anything traditional?

[chefzadi]

I've seen some potato salads with cucumber, ham, corn AND apples in them on a few Korean tables. I'm almost sure there is some sort of Japanese version as well. So it sort makes sense that it would show up at one of Shalamanese's get togethers.

Which brings to something a little off topic. Those Korean "European" style bakeries. I've seen the same types of cakes in Chinatown and if I recall correctly in J tonw as well. They all seem to be made from the same commercial batter. The filling all taste the same too. Origins of this???? Anyone?

[Ben Hong]

A long time ago, the fates conspired to bring most members of our extended family together for CNY. My Mother and two aunties prepared 18 different dishes and all the traditional pastries and sweets normally associated with CNY for the CNY eve dinner and cooked similar banquets for all of us on three successive days.

Jeez, I miss my mother.

Shalmanese, that was an awesome photospread of "WOW" food.

[Sartain]

There will only be two of us. Most of my family is on the West Coast or in Hong Kong. In fact, my (physically) closest relative is two hours drive away. That makes getting together for the traditionally Reunion Dinner that usually takes place tonight a bit difficult.

But anyway, I'll be making a steamed whole fish (for always having excess), braised pork tongue on a bed of wilted lettuce (a dish called Dai Lei Sung Choi - Big Prosperity Brings Money), and Stir-fried Sticky Rice with Chinese bacon and sausages. It's my first time cooking tongue, so wish me luck.

Happy New Year, gung hey fat choi!

[Gastro888]

Hey Sartain, make sure you clean that tongue well or else you'll have "saang may". I think you're supposed to take the top layer of membrane off.

Tomorrow night is our reunion dinner. We won't have much 'cause it's only 3 of us. I wish I could have huge dinners like other families.

[chefzadi]

When my wife was very young in Korea it was a whole neighborhood affair. Alas not so in the States. Even the churches where so many Korean-Americans congregate for social events don't seem to put out elaborate tables. I also think sometimes we get spread out. Between all the cultures in our home we have so many holidays to celebrate we get a little burned out at times. We do the double Thanksgiving (American and Korean harvest holiday), double New Year's, Christmas, Eid, Fourth of July, Bastille Day...

So this year for Chinese New Year we'll just be having mandu gook.

[Sartain]

Clean top layer membrane off . . . check! I think that's in the recipe, but it never hurts to be reminded.

I think this might be the first time "tongue scrubbing" has ever appeared on my to do list.

[Ben Hong]

My usual method in dealing with pork tongue is to scrub it well with handfuls of coarse salt. Rinse and simmer for an hour. At this time the "skin" should peel off like a glove, and the meat should be tender enough to use for whatever.

[chefzadi]

http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&in=World&cat=China

(article about last minute rush in China)

I'm beginning to think that I should have titled the post "lunar new year" because I'm noticing that folks from other Asian cultures that celebrate aren't posting. My wife just got into the habit of calling it Chinese New Year in English so that's what I call it. Of course in Korean or Japanese it's not Chinese New Year, it's probably not called that in China for that matter.

Nonetheless I'm really glad I started this thread. The food looks great.

Gung Ho Fat Choy everyone!! (I really hope I got that one right, because I'm going on memory here) :-)

[Dejah]

WOW! Your family really knows how to eat! This is incredible.

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Well... We get to do it all over again on Saturday, stay tuned .

btw: I realised rather belatedly that I posted this exactly 13 minutes before midnight in Beijing. I should have waited and made it symbolic :P.

Anyway, Happy New Year everybody!

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GRRRRRR

What a wonderful feast! Good thing you didn't get a lot to eat. This way, you can handle another binge!

[Ling]

What a wonderful meal, Shalmanese!

[Jensen]

I've been reading this thread and turning absolutely green with envy. Not only am I stuck here in Sacramento but the Spouse picked this particular time to visit Vancouver (okay, it was on business but still...)

I just had a "web conference" with him and our dear friends, Kai and Jin. Tonight, they had a big family dinner. Tomorrow night, they'll have hot pot (apparently to make up for the hot pot dinner the Spouse missed this summer while K & J were visiting here). And then, as if all that wasn't bad enough, they'll be going to a big New Year's celebration at Kai's mum and dad's house on Friday night.

I'm consoling myself with the knowledge that Kai said he took pictures of the food. At least I'll have something visual to drool over...

[Shalmanese]

Well, this is the last dinner you'll see from me this Chinese New Year. Lets get on with it.

I won't post descriptions for dishes that are the same as Tuesday's dinner.

Pic of the table with about 1/2 the dishes already plated.

"5 treasures". Chicken, Peanuts, Tofo, Carrot, Brocolli stems.

"guo tie", pot stickers. I think we ended up with 5 plates of these.

Gyoza, we made 2 plates of these.

Pig skin jelly, clear.

Pig skin jelly, chunky, the bits of skin were kept in, providing a different texture.

Wood ears & Pork

These are a type of bean, I don't know what. We buy them frozen in Chinatown and then blanch them with some star anise and serve cold. You pop the pods into your mouth.

Secret Meatballs

Steamed whole fish.

Braised Chicken and Mushrooms, sorry I didn't get a pic of the actual food.

Braised Beef & Potatoes.

Eggplant, Beef & Capsicum.

This was, uh, deep fried tofu, shittake mushrooms and pork I think. I really liked this one. The textures played off each other so perfectly.

Chinese cold salad, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, rice noodles and garlic with a rice wine & sesame seed oil dressing I think. Unfortunately, we found out in the morning that the kelp strips we had had gone bad so we were forced to improvise a bit. The heat of the garlic and the acid of the vinegar married really well. Pity it was missing that briny note from the kelp.

This is a rather bizarre type of chinese green, I don't know what it's called. When sauted, the juice turns a brilliant beetroot red. The colour of the liquid is purely from the greens.

Steamed prawns on brocolli.

White Rice.

As you might have noticed, I'm rather tired so the descriptions have been a bit terse. Feel free to ask me tomorrow for a more detailed explaination of any dish. Signing off.

[Ben Hong]

The green leafy veggie that turns red on cooking is amaranth. The green pea pods are soy beans, I think.

[lexy]

The green pea pods are soy beans, I think.

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is that the same thing as edamame? because that's what they look like to me

[Dejah]

The green pea pods are soy beans, I think.

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is that the same thing as edamame? because that's what they look like to me

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I agree with both of you.

What a wonderful meal!

We are doing a mixture of stuff tonight . . . dim sum and sizzling hot plates. Hope to post later.

[Pan]

The green leafy veggie that turns red on cooking is amaranth.[...]

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I had a seasonal "red spinach" dish at my local Grand Sichuan branch the other evening. I figure this is the same thing that's called bayam in Malay/Indonesian. Can anyone confirm or refute that, please?

[Tepee]

The green leafy veggie that turns red on cooking is amaranth.[...]

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I had a seasonal "red spinach" dish at my local Grand Sichuan branch the other evening. I figure this is the same thing that's called bayam in Malay/Indonesian. Can anyone confirm or refute that, please?

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You're right on, Michael. It's bayam. I try to include that in my weekly vegetables as it's very rich in iron...for the girls, you know.

Edit to add: The dramatic color fades to brownish as the veg sits or if it's overcooked. To me, that's the veg telling me to eat them up - quick! - before the minerals/vitamins disappear.

Edited February 17, 2005 by Tepee (log)