eG Foodblog: hzrt8w - A week of Chinese New Year celebration

[hzrt8w]

so where exactly are these farmer's markets?  I've never heard of them....

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Stephanie:

That's the thing... these Chinese New Year midnight markets don't exist in the USA! If you are ever in Hong Kong for the Chines New Year, there are a few places where these midnight markets are held. The most popular one is in the Victoria Park, Causeway Bay.

[hzrt8w]

Yes, California has a large Asian-American population representing several nationalities, not just Chinese.  But I don't associate this attribute with the state capital.  Am I merely misinformed or are the Chinese and other Asian food choices in the Sacramento area less extensive than in, say, the Bay Area downriver?

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Hi Sandy:

Chinese were among the first to immigrate to California back in the gold rush era. They were recruited as cheap labor to build the transcontinental rail road in the Sierra Neveda. After the railroad was built, quite a few settled in the Sacramento Delta area as farmers, some sought other professions such as doing laundry business in San Francisco. In the Sacramento valley it is common to see Chinese-Americans who have been living here for a few generations.

Whence your handle on eG?

I would parse "rt8w" as "Route 8 West" (you wanna trade geekeries, I'm a roadgeek as well as a railgeek and foodie), and I don't know whether a) there is a California State Route 8 near you (Interstate 8 heads east from San Diego) or b) you had an affinity or an epiphany or an unfortuante accident or an urgent rest stop or a bad meal or a great meal or something on a highway with that number or c) all this is completely off base.  And that still doesn't explain the "hz", nor does anything pertaining to your real name.

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Ha ha ha.... LOL! Keep guessing!

hzrt8w = Horses and Zebras Resemble Trojan Ate (8) Weeds

LOL!

The fact is: my online moniker, “hzrt8w”, has absolutely no particular meaning. It happened to be a computer login name I was assigned at a company I used to work for long time ago. It was so unique that I just use it to sign up for accounts everywhere I go.

[rjwong]

Ah Leung, Kung Hay Fat Choy!!

I too was born in the year of the pig. Sorry, I don't know which element, but I think you are older than me ... by a few seconds ...

FYI I had my CNY dinner at Sam Woo in Irvine with my family members, including my mother, my brother, my sister, and their families. I'll post my report in the California forum this time.

It's interesting that you say that Chinese restaurants in "Yee Fow" (Sacramento) is second-rate. I'm more familiar with the Chinese restaurants in "Sam Fow" (Stockton) and of course "Dai Fow" (San Francisco or Frisco). I have always wondered what the Chinese community in Sacramento was like, considering Sacramento was supposedly larger than Stockton.

[hzrt8w]

Today is Sunday. There is a small farmer's market in Sacramento every Sunday from dawn til about noon. This morning I rushed out of the house wanting to take a few shots of the market before it closed.

It is a pretty small scale farmer's market, located in the parking lot underneath the I-80 (Business) freeway between X and W, 6th and 7th.

Perhaps I picked a bad time to go. Today is the first day of Chinese New Year. Duh!!! All Chinese farmers are with their families at home celebrating the CNY!

Without the Chinese farmers selling their goods, the market is just not the same. I only saw booths here and there - far less populous than usual.

Hmmm... someone selling trigs of plum trees (left). Chinese love plum flowers. "Mui Fa". It is China's national flower.

Rows of assorted flowers.

These lilies are lovely.

Well... I saw only one booth selling Chinese vegetables (choy sum, gai lan, etc.) today run by a Japanese family. These vegetables didn't look very good.

Kabocha. Some just call it pumkins. Very good to make soup with. I love them.

Pork Butt Bone Soup with Kabocha (南瓜豬骨湯)

Some packaged nuts: almonds, walnuts, etc..

Walnuts with shells.

When you go to these farmer's markets, you have to know your stuff. Often the labels are wrong. I am not sure what this is. Some kind of gourd?

And another pumkin like gourd?

More farmers selling flowers.

These are hugh yams (sweet potatoes)! I only like small sweet potatoes. I think the small ones are tastier. And I like the skin.

Someone selling bakery items. These are far cry from those I have seen on eGullet. I don't know how to bake but I can tell good bakeries from so-so ones.

This is interesting... a guy selling not only oyster mushrooms but the kit you can use to grow oyster mushrooms (hung on the wire tripod on the left). A plastic bag full of some wet... something.

Some big oyster mushrooms and shittake mushrooms.

These looked like hugh green onions. But the label said "sweet red onion".

A farmer selling bags of potatoes. I have never seen purple potatoes until now! This is fascinating!

I didn't buy anything today. I felt that these prices are not that different from those found at regular markets. I don't see the value in coming here to shop, especially that you need to be there on a Sunday morning before noon. Well, just want to show the readers what this farmer's market in Sacramento under the freeway looks like.

[mizducky]

Best wishes for the New Year, Ah Leung! As another huge fan of your pictorials, I'm really pleased to see you blogging. And I'm so glad you're giving us all the cultural background too. Looking forward to a terrific week of food!

P.S. I'm a foodie and a technogeek--does two out of three count for anything?

[hzrt8w]

I have one question about the big family meal: I was told that dumplings were traditional for New Year's and noodles were more frequently served for birthdays.  Is this simply not a set rule and different families and regions pass on different traditions?

Second, are there any convenient outdoor markets worth visiting at this time of year?

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Pontormo: What you said is very true. My wife's family is not that traditional any more after 40 years of living in this valley. MIL has blend in many occassional food to please the grandchildren (they all like chow mein, you see).

I have just posted my report on Sacramento's farmer's market (every Sunday morning underneath the I-80 (business) freeway). This time of the year is typically cold and wet. Today was exceptional because it was sunny, calm and in the 60's (F). I don't know what other outdoor markets there are.

[SuzySushi]

When you go to these farmer's markets, you have to know your stuff.  Often the labels are wrong.  I am not sure what this is.  Some kind of gourd?

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Butternut squash, "delicata" variety like it says on the sign. It's similar to pumpkin, acorn squash, and kabocha.

And another pumkin like gourd?

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These look to me like what's sold here as "Korean melons," a mild cucumber-like squash, though I could be wrong.

These looked like hugh green onions.  But the label said "sweet red onion".

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Perhaps they're the sprouts of red onions -- the stems do appear a bit red.

[hzrt8w]

Date: Feb 18, 2007

Chinese calendar: The first day of Chinese New Year

Festivities:

This is the first day of the Chinese New Year. Many Chinese live with their parents (typically the fraternity side). As they wake up, they would wish their parents well, say a few nice words. In the old days, the parents would sit on chairs, and the son and daughter-in-law would kneel on the floor and pour a cup of tea for the elders: one for the father, one for the mother. If one of the parent has passed away, tea would still be poured but served at the family altar. The parents would then pass the "lei see" [Cantonese] (or "hung bao" in Mandarin), such as those shown in my teaser picture:

In the red envelop, there is money of course. The more money they give you the more they love you!

Today most Chinese families eat at home, especially in Hong Kong. The reason: Many Chinese restaurants close down for three days (Day 1, 2, 3 of Chinese New Year are public holidays in China) so that the chefs and staff can go back to their home village for family re-union. Those restaurants that remain open - they are packed! Things might have changed over the years as I haven't been in Hong Kong for CNY for close to two decades.

Take a look at what Tepee (a Chinese-Malaysian) ate with her family on New Year Day here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...dpost&p=1362963

Her family eat vegetarian dishes on the first day of the year. Some Chinese believe to avoid "killing" at the beginning of the year (well... for one day).

In China, firecrackers are very popular among kids. This is the time of the year that you would hear the boom, boom, boom everywhere. In Hong Kong firecrakers have been banned long time ago because of the fire hazard. The government would sponsor fireworks at night to make up for it.

Some believes that on the first day of CNY, one should not shampoo the hair, as that would "wash away" the lucks.

Edited February 19, 2007 by hzrt8w (log)

[Rebecca263]

You are really showing us a good time! Thank you!

Well, you are not much for sweets. More for me, then! I LOVE egg tarts. LOVE them so much, I could marry a boy who would bake them for me. But, I have trouble telling if they will be good just by looking at them, and sometimes I get some with a chewy pastry and a much too sweet, rubbery custard. YUCK. One reason that I

enjoy Chinese sweets and baked goods is that they are not so sweet.

A newspaper grill is a wonderful thing! This is a site that sells them, but I usually get mine on ebaY, they make great gifts. It is a small collapsible steel grill, usually cylindrical, but sometimes rectangular, with holes in rows, across the sides, and a steel grill top with a handle, for the food. First, you sandwich your food between the 2 sides of the grill top. Then, you stuff this grill with crumpled newspaper, and a minute after lighting the paper, you cook your food on the top of the grill.

Everything cooks very quickly, because it such a high heat. You can add wood chips to the newspaper, too. I sometimes add some apple wood, but usually we just toss in the paper and cook.

A couple of weekends ago, my daughter and her boyfriend cooked chicken sausages on ours, outdoors in the freezing New Jersey night! They were out and in of the house in a span of ten minutes, and the sausages were completely cooked, and the grill was completely clean when they were done, too! It is so nice, the newspaper leaves only the finest ash, and it falls right out of the grill with no trouble. You only have to wash the handled part, that contacts the food.

edited by, well, yes, my excuse for such poor writing is the painkillers, I amsure! jejeje!

Edited February 19, 2007 by Rebecca263 (log)

[hzrt8w]

After I went to the farmer's market, I came home to pick up my wife. We went to the nearby restaurant (which is our favorite) New Hong Kong Wok on Freeport Blvd.

Personally I don't have any particular rules to observe, foodwise. We just ordered something quick and tasty.

Beef ribs stir-fried with onion and bell pepper.

Clay pot with oyster and tofu. The big brown chunks in the pot were whole garlic. There were pieces of black mushrooms as well.

I ordered this one for symbolic reasons. Oyster in Cantonese is "Ho", which is similar to the word that means "Good". Let this year be a good year!

[hzrt8w]

Today is the first day of Chinese New Year. Children are the happiest because there are all kinds of treats for the occasion. Most of them are candied fruits, melons or roots (such as lotus root). I don’t have a sweet tooth and I avoid most candied stuff. We don’t have any children so it’s easier to get away with it.

I did buy a couple of Chinese New Year special-occasion snacks.

A bag of red water melon seeds. This is very typical of Chinese banquets, especially around Chinese New Year, that they serve red water melon seeds before the meal. The water melon seeds are dried (sun-dried typically) and died in red color.

I have been snacking on these all day long. The other one that I like is candied coconut strips, as I had shown in the teaser picture. They died the coconut strips in different colors: pink, pale green, white. Oops… white is the natural color of coconuts. LOL!

We just had a simple dinner at home. It is getting late. Allow me to post tonight’s dinner tomorrow. After dinner, this is what I had for dessert:

It’s a Mandarin orange. This is another symbolic item. In Chinese, Mandarin orange is “Gut” [Cantonese], which sound the same as the word that means “Safe”. So… we must have some Mandarin oranges around New Year time. That’s why you see plenty of them in the Asian markets this time of the year.

[hzrt8w]

Check out more on the Chinese New Year snacks on this post from Tepee:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...dpost&p=1362979

Chinese call this "Chuen Hop" [Cantonese]. It means a box that is complete, perfect. In the box there are assorted candies, candied fruits, candied winter melons, candied lotus roots, etc.. When relatives or friends come by during CNY, you serve the goodies in one of these - with a cup of tea, of course. That's the Chinese tradition and manner during CNY.

[hzrt8w]

Great blog so far, Ah Leung!  The opening post has to be one of my favorites ever.  Anytime you can get SQL and dumplings on the same page my hat's off to you.

I'll guess you're 36.

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Hi Abra! I am flattered. One more hint:

I watched Jessica Lange in King Kong (the first remake, not the one done by Peter Jackson) in high school. And John Travolta in Grease was my idol. How old am I?

[hzrt8w]

I just turned 48 in January.  I was thrilled to think that I was born in the year of the pig, but then I realized that I was born the year BEFORE the year of the pig, since my birthday happened before CNY.  Right? 

What am I?

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The year of the dog is before year of the pig. So you were born in 1959? Every year Chinese New Year (which is based on lunar calendar) lands on a different date in the solar calendar. If we have access to the lunar calendar back to 1959 we'll know.

[leviathan]

What's the difference between congee and shi fan?

It's interesting that you say that Chinese restaurants in "Yee Fow" (Sacramento) is second-rate. I'm more familiar with the Chinese restaurants in "Sam Fow" (Stockton) and of course "Dai Fow" (San Francisco or Frisco). I have always wondered what the Chinese community in Sacramento was like, considering Sacramento was supposedly larger than Stockton.

Maybe, in SF that's where the money is and american diners are more adventerous in SF, where both factors help support higher quality chinese food in SF. LA and NYC are the richest cities, and they can afford to buy and support high quality food.

[insomniac]

What's the difference between congee and shi fan?

It's interesting that you say that Chinese restaurants in "Yee Fow" (Sacramento) is second-rate. I'm more familiar with the Chinese restaurants in "Sam Fow" (Stockton) and of course "Dai Fow" (San Francisco or Frisco). I have always wondered what the Chinese community in Sacramento was like, considering Sacramento was supposedly larger than Stockton.

Maybe, in SF that's where the money is and american diners are more adventerous in SF, where both factors help support higher quality chinese food in SF. LA and NYC are the richest cities, and they can afford to buy and support high quality food.

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don't know if anyone answered about the congee?? Shi fan is a sort of congee that is cooked til the rice breaks down totally so it's smoother (I think, please correct me if I'm wrong!!)

[Dejah]

Yesterday I mentioned that on this Chinese New Year Eve, we went to a special place for lunch, taking advantage of this holiday weekend before we had the family gathering dinner.

We heard that Koi Palace is opening shop

More historic pictures of China in the back corner.  When I host a small banquet in the future, I would like to book a private room and host it here.

for Koi Palace.

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I'll let you know as soon as I can when this Dai Gah Jeah will be arriving for " the small banquet".

[Tepee]

What oranges are available there? We have a choice of teochew mandarin oranges, honey mandarins, lokam, and, in recent years, tiny little kums have been featuring in the markets. Here, my eldest brother's MIL made this 'gourd' for my mother, out of a little kum and a large kum.

I don't buy sugar-encrusted treats either...I snapped this at my parent's.

[Abra]

As to those squash at the farmer's market - the top ones that are tan, those are butternut squash. The lower picture, yellow with orange stripes, are Delicata squash. They're one of the most delicious squash in existence. You can bake them whole, then scoop out the seeds, or you can slice them into rounds, brush them with a little oil, a little sweet soy, and roast them. Even the skin is good to eat.

[C. sapidus]

Ah Leung: I am delighted to see you blogging, and I appreciate that you are exploring the cultural as well as the edible facets of your life. Food can illuminate a culture in remarkably accessible ways. This is one of the reasons that I love learning to cook food from different countries – food reflects history, economics, geography, botany, social customs, trade . . .

Your foodblog and the amazing CNY 2007 thread are providing ample incentive to continue exploring Chinese food (or “food”, as you put it ). I have enjoyed everything so far, and eagerly anticipate sharing the rest of your week. Keep up the good work!

With your additional clues, I guess that you are 48. Kung Hey Fat Choy!

[Pontormo]

When you go to these farmer's markets, you have to know your stuff.  Often the labels are wrong.  I am not sure what this is.  Some kind of gourd?

And another pumkin like gourd?

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I'm editing this since I see Abra posted first to explain the first image is of butternut squash. The second photo is delicata squash, really good unadorned. It roasts quickly because the skin is well, delicate, and the flesh, sort of the color of this guy , is also thin. I like to cut it in half, scoop out seeds and bake, cut side down, edges buttered. When softened, turn cut side up, add a little butter if you'd like and let it start to color, though I usually skip this step. Pour on a tiny bit of heavy cream and a pinch of fresh nutmeg.

* * *

Thank you for answering my questions, Ah Leung. (I made Huo Tui Dong Gu Zheng Yu with a black bass yesterday, thinking the small slices of prosciutto (naturally ) poked into slits of the skin would be appropriate for the Year of the Pig.)

Edited February 19, 2007 by Pontormo (log)

[racheld]

I buy packs of dried soy bean in the Asian grocery stores.

Do you realize that those very beans could have come from our farm, hundreds of miles from me, thousands of miles from you? I spent many a year surrounded by those green waving fields, watching them grow from little "turtles" breaking the earth with their tiny dicots, to deepest-green rows as far as you could see. Then the waiting, the turning to gold, the drying and the testing; the combines lumbering their ponderous dinosaur tracks across, spouting the dry and the wisps and the dust into that hot, unforgiving sky, and rattling those golden beans like pebbles into the bins.

And there you hold them in your hand, a lightly-bought, easily-found item with so many uses---you convert them to milk with the flick of a switch, and I, who have lived so closely with the seeding and the harvesting, have never once tasted the stuff. But tofu ---now THAT is a miracle. Especially with one of your heavenly sauces.

OK---musings done.

Cook now.

[hzrt8w]

Good morning everybody!

This morning’s liquid breakfast:

Kern’s Guava Nectar. I love guava. I love most guava flavored drink. I like eating guava fruits. It may taste a bit bitter at the first bite but the taste is really good.

Today’s plan: well… today is the second day of the Chinese New Year. Typically married women would go back to their side of the family and spend time with their parents. Today is also “Hoi Neen” [Cantonese] – opening of the year… the meal that symbolizes we are officially opening up the year. “Must have chicken” is the rule.

So…

A whole chicken is already defrosted. Oh, I wish we have live chicken in our markets here. I would kill to get a live chicken. And I would kill a live chicken! You will be lucky to find chicken with the head on, and they charge a premium to leave the head on! I do with what I can find.

I plan to make “Salt-baked Chicken” as depicted in this pictorial recipe:

Secret Salt Baked Chicken (秘制鹽焗雞)

We will be meeting with my wife’s parents for a dim-sum lunch (can you guess where?). Later on I will come home, bake the chicken, make another “ho yee tau” (good luck charm) Chinese New Year dish, and go to her parents’ home for dinner. They seemed to like my Salted-Baked Chicken last time. That’s a blessing. Because there aren’t too many dishes I make that they like. So… I won’t push my luck.

[SuzySushi]

We will be meeting with my wife’s parents for a dim-sum lunch (can you guess where?).  Later on I will come home, bake the chicken, make another “ho yee tau” (good luck charm) Chinese New Year dish, and go to her parents’ home for dinner.  They seemed to like my Salted-Baked Chicken last time.  That’s a blessing.  Because there aren’t too many dishes I make that they like.  So… I won’t push my luck.

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It's hard to believe that anyone doesn't lik your cooking. What's wrong with them?

[hzrt8w]

Last night’s dinner…

Being that many Chinese don’t want to “kill” on the first day of Chinese New Year, we would be a vegetarian for… half a day. Last night’s dinner was some simple vegetable stir-fries, Chinese style of course.

We had a quarter of a winter melon. This melon was home-grown and was given to us by a friend of my mother-in-law. This is one benefit of living in California. You can grow many different vegetables in your own backyard. And many Chinese immigrants do. I have seen friends who had turned the backyard into a miniature farm land. Melons, beans, tomatoes, choy sums, etc..

The melon was peeled and diced into small cubes.

Minced some garlic and got some small dried shrimp.

First fried the dried shrimp on the pan with a couple of teaspoons of oil and let the fragrance develop.

Satueed the garlic and added some salt.

Added the diced winter melon, some water, and a bit of oyster sauce. Let it cooked until the melon turned soft.

To add some texture, I added a can of straw mushrooms at the last minute.

The second dish: I bought some nice and fresh pea shoots.

Minced some garlic again, and sliced one serrano pepper.

I usually like to blanch the pea shoots in water first. I don’t have a high-power wok burner (yet). I wanted to reduce the stir-frying time. I found this method is better.

Removed the pea shoots when they are slightly undercooked.

Heated the pan real hot, added some oil, sauteed the minced garlic and pepper slices together. Added some salt.

Returned the blanched pea shoots.

Stir-fried it for just one more minute. Done.

Stir-fried pea shoots.

Stir-fried winter melon and straw mushrooms with dried shrimp and oyster sauce.

My wife and I don’t eat rice regularly any more. She wants to avoid the starch. Instead, we eat tofu in place of rice. We picked this firm tofu. She said the firmer the better.

I cut the block of tofu into smaller cubes, and heated them up in the microwave for 4 minutes (too lazy to boil them).

Ate this instead of rice in every home meal. To counter the “blandness”, I like to add a wallop of hot sauce.