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Chinese New Year's Annual Parade, Singapore
Photographic Print
Evrard, Alain
Buy at AllPosters.com
 

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the
 Chinese calendar. The Chinese year 4706 begins on Feb. 7, 2008.

Chinese New Year Feast from Food & Wine

"Welcome the New Year with a Chinese feast. You'll find wonton wrappers for
the dumplings in the refrigerated produce section and freezer sections of super- markets and Asian groceries. Noodles are a symbol of longevity (don't cut them!) and a whole fish represents prosperity.
The flavorful poaching broth for the chicken breasts (with soy, ginger, star anise
and cinnamon) can be refrigerated and reused several times. Serve juicy citrus
fruit, such as tangerines, for dessert."

Hot and Spicy Cucumbers
Recipe by Naomi Duguid and Jeffrey Alford,
from  'A Peak Experience in China'
This recipe originally appeared in Food & Wine May, 1998.

4 side-dish servings

1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 heaping teaspoon minced fresh ginger
About 1 teaspoon Hot Chile Paste (recipe follows)
2 European cucumbers - peeled, halved, seeded and
sliced crosswise 1 inch thick

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, salt and sugar. Six minutes before serving, set a wok over high heat. When it's very hot, add the oil and swirl
to coat. Add the garlic, ginger and Hot Chile Paste and stir-fry for 15 seconds. Add the cucumbers and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Pour the soy sauce mixture into the wok and stir-fry until the cucumbers are softened but still slightly crisp in the center, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and serve hot
or at room temperature.

NOTES: The Hot Chile Paste here is terrific in stir-fries, curries and pickles. To simplify the recipe, buy pre-made Chinese chile paste at Asian grocery stores and many supermarkets. You can substitute Kirby cucumbers for the European cucumbers.

  Hot Chile Paste

 1 cup loosely packed dried red
chiles (1 ounce), rinsed
 3/4 cup boiling water
 1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1/4 cup minced shallots
1 teaspoon cider vinegar or rice vinegar

1. In a heatproof bowl, cover the chiles with the boiling water. Place a small plate on the chiles to keep them submerged and soak until pliable, at least
20 minutes or up to 2 hours.
2.Transfer the chiles and their soaking liquid to a blender and puree. Blend
in the salt and sugar.
3. Set a wok over moderately high heat. When it's very hot, add the oil
and swirl to coat the wok. Add the shallots and stir-fry until softened,
about 2 minutes. Add the chile puree and stir-fry for about 20 seconds,
then remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar. Transfer the chile
paste to a bowl to cool, then store in a glass jar.
Make Ahead The chile paste can be refrigerated for up to 3 months.

Scallop Dumplings with Garlic Chives
Recipe by Rosa Ross

From 'All-Purpose Wrappers'

This recipe originally appeared in Food & Wine May, 1996.

Makes 36 dumplings

 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 pound garlic chives, trimmed and cut into
1-inch pieces, or 6 ounces ordinary chives

  1 scallion, cut into several pieces

  1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

  1/2 pound sea scallops

  1 tablespoon plum wine* or sherry

  2 teaspoons soy sauce

  2 teaspoons cornstarch

  1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

  36 thin wonton skins

  Soy-Vinegar Sauce, Orange Sweet-and-Sour Sauce,
Spicy Fish Sauce or Spiced Salt (see below)

  (for sauce and salt recipes, see Traditional Wontons)

  *Available at Asian markets

 Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a skillet. Add the garlic chives
and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring often, until wilted. Transfer
to a bowl to cool.

  In a food processor, combine the scallion and ginger and pulse until the

  scallion is finely chopped. Add the scallops, plum wine, soy sauce,

  cornstarch, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Pulse until the scallops are finely

  chopped. Add the garlic chives and pulse just until evenly incorporated
but not smooth.

  If using square wonton skins, spread them out on a work surface and cut them with a 3 1/2 -inch-round biscuit cutter. Keep all but 12 skins covered with a towel while you proceed. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of the filling
into the center of each wonton skin. Draw the edges up and pleat evenly. Pinch the pleated edge to form a little bun. Repeat with the remaining
wonton skins and filling.

  Pour the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil onto a small plate and dip the

  bottom of each dumpling in the oil. Arrange the dumplings without touching in a bamboo steamer basket. Cover and steam over boiling water for 10 minutes. Serve warm with the dipping sauces.

Make Ahead The cooked dumplings can be refrigerated for 1 day ahead or frozen for up to 2 weeks. Reheat in a steamer or a microwave oven.

 Soy-Vinegar Sauce

Makes 1/4 cup

3 tablespoons soy sauce

  1 tablespoon rice vinegar

  In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce and vinegar.

Orange Sweet-and-Sour Sauce

Makes 1 cup

  1 whole small dried red chile

  2/3 cup fresh orange juice

  1/4 cup cider vinegar

  2 tablespoons orange marmalade

  1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

  1/4 teaspoon salt

  In a small nonreactive saucepan, simmer all the ingredients over low
heat for 5 minutes. Let cool.

Spicy Fish Sauce

Makes about 1/4 cup

  2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

  1 tablespoon fish sauce*

  1 teaspoon chili paste

  1/2 teaspoon sugar

  1/2 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

  *Available at Asian markets

  Combine all the ingredients and stir to dissolve the sugar thoroughly.
Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Spiced Salt

  Use this flavored salt as a dip for any fried food
or as a dry rub in cooking.

  Makes about 1/4 cup

  1 teaspoon cumin seeds

  1 teaspoon fennel seeds

  1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns

  1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

  2 tablespoons coarse salt

  In a small dry skillet, toast the cumin seeds, fennel seeds and Szechuan

  peppercorns over moderately low heat, stirring often, until aromatic, about
3 minutes. Let cool. Grind in a spice grinder or in a mortar and transfer to
a bowl. Add the ground pepper and salt and mix well.

Chinese New Year Feast, page 2
Chinese New Year Feast, page 3

Suggestions from our Archives:
Braised Chinese Mushrooms for a Crowd
Cantonese Spareribs
Chinese-Style Shrimp, Celery and Ginger
Pancakes with Soy-Ginger Dipping Sauce
Oysters, Barbecued, with Pickled Ginger
Mignonette Sauce
Pork Dumplings with Soy-Ginger Sauce (Susanna Foo)
Shrimp Dumplings (Dim Sum)
Warm Shellfish and Asian Vegetables
with Spicy Ginger-Lime Dressing


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