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Children Celebrating Chinese New Year, Beijing, China
Keren Su
Buy This at Allposters.com
La Belle Cuisine
Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in
the Chinese calendar. The
Chinese year 4710 begins Jan. 23, 2012.
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."
Starters:
Hot and Spicy Cucumbers (recipe below)
Scallop Dumplings with Garlic Chives
(recipe below)
Entrées:
Soy Sauce Chicken
Steamed Whole Fish with
Scallions and Ginger
Side Dishes:
Stir-Fried Chinese Greens
Vegetable Fried Rice
Longevity Noodles
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.
Food & Wine - One Year Subscription
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.
Food & Wine - One Year Subscription
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)
*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
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Pancakes with Soy-Ginger Dipping Sauce
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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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