Philadelphia restaurateur Margaret Kuo prepares for the Chinese New Year and offers some recipes for readers to make at home. - Topping dishes with a poached or fried egg is becoming the hottest restaurant trend out there. Happily, it is an easy trick for home cooks to replicate.
- A review of Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book says that while the images aren't appealing, the recipes are homey and tasty.
- In Table Talk, the new Center City gastropub Slate opens tomorrow and Meme finally got its liquor license.
- Every Saturday morning, the Men's Pea Soup Committee at the American Swedish Historical Museum makes 16 gallons of Swedish pea soup.
- Food meets comedy in the new one-man show, Cooking Con Karimi.
Posts with tag Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year and Egg Toppings - The Philly Inquirer in 60 Seconds
BBC Guide to Chinese New Year
Want to celebrate the Year of the Ox in proper fashion? The BBC has a simple guide to the Chinese New Year, which begins today. Traditional foods - which vary greatly depending on the region - include Northern Chinese dumplings resembling gold ingots, said to bring wealth for the coming year; big family meals called "poo choi," in which everyone eats out of the same giant bowl to promote togetherness; Southern Chinese turnip cakes given as a sign of respect and honor; and glutinous rice cakes whose sticky nature is said to help families stick together in the new year.
Plus, there's a link to a bunch of the BBC Food's Chinese recipes - think red-cooked pork belly, ginger fish, stir-fried salt and pepper prawns.
Celebrate Chinese New Year With Chinese Beer
For many Americans, the idea of Chinese beer may seem as far-out as Chinese democracy (the movement or the Guns N' Roses album). Some countries -- Ireland and Germany, for example -- we heavily associate with beer drinking, and others, like China, we do not. Even at Asian restaurants, less discriminating drinkers can be hard-pressed to determine the country of origin of different Eastern beers on the menu. Maybe I was just a "dumb American," but when I was younger, I didn't put much thought into the difference between my Sapporos and my Tsingtaos.Well, for the record, Tsingtao is by far the most prevalent Chinese beer in the U.S., (Sapporo, of course, is from Japan) and the marketing minds down at the Tsingtao Brewery believe they've found the perfect event to help hammer that point home: Chinese New Year, which begins today.
To celebrate the "Year of the Ox," Tsingtao enlisted the help of certified Chinese Master Chef Martin Yan to create four Chinese dishes that utilize either Tsingtao Lager or Tsingtao Pure Draft as an ingredient. Personally, though, I'm more about drinking beer than cooking with it, so I was happy to see Chef Yan also took a crack at two beer cocktails.
You can see all of the recipes (as well as some additional Chinese New Year celebration tips) on Tsingtao's website here or find the mixing instructions for Chef Yan's Ginger Beer Fizz beer mixed drink after the jump...
Continue reading Celebrate Chinese New Year With Chinese Beer
Pineapple Tarts for Chinese New Year
In the Chinese communities of Singapore and Western Malaysia, the pineapple tart is the ultimate Chinese New Year dessert. The word "pineapple" in the Hokkien dialect resembles the word for prosperity, so eating the pineapple tarts is said to help bring luck and money in the coming year. For extra value, some tarts are even shaped to resemble tiny gold bars. The Malaysian port city of Malacca is considered the heart of the pineapple tart industry - in the city's colorful Chinatown dozens of bakeries are busy pumping out hot, fragrant trays of tarts every few minutes, to be placed in decorative cannisters with red lids and given as gifts. As we head closer to the Year of the Ox - New Year starts January 26 - the tarts grow increasingly expensive!
Bite into a proper pinepple tart and the ultra-flaky dough crumbles into buttery powder in your mouth. The chunk of pinepple jam inside is chewy and firm, flavored with spices - cinnamon, star anise and cloves - that reflect the influence of the spice trade on Malaysian Chinese cuisine.
If you don't happen to live near a Malaysian- or Singaporean-Chinese bakery, A Consuming Passion has a good-looking recipe for pineapple tart. These would be a great choice for a Chinese New Year party.
Throw A Super Bowl Party: Every Day with Rachael Ray in 60 seconds
Lots of ideas for your Super Bowl party, including Mini Hot Dogs, Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn, and Linebacker Limeade. Readers sent in recipes too, for everything from pepperoni bread to buffalo chicken cheesesteaks. - Here's a recipe for something called a Power Pooch Smoothie, which is a dessert for dogs, but it sounds OK for us humans too.
- Win a date with one of these most eligible singles.
- Chinese New Year starts February 7.
- Send your significant other a food-related e-card.
- More recipes: Mashed-Potato-Stuffed Chicken and Sopa de mariscos.
- Also in this issue: ideas for two more parties you might throw, for Oscar night and Mardi Gras; caramel cheesecake; ideas for winter getaways, and what's in Al Roker's fridge.
Year of the Pig: LA Times Food section in 60 seconds
The LA Times heads into the Year of the Pig with a full section dedicated to pork, Chinese cooking, and restaurants.Russ Parsons sings the praises of pork, with recipes for Cider-brined pork chops with wild rice, Ragù with pork ribs, sausage and pancetta, and Five-spice roast pork belly. Also included: an information box with resources for top pork in Los Angeles.
Perfect for Chinese cooking, it's high season on the farmers' markets for baby bok choy and yu choy. Vickie Fan, of restaurant Beacon in Culver City, shares recipes that make good use: Scrambled eggs with garlic chives , Stir-fried baby bok choy, and Ru yi cai ('As you wish' vegetables).
If you're not cooking at home, then you can do contemporary dim sum from Mission 261 in San Gabriel Valley or any number of Chinese restaurants that have quite a history there, or pick up Asian sweets and pastries from Phoenix.
What has overstayed its welcome in your kitchen?
The celebration of the Chinese New Year actually starts a few weeks before the actual New Year Day, and one of the traditions is preparation for the new year by cleaning the house. Chinese people believe that the house should receive a thorough cleaning in order to "sweep" away any bad luck that has accumulated in the house over the past year.Now I'm not one for sweeping in my house, since I have carpeting, but I do like the idea of "cleaning house," or at the very least, my kitchen. Last year, I made it a point to look through the drawers, and force myself to part with gadgets that I know I will never use: a garlic peeler, a melon baller, etc. This year, I decided to look through my pantry and do an exorcism. Admittedly, it needed it. There were cans of vegetables that expired sometime last year, a small bag of all-purpose flour that was also expired (I didn't do much baking last year), and spices that were definitely long past their prime. Yes, it hurt me to toss them into the trash, but it gives me an excuse to buy anew!
What do you have in your kitchen that's past its prime and needs to be thrown out? Don't be shy...
Asian Greens Guide, Part 1
I'm getting back in touch with my Asian side, all. It started with a little dig into my roots with bulgogi, and now, motivated by the Chinese New Year this weekend, I am going full force with a little lesson in Asian greens. There are so many greens and vegetables that originate in Asia that we could cover, but we're just picking and choosing ones that we see pop up in recipes more often than others.
Bamboo Shoots - These are so common, it seems odd to include them, as if they were "exotic" in some way. Bamboo shoots are the part of the bamboo grass that we eat, which are harvested before the bamboo gets too tall and tough to eat. Most commonly, bamboo shoots are canned, though it is available as fresh bamboo. If you buy fresh bamboo, it has to be cooked, as fresh bamboo is hard to digest. Bamboo shoots are often used as an ingredient in stir-fry dishes, like Beef and Bamboo Shoot Stirfry.
How to make jiaozi, in pictures
There are many foods that are traditionally served during the Chinese New Year, all of which have some symbolic meaning, sometimes because of the ingredients, sometimes because of their physical characteristics, and sometimes because of the way they affect health. One of the most common things that we'll see this weekend during the celebration is the dumpling.Dumplings are served because they represent good luck, fortune, and family togetherness. Often, families get together to make dumplings, which makes it a family affair. If you have it in you to make dumplings from scratch rather than stopping at the local Chinese restaurant to pick up a take-out order, food blog Plate of the Day has a recipe for jiaozi, made with pork (perfect for the year of the pig!) and leek. The most helpful part of the post is, of course, the pictures, which show how to fold and close the dumplings.
Oink! Chinese New Year this weekend
It's February, and let's face it, by now, almost all of us have already broken our New Year's resolutions. However, we do have a chance to start over, since this coming Sunday, February 18, 2007 is the beginning of the new lunar year. Year 4704 is the Year of the Pig.
Everyone knows it's the Year of the Pig, but did you also know that it's the year of the golden pig? The Pig (sometimes referred to as "boar") is a symbol of sincerity, honesty, and patience -- an all around "nice" person. We won't go into all the deep details behind Chinese astrology, but we will say that because the year of the Golden Pig only comes every 600 years, it's pretty special -- we're talking about the difference between plain old pork and Nueske bacon! People are expecting prosperity in Year 4704, and anyone born this year is sure to be wealthy in the future.
There are a lot of traditions associated with Chinese New Year, and so many of them have to do with food! Between now and the first day of the new year, expect a few posts, aside from the ones we've already started, to celebrate the new year. Gung Hay Fat Choy!
Chinese New Year: Let's play Chopsticks
If you're planning a fantastic Chinese feast this weekend for Chinese New Year, don't fret one bit if you're a little (or a lot) rusty with chopsticks. You could, of course, go the way of stabbing your dumplings and winding your noodles of long life with a fork, but we have a better idea. How about some chopsticks are a little easier to use?Now, if you're a already a professional, then you might just need your own personal set of portable chopsticks. These aluminum chopsticks slide out of a fabric pouch and snap together. Not only are they pretty, but this keeps away the problem of disposable chopsticks creating waste! ThinkGeek also has a pair that screw together.
For an even more "green" Far East feast, the Bird's Eye Maple chopsticks are perfect, which are also fastened together with their very own chopstick rest. They are available from Porterhouse Crafts for $23 for two pairs.
Friday Happy Hour: Lychee Martini for Lunar New Year
If you thought the chaos was over because Valentine's Day has passed, think again. The Lunar New Year is this weekend (Sunday, February 18), and it's a whole new cycle of fun.Because lychees are traditionally associated with Asian cultures, a lychee martini is the perfect way to start off this weekend. There are several ways to make this subtly flavored cocktail -- whether using a lychee flavored liqueur or regular vodka mixed with lychee syrup -- but my favorite recipe really puts the lychee flavor out there by combining both!
In a cocktail shaker, combine 3 oz. lychee infused vodka or lychee liqueur (like Lichido) with 1 oz. lychee syrup (you can make your own using this recipe, though there are sources online for purchase) and ice. Pur into a martini glass and garnish with a fresh lychee.
China releases sweet and sour pork stamps
Just in case you're wondering the stamp shown here has nothing to with the edible squid postcards I wrote about the other day. It's not edible, but when you scratch the front it releases the tantalizing aroma of sweet and sour pork. Wait it gets better. When you lick the back, the stamp also tastes like the dish. I can safely say that this is the first time that thinking about a stamp has made my mouth water. Although ice-cream-flavored stamps are a close second.
China released the stamp last week to celebrate the Year of the Pig, which starts February 18. It's sure to thrill foodies, philatelists and lovers of all things cute. For some reason I feel like sending letters and eating bacon to ring in the Lunar New Year.
[via Boing Boing]
Celebrating Chinese New Year San Francisco-style
Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy Year of the Dog!
San Francisco's Chinatown is world reknown, and for the next two weeks, it will be packed with people celebrating the
annual Spring Festival. SanFranciscoChinatown.com has plenty
of information on Chinese New Year events over the coming weeks. The San Francisco Chinese New Year celebration
"originated in the 1860's during the Gold Rush days, and is now the largest Asian event in North America.
The celebration includes two major fairs, the Chinese New Year Flower Fair and Chinatown Community Street
Fair." All the festivities culminate with Chinese New Year Parade, held on February 11 from 5:30pm
until 8:30pm. "Named one of the world's top ten parades, Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco
is the largest celebration of its kind outside of Asia."I kicked off my Chinese New Year celebrating a little early by planning a banquet with friends last week. We chose one of my favorite restaurants, San Tung on Irving Street, for our dinner. We ate steamed shrimp and leek dumplings, veggie dumplings, ja jang mein, fiery chicken wings, salt and pepper calmari, cherry pork, tofu and veggies, and dry-fried green beans. The food was delicious, and twelve of us paid $15 each, including drinks. That is one of the benefits of Chinese banquets, the more people you have, the cheaper it is.
If you will be in Chinatown for the festival, I highly recommend R&G Lounge for some of the tastiest Cantonese Chinese food in San Francisco. The salt and pepper crab, drunken clam soup, and fried pork hash with salted fish are out of this world. Wherever you happen to be, why not seek out a Chinese meal this week and enjoy?
Food Porn: Steamed Buns
Sarah J. Gim already mentioned that one of the food traditions for Chinese New Year is to have dumplings, which are meant to bring good fortune in the next year. She didn't mention that they also make a delicious snack or a quick lunch and, with some rice and vegetables, can make an exceptionally tasty dinner. Soft, fluffy "bao" are steamed buns that are typically served as dim sum or yum cha in Chinese restaurants and they'll be on my Chinese New Year menu. You can make them yourself, using any filling you wish, or pick up a few at your local asian market. Good luck and a good lunch? How can you go wrong!
[Photo by Nicole Weston]
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