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.

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...

In China, they have an extra season.

Spring, Summer, Late Summer, Fall, and Winter make up the five seasons of the Chinese calendar; corresponding with the five Chinese elements and a number of their healing philosophies.

According to my knowledgeable friend Lora:
"Each season is connected to a set of organs in the body. Corresponding foods that are fresh in each season are meant to cleanse, detoxify, and heal those organs. When we eat the same diet year-round without paying attention to seasonal foods, we ignore our bodies' needs to support and properly heal organs, which leads to lots of health issues (obesity, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, etc.)."

So. Here's what you should eat right now:

The Minimalist gives us 101 20-minute picnic ideas. Cold peanut noodles! Savory lentil salad! Cheese balls with fresh herbs! Thanks, Minimalist!

Jamaican jerk: an underrated form of barbecue. I agree.

Cold red wine? Eric Asimov says it's OK. So it must be OK.

Newsflash: rooftop dining is nice. But sometimes your napkins blow off the roof. Uh oh!

A book review of 'Beyond the Great Wall,' about Chinese dishes little known in the U.S.

Poor Jeff Varasano, lately of Atlanta, tries to answer the eternal question of why New York pizza is never good outside of New York. Godspeed, dude.

Fruit crisps: why are they never crisp? With recipe.

How cute is this: an online Chinese take-out party. Hong Kong-based blogger Mocochocolata Rita invited all her food blogging friends to contribute recipes and pictures for Chinese dishes, which she posted together, menu-style. What a feast!

There are several Hong Kong 'set meals' - a main with noodles and soup; a multi-course dinner for friends - potstickers, beef braised in chou hou sauce, pina colada milk pudding; sides of kimchee gyoza and baked tofu; several different takes on kung pao chicken; desserts of sweet peanut soup and homemade fortune cookies.

The recipes all look delicious - I'm particularly keen to try the pineapple sesame chicken recipe. It's also a great introduction to a lot of neat food blogs - Rita must have a lot of friends.

I stumbled across this recipe on Epicurious for these decadent Chocolate Kumquat Egg Rolls, and the idea of the sweetness and creaminess of the chocolate/kumquat mixture layered against the delicate, flaky exterior made my mouth water.

This is food porn at its finest; the ultimate aphrodisiac. It is sticky and messy and unapologetically delicious. This is what you feed to your lover in bed, not caring that the chocolate oozes out and drips onto their chin and the crumbs fall into the sheets.

Though this combination sounds scrumptious, you could easily replace the kumquats with with pecans, coconut, rum-glazed bananas or any other deliciously evil combination. Or, just eschew the chocolate altogether and instead use Nutella or honey or...(fill in your ultimate sweet indulgence here).

...I'm off to take a cold shower.

Perhaps tainted by years of average takeout, Chinese food can start to seem boring from time to time. This is a shame because Chinese food is some of the most interesting on earth. That being said, it doesn't mean you're going to be able to find it in your town. Instead, a book like Susanna Foo Fresh Inspiration: New Approaches to Chinese Cuisine can offer some new takes on some favorite flavors to spice up your dinner options. Author Susanna Foo, a James Beard award winning chef, is known for her fusion cuisine and that is exactly the approach that she takes with this book, using Asian ingredients in western dishes and bringing western techniques to some Asian classics. The resulting dishes are, while not traditional for any established cuisine, fresh and fun. There is an emphasis on the use of seasonal ingredients and of bold but complex flavors, but the dishes are actually fairly simple and most of the ingredients should be easy to find if you have a well-stocked market in your area. Recipes include Beef Carpaccio with Vietnamese Vinaigrette, Chinese Steamed Artichoke Hearts, Mandarin Potato Salad with Cellophane Noodles, Orzo with Cilantro Pesto and Peanuts and Lychee and Lemon Thyme Sorbet .

I always have rice leftover after getting Chinese takeout, no matter how little food I ordered or how many people are there to share it. It's almost as though the people on the phone have a sixth sense about how much rice will be consumed. Of course, I'm not really complaining because I really like rice and it's better to have a little extra than not enough. And rice pudding can always be made with the leftovers.

According to a report in the British Medical Journal, the number of people in China who are now officially classified as overweight and/or obese has risen and continues to rise at what they say is "an alarming rate," which is especially shocking since China was once seen as a "lean" country. For a population that accounts for one-fifth of the entire world's population, 14.7% were overweight, 2.6% were obese, and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children has increased as well.

The reasons for the increased obesity are the same in China as they are here in the US: changes to traditional diet, reduced levels of physical activity, and a more sedentary lifestyle.

In the Philippines, there is a restaurant that allows you to vent your frustrations by throwing plates and televisions at a stress relief wall. In Nanjing, China, there is a bar than lets you vent your frustrations by throwing punches at the staff. The Rising Sun Anger Release bar is a concept that the owner, Wu Gong, said was inspired by his experiences as a migrant worker. There was no place for him to vent any anger or frustrations, but his clients won't face the same problems.

The bar employs 20 specially trained men who are outfitted with protective gear. Customers can ask them to dress up as the person they'd like to attack, whether it's a teacher, ex-boyfriend or an employer. Gong says that most of his customers are women who work in the service industry and nearby bars.

If the idea of hitting a stranger or throwing a glass doesn't sound constructive, Wong also offers the services of psychology students from local universities to customers who just want to talk.

The San Jose Mercury News recently featured an article about Belfast Sparkling Cider, apparently a longtime favorite among Chinese communities in California. With roots dating back to Irish immigrants and California's gold rush, the cider has now become a niche favorite, found at many Chinese restaurants in San Francisco. The Mercury piece goes over several theories of how the soda rose to such prominence among Chinese Bay Area residents, speculating on taste, price and location. There is apparently little marketing needed for the stuff, since it's had a loyal following for decades.

In the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, a group of approximately 40 demonstrators gathered to protest the sale of cat meat at the Fangji Cat Meatball restaurant. Protestors initially demanded that any live cats on the premises be freed or turned over to them, but the shop owner had already removed them from the premises. Instead, a search of the kitchen revealed cat meat and a whole, skinned cat in the fridge, which reduced some of the protestors to tears. The restaurant was chosen as the site of the protest because workers at the restaurant had been seen killing cats in the street, something which concerned parents said was traumatic for children attending school nearby.

The owner of the shop defended the sale and consumption of cats - which are, along with dogs, considered to be traditional, comforting fare in the province - but said that he would close his shop.

Perhaps due to outside influences and the increasing popularity of having dogs and cats as pets, the animal rights movement is gaining momentum in China. An increasing perception of these animals as companions and not food could eventually put a stop to the practice all together.

A local beauty queen, who participated in the protest, even urged people to "stop eating cats and dogs and become civilised."

I have no idea why I'm reading Men's Health. Regardless, the magazine has an article that encourages men to cook these seven dishes from around the world at home, to keep them lighter than the restaurant versions that are always loaded with too much pasta, rice and potatoes. Men's Health says that the "secret isn't tiny, Frenchman-like portions; it's a redistribution of nutrients." Hey, if it makes you look like Mr. Cooking Guy in the photo, I'm all for it! 

The recipes are for:

1. Curried Shrimp Kebabs with Basmati Rice (Indian)
2. Sausage and Pepper Pasta (Italian)
3. Steak and Bean Burrito (Mexican)
4. Pork Fried Rice (Chinese)
5. Teriyaki Salmon Bowl with Broccoli (Japanese)
6. Cajun Chicken Fingers with Sweet Potato Fries
7. Broiled Lamb Chop over Cucumber Tomato Salad (Greek)

The recipes are for one portion though. I'd double it, and make dinner for yourself and your date!

A few weeks ago, I posted about a restaurant in England that had imposed a fine (donating all profits to charity) on people who took too much food at a buffet because the owners were sick about the amount of wasted. Several commenters thought that this was a great idea or knew of shops that did a similar thing in their neighborhoods. Perhaps more buffets will take similar action now that a Des Moines family was kicked out of an all-you-can-eat restaurant for wasting too much food.

The restaurant staff had been observing the family over the course of several visits to the restaurant. A Dragon House employee said "they just take one bite and throw it away. They take four egg rolls and crab rangoon, take one bite of egg roll and throw the whole plate. That is wasting food." The management reported that the family repeatedly took food, threw it out and then took more of the same food.

Over the weekend, I begged for some advice about dim sum in the Bay Area, with only Yank Sing and Ton Kiang as names that I had from Michael Bauer's List of the Top 100 Bay Area restaurants. Thank you to all for your suggestions! However, I ended up at Yank Sing anyway because our host couldn't stop singing its praises. He warned me that there would be some of the traditional dim sum like shiu mai and chicken's feet, but there would also be what he called "gringo dim sum." I was worried, but the new-fangled "gringo dim sum" was just as good as the OG. The photo tour is after the jump...