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.

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...

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!

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.

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.

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]

With LA's official Chinatown in downtown, and large Chinese populations in the San Gabriel Valley, Torrance, and the Rowland Heights area, there are options for Chinese food north, south, east, west, and central. Though Sunday, January 29, 2006 is the first day of the lunar new year, the celebration actually lasts for 15 days. What a great reason to have your fill of some dim sum all over LA!

Westside

• VIP Harbor Seafood, 11701 Wilshire Blvd (2nd floor), Los Angeles, CA
• (Both Royal Star Seafood and JR Seafood do not have dim sum)

South Bay

• Sea Empress, 1636 W Redondo Beach Blvd, Gardena, CA

Downtown

• ABC Seafood, 708 New High St, Los Angeles, CA
• Empress Pavilion, 988 N Hill St Ste 201, Los Angeles, CA
• Ocean Seafood, 747 N Broadway, Los Angeles, CA

San Gabriel Valley

• 888 Seafood Restaurant 8450 Valley Blvd Ste 121, Rosemead, CA
• Capital Seafood , 8823 Garvey Ave, Rosemead, CA, (626) 572-8918
• Empress Harbor 111 N Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA
• Mission 261 261 S Mission Dr, San Gabriel, CA
• NBC Seafood 404 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA
• New Concept, 700 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA, (626) 282-6800
• Ocean Star 145 N Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA
• Sea Harbor 3939 Rosemead Blvd., Rosemead, Ca
• Triumphal Palace, 500 W Main St, Alhambra, CA (626) 308-3222

Eastside

• Hong Kong Palace, 19101 Colima Road, Rowland Heights, CA (626) 854-9829
• Sam Woo, 18922 Gale Ave, Rowland Heights, CA, (626) 913-9933
• New Capital, 1330 Fullerton Rd, Rowland Heights, CA (626) 581-9813

As we already know, the Chinese New Year is steeped with tradition, and lucky for us at Slashfood, many of those traditions are associated with food. If you plan to celebrate this weekend (we wag in the Year of the Dog this Sunday, January 29, 2006), or want to learn a little bit more about the culture, here are what some of the traditional New Year foods symbolize, mostly health, wealth, and togetherness, based on some research I've done around the web:

• Dumplings - Good luck, fortune, and family togetherness
• Lettuce - Prosperity
• Noodles - When noodles are served, they are never cut because long noodles represent long-life.
• Oysters - Receptivity to good fortune
• Seaweed - Specifically, the black moss seaweed is the Chinese word for it also means "wealth"
• Whole fish - The Chinese word for fish "yu," is the same word for "success" or "abundance." Serving the fish whole is a symbol of togetherness of the family.
• Turnips  - "Cai tou," the word for turnip, also means "good omen."
• Meat balls - Symbolize reunion because the Chinese word "rou wan" is the same for both 
• Chicken - Like fish, chickens are served whole to symbolizing togetherness of the family.
• Lotus seed - Is a symbol (or wish) of having many male offspring
• Ginkgo nuts - Represent wealth
• Dried bean curd - Like many of the foods that are served because the Chinese word for it also means something else, dried bean curd (tofu) symbolizes wealth and happiness
• Bamboo shoots - The word for bamboo shoots also sounds like the phrase for "wishing that everything would be well"
• Garlic chives - Symbolize "everlasting"
• Prawns - Stand for liveliness and happiness
• Mixed vegetables - Represent family harmony
• Oranges - We've already mentioned how they stand for abundance and sweetness of the New Year. 

While some of us may have already broken our 2006 New Year's resolutions, we do have a chance to start over, as this weekend marks the beginning of the new lunar year. Year 4703 is the Year of the Dog, and New Year's Day is Sunday, January 29, 2006.

Everyone knows it's the Year of the Dog, but do we really know what that means? The Dog is a symbol of loyalty, warmth and caring, so hopefully, we can expect a year of harmony, relative to the clamor that was the Year of the Rooster last year. Chinese astrology goes even deeper, though.

We won't go into all the element and animal combinations, but if you want to know the detail, 4703 is actually the Year of the Fire Dog! Like a hot dog? Yes, but don't jut go to LA's Pink's or Chicago's Portillo's and have a chili cheese dog to celebrate the new year!

There are a lot of traditions associated with Chinese New Year, and so many of them have to do with food! Between now and Sunday, expect a few posts with restaurants, recipes, and other ideas to celebrate the new year...again!