"year of the pig" news and stories

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.

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!

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]

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