Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New year!

At this time,  China is embracing its first day of the year of Dog 2018, when most of Chinese are visiting friends or relatives, wishing them a happy New Year. Living overseas, we omit many traditional rites. But there is one most important rite we always keep- to cook a feast .

For this year’s New year eve feast, I cook ten dishes as usual: five meat dishes and five vegetarian dishes. My husband took one day off,  got up early morning, and hurried to four places to buy spices and side ingredients for me. Ten symbolizes perfectness in Chinese culture. Yes, it turned out to be another amazing feast, just for Chinese New Year!

As a Hubei native, steamed pork belly with rice flour scented with five spices (粉蒸肉，fen zheng rou) is an indispensable banquet dish. At the bottom of plate is chopped pumpkin. Rice flour and pumpkin can both absorb fat oil.  I use self-made fermented rice wine, instead of Shaoxing cooking wine, which puts a finishing touch for the pastured-raised pork belly.

Mouthwatering chicken is a classic cold  dish in Sichuan cuisine. It is spicy, numbing, fresh and aromatic.

The Chines bacon I made is so great. Of course, its best matching side ingredient is garlic leaves.

A fish dish is a national requisite dish in China. It mean surplus year after year.  Our culture is that the fish  can not be finished. I prefer cooking Cantonese style fish. It is so easy and delicious. Steam first and pour heated oyster sauce and soy sauce and finally some hot oil. It’s done.

Stewed beef shank with white radishes is a home-styled dish in China. We believe that white radishes can help us easily digest beef and absorb its nutrients.  The shank is from grass-fed beef.

This lotus dish is a typical cold dish or dessert in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Just as the name tells,  it’s glutinous , sweet and fresh.

 

In my memory, my mom always cooks tofu on the Chinese New Year Eve feast. I love tofu and always follow her tradition to make a tofu dish. The sauces are very simple: ginger, scallions, spring onions, spring onions and ground white pepper.

I have not cooked okra for a long time for my husband says it’s slimy. This time I blanched it first and poured garlic sauce stir fried in cooking oil.  It’s yummy.

I talked about paopao qing in multi-layer pork and vegetable pancake. 

It’s another healthy dish to balance the meat dishes.