HOLIDAYS
HOLIDAYS
Also known as the Lunar New Year, Chinese around the world celebrate the new moon. Like any new year celebration, it's a time to surround yourself with good friends, food, family, and drinks!
A Chinese New Year, however, focuses on preparing for a year full of good fortune and prosperity. So put away your silver and gold decorations and bring on the red, it's time to celebrate another type of new year!
Prepare for all your Lunar New Years with this handy calendar so you can celebrate every year!
(photo thanks to avlxyz!)
- 1 Lbs Cod (or any firm-fleshed fish)
- 1/2 Green Onion, sliced
- About 5-6 Slices fresh ginger root, chopped into matchstick-like strips
- 2 Cloves Garlic chopped
- About 1 Tablespoon of Oyster Sauce or Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
- About 1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- About 1/2 Tablespoon chinese cooking wine
- Some Salt and Pepper
- Put the Oyster Sauce, Olive Oil, and cooking wine onto the fish in a ceramic dish. Then, sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides of the fish. Rub into the fish. Scatter the garlic, ginger, and green onion over it.
- Place ceramic dish on a bamboo steamer set over a few inches of boiling water and cover. Steam for about 10-15 minutes.
- 3 Whole Chinese dried red dates
- 5 Slabs brown candy (peen tong), about 11 ounces
- 3 Teaspoon Vegetable Oil
- 7 Cup Glutinous rice flour
- 1 Tablespoon White Sesame Seeds
- 1 Whole Large Egg
- some vegetable oil for pan-frying
- In a small bowl, soak the red dates in 1/4 cup cold water for 30 minutes, or until softened. When softened, remove and discard the pits.
- Cut each brown candy slab into 8 pieces. Place sugar in a heatproof bowl, pour 2 cups boiling water over the sugar, and set aside until dissolved and completely cooled.
- Grease a heatproof 8-inch round, 3- to 4-inch-deep, straight-sided bowl, such as soufflé dish, with 2 teaspoons vegetable oil.
- In a large bowl, place rice flour. Make a well and stir in cold sugar water. Knead dough in the bowl, adding an additional 1/3 cup cold water until dough is smooth, slightly moist, and shiny, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Place the dough in the prepared dish and pat until it fills the dish evenly.
- Cut the red dates into halves and place cut-side down in a ring around the outside of the dough, leaving a few to decorate the center.
- Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds. Coat with the remaining 1 teaspoon oil, using your fingers and lightly pressing down on the dates and sesame seeds.
- Bring water to a boil over high heat in a covered steamer large enough to fit the dish without touching the sides of the steamer. Carefully place the dish into the steamer, cover, and steam 35 to 40 minutes on high heat. Check the water level and replenish, if necessary, with boiling water. The cake is done when it begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Carefully remove the dish from the steamer and pour off any excess liquid on the surface. Place on a rack to cool. Loosely cover and set at room temperature in a cool room until the next day, when it will be ready to eat.
- Run a knife along the edge of the cake to loosen sides. Place a cake rack over the bowl and invert to unmold. Flip the cake right-side up onto the cutting board. Wrap the cake in plastic and refrigerate until ready to use.
- When ready to eat, cut the cake into quarters. Cut each quarter crosswise, not into wedges, but into two 2-inch-wide strips. Cut each strip crosswise into scant 1/4-inch-thick slices. This is the typical way of slicing a cake Chinese style. Beat an egg in a small bowl, until frothy. Dip the slices in egg.
- Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or skillet, over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add just enough vegetable oil to barely coat the wok, add the egg-dipped slices in batches and cook 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden brown. Serve immediately.
Courtesy of Epicurious, with some personal edits.yield:
Makes 4 main-course servings (makes 32)
active time: 1 1/4 hr
total time: 1 1/4 hr
Since these take a while to make, you can definitely make these a day ahead of time and then freeze them. Also, reading from the reviews of this dish, many people thought it tasted better with more garlic and less ginger.
- 1 3/4 Cup All-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
- 1 (2-inch) pieces peeled fresh ginger
- 1/2 Cup Light Soy Sauce
- 1 bunch Scallions, thinly sliced
- 3/4 Lbs Ground Pork (from shoulder, not lean)
- 4 Pennies, 4 Red Dates (not everyone can get lucky, can they?)
- Special Equipment: a 3 1/4-inch round cookie cutter
- Stir together flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water in a bowl until a dough forms. Knead on a lightly floured surface until just smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature at least 10 minutes.
- While dough stands, halve ginger, then finely chop 1 half and cut remaining half into very thin matchsticks (less than 1/8 inch thick).
- Combine 5 tablespoons soy sauce with ginger matchsticks in a small bowl.
- Reserve 2 tablespoons scallions for garnish, then finely chop remainder and put in a bowl along with pork, finely chopped ginger, and remaining 3 tablespoons soy sauce. Gently knead with your hands in bowl until just combined. Chill, covered, 10 minutes.
- While pork mixture chills, line a large baking sheet with paper towels and dust lightly with flour, then lightly dust a work surface with flour. Halve dough and rewrap 1 half. Pat remaining half into a flat square. Roll out dough into a 13-inch square (less than 1/8 inch thick) with a lightly floured rolling pin, dusting work surface with additional flour as needed, then cut out 12 rounds (very close together) using cookie cutter. (If dough is sticking to cutter, lightly dip cutter in flour and shake off excess before cutting out each round.) Reserve scraps.
- Transfer rounds to lined baking sheet and cover loosely with another layer of paper towels lightly dusted (on top) with flour. Roll out remaining half of dough and cut out 12 more rounds in same manner, then transfer rounds to lined baking sheet. Combine scraps of dough and wrap in plastic wrap, then let stand at least 10 minutes.
- While scraps are standing, begin forming dumplings. Line another large baking sheet with paper towels and dust lightly with flour. Put 1 dough round on fingers of 1 hand near palm and put 2 slightly rounded teaspoons pork mixture in center of round. Fold round in half, enclosing filling, and pinch edges together to seal. Put a single coin or date in select dumplings you make. Put dumpling on lined baking sheet and form 23 more dumplings in same manner (you may have some filling left over). Cover dumplings loosely with more paper towels. Roll out scraps into a 10-inch square (less than 1/8 inch thick) and cut out 8 more rounds. Form 8 more dumplings for a total of 32. Discard remaining scraps.
- Gently drop all dumplings into a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling water, gently stirring once to prevent sticking, and cook 6 minutes. (Dumplings will float to top while cooking.) Transfer dumplings with a slotted spoon to a serving dish and sprinkle with reserved scallions. Serve with ginger dipping sauce.
- 1.5 Oz Vodka
- 1.5 Oz Lichido Liqueur
- 1 Oz Cranberry Juice
- Pour the vodka, Lichido and cranberry juice into a cocktail shaker with ice.
- Shake well.
- Strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass filled with ice.
- 1.5 Oz Vodka
- 1.5 Oz Lichido Liqueur
- dash of Lime Juice
- 1 Pitted Lychee
- Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice.
- Shake well.
- Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
- Drop a lychee in the glass for a garnish.
Chinese children eagerly await the opening of Red Envelopes or red pockets, which are literally elaborate red envelopes that hold money.
They're given from adults to children to scare away the bad spirits and wish the children prosperity in their future.
The best part about red envelopes is that they can contain a lot of money.
You can often go to a Chinese bank or go to a Chinese convenience store to buy some red envelopes.
Fill them with either chocolate coins or money and give them to the younger generation in your family, or pass them out to good friends.
Picture courtesy of ZakVTA.
Food
- Steamed Fish - Extremely traditional. Make it with a soy sauce mixture with scallions. It goes great with white rice. Usually Chinese eat a big yellow tail fish, but you can't finish the fish because then there will be no more surplus left (since fish means surplus).
- Fortune Cookies - Not really found in China, but get them for fun anyway.
- Nian gao - This is sticky rice cake that is eaten every new year. It's actually a really difficult recipe, but you can always buy it at the Chinese bakery, too. For kids, eating it symbolizes growth in height; for adults, eating it symbolizes a promotion in the coming year.
- Dumplings - Fried or water dumplings are both great choices for the night. What's fun about dumplings on Chinese New Year is that for a few dumplings, you can add either one red date (symbolizing fertility and new births) or one coin (symbolizing prosperity). Whoever eats a dumpling that has either of those things, well, that's just good luck!
Drinks
Tea is a great choice for your Chinese New Year party. You can serve your guests hot jasmine, chrysanthemum, or green tea. For cool drinks, try going to a Chinese supermarket and finding a classic sweet Chrysanthemum drink or cold Barley tea.
Cocktails
What party is complete without cocktails? Try some asian-inspired cocktails that will please the adults in the party. We have a Red Lotus and Lichitini for you cocktail-lovers.
Decorations are very important, and this is especially true for a Chinese celebration, where everything symbolizes something.
Flowers
If you want to use flowers for this event, keep in mind these particular flowers when creating your arrangements and bouquets:
- Peach blossoms : symbolizes luck
- Kumquats: symbolizes prosperity
- Chrysanthemum: symbolizes longevity
- Water Narcissus: They usually bloom around the New Year, so get some. If they bloom on New Year's day, you'll have years of good luck.
Use the color red
Don't be shy with using red colors everywhere. Try out these options to make your party luck-friendly:
- Wear new, red clothes. Tell your guests to wear red if they can too.
- Use red streamers to hang around the ceiling
Traditional Chinese Party Supplies
- Koi fish: No need to get real koi fish, we're talking paintings of these fish or any depiction of them. They represent having surplus and having additional savings. It goes with the Chinese New Year saying: niánnián yŏuyú [ 年年有余 ].
- Yuanbao ingots: Use these golden yuanbao for your house. These are little blocks of gold that symbolize money and wealth. They were shaped like ingots because that was ancient China's form of currency.
- Lanterns: Not all lanterns are alike. For Chinese New Year, you use red and oval-shaped lanterns made of paper to celebrate.
- Wall Décor: Try putting up some pieces of Chinese calligraphy on your walls, like this "Success and Prosperous New Year Blessing Spring Couplets". Or even a good chinese fortune is what you need to hang on your door.
- Lions and dragons: If you're feeling adventerous, get yourself a lion head and do a dance. Or, just hang up some decorative dragons from the ceiling.
Music
- Chinese Pop: If you're looking for contemporary Chinese pop, this particular author loves Chinese popstar Wang Lee Hom. Buy one of his albums "Heroes of the Earth" from iTunes. Another famous pop icon is Jay Chou, get one of his albums off iTunes also.
- Traditional Chinese music: Try out some traditional music for your party.
- Take 25 red envelopes and fill them up with a variety of things. One envelope can hold money, another can hold a little toy, another a few chocolates, etc. You get the idea.
- Out of all of these envelopes, one should have an ultimate cash prize.
- Tile the red envelopes on the wall 5 by 5 (if you want more envelopes, you can. 6x6, 7x7...)
- • Blindfold the player and spin them around three times, then have them pick one of the packets. That, or you can do it Pin The Tail On the Donkey-style and have the player pin one of the packets, instead of grabbing it.
When you hear the words "Gong xi fa cai" you would think it means "Happy New Year," but it actually means Congratulations and Be Prosperous!
But, why say "congratulations"? Strange as it may be, one of the stories behind this saying comes from the days of ancient China when a dragon was roaming the streets.
This dragon, a huge, mean creature, was terrorizing many villages by eating people. To keep the dragon happy, Chinese people would leave a rice treat wrapped in bamboo leaves outside their door for him to eat (and that signifies another Chinese festival during the year).
So, whenever the new year comes, people would congratulate each other for having survived another year without being killed by the dragon.
Learn to Say It!
Congratulations and Be Prosperous: Gong Xi Fa Cai [gong shi fah tsai]. 恭喜发财
Happy New Year: Xin Nian kuai Le [sheen nian kuai le] 新年快乐
Have surplus: Nian Nian You Yu 年年有鱼
Good Luck/Bad Luck
Good luck is signified by:
• wearing red
• opening your windows to let the bad spirits out,
• Using the number 8 (means to prosper) and the number combo 168 (to keep prospering).
Bad luck is signified by:
• The number 4 (means death),
• Giving clocks and watches as gifts (they also symbolize death),
• Buying books in the new year, because that symbolizes losing.
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