Chinese New Year's was Jan 23rd. Cousin and I cooked some traditional dishes, and some dishes we just like in general. Everything's from scratch this year folks! Here's the spread:
Starting from Top left: Turnip cakes (lo bat goh). It's my Aunt's recipe - (that whole family are great cooks and you bet they can throw down when it comes to eating). It's what you can find at dim sum. It's not sweet, but more of a savory thing. I like to dip it in hot sauce and soy sauce. Or you can use jalapeno slices with soy sauce. It's traditionally a southern Chinese New Year's dish.
Yea, I kind of burned them. Supposed to be a nice golden brown.
Next up: home made pot stickers. Cousin made the skin from scratch and she added shitake mushrooms (but minimal since I generally don't like them). Pot stickers are a northern New Year's tradition.
The story with shitake is - those mushrooms used to be the only type of vegetable I would eat when I was little. So after eating them every day for who knows how long, they suddenly one day became gross. This was when I was about 3. In the last couple of years my gagging has dissolved into frowning while eating.
3rd dish:Steamed fish! Don't flip the bones over! You'll flip over the boat! A superstition from fishing folk. Ever since my parents told me this belief I've never let them flip the fish, and make them lift the bones to get to the meat on the other side. Cousin indulges me in this tradition here. Fish is supposed to make you smart and I think the New Year's tie is that it has something to do with prosperity. All the food either means prosperity, wealth, long life, or good luck. I can't remember which is which.
The best part is the cheeks and the meat under the collar bone. Soooo tender.
If you've eaten with me, you know I'm big on a balanced meal. Enter the veggies!!
Cousin's favorite vegetable from her childhood. "Chinese brocoli" aka Gai Lan.
A Chinese tradition for New Year's is to go around to close friends' and relatives' houses to visit and catch up. Instead of having a big group dinner in Seattle like we normally do, I went and visited some (newish) friends that celebrate the holiday. We traded food stuffs.
Jai! Traditional Buddhist New Year's dish. On NY you're not supposed to eat meat. Unfortunately this meant my friend couldn't eat the turnip cake I brought her (has chinese sausage) until the next day. She was "starving."
There was also 2 kinds of New Year's cake ! (Nin goh) It's kind of like mochi. To the right is fresh nin goh that my friend made from scratch! (She's roommates with Jai friend - but was asleep by the time I came over - weeknight). When it's fresh it's soft and aromatic. You can also steam it in tea leaves to add some flavor.
To the left is the store bought kind made with coconut milk and it had red bean at the bottom! (Courtesy of second house stop who just came back from Vancouver).
I usually slice the store bought kind up, dip it in egg and pan fry it - french toast style.
This makes it soft and chewy again.
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