February 10th marks the Lunar New Year in 2024! It's year of the dragon - something tells me there's going to be a lot of babies in the Chinese world this year ;)
For many that are away from home (i.e. me), friends get together to cook or do a potluck. I realized this is basically the Chinese version of Thanksgiving as I am writing this post. If this is you, or if you don't usually celebrate CNY and got invited to one, well, consider making these for your Chinese New Year Potluck.
I unfortunately don't have the capacity to write all the recipes in one go, so I scouted through the internet and chose the recipe I find the most approachable but can still ring true to the dish's original style.
If you're not the most well versed person in the kitchen, vegetables eaten for Chinese New Year is a great choice. Bok Choi & Shiitake with Oyster Sauce only needs as many ingredients as the name of the dish (and garlic, the goji berries are optional). With a bit of some clever plating this dish can look grande. An easy stir fry of something red (prosperity), something yellow (or gold, $$$), and something green (no hidden meaning really, just healthy) will be a great additional to the table in any scenario.
Chinese large-petiole mustard plants is a very important food we consume in Taiwan for CNY, for its nickname is 長年菜 (cháng nían caì, vegetable of longevity). You can make in a clay pot, or a pork rib soup (replace the daikon with the mustard plant and you'll be good. My advice for you is to parboil the mustard plant and put it in cold water before cooking it again with the recipe. This will help with the bitterness of the plant, if there's any.) Eat some for a longer life.
The word sticky (黏, nián) shares the same pronunciation as year (年), so sticky rice, glutinous rice, or rice cakes are also things we‘d eat to bid a good year. Oil Rice (油飯, yó fàn) is without doubt our go to dish in Taiwan. In fact, they show up pretty much during anything auspicious (weddings, new born child, etc). Rice cake can be eaten sweet as a appetizer/dessert (make it from scratch, or buy it and fry it like so). Stir fry rice cake Chinese style as you would with regular rice or noodles is always a hit, but be warned they have to be eaten before it gets cold and hardens up.
This meal is certainly one with 大魚大肉 (dà yú dà ròu, big fish big meat). If you want dà yú, nothing beats a good steamed bone-in fish (get the store to descale and gut out the fish for you). Consider making Dong Po Rou for dà ròu, braised pork belly that looks like little treasure chests. Lion's Head is an also CNY staple, if your potluck host hasn't chosen to make that yet. This year I’m making braised pork hock.
Soy Sauce Chicken is the classic Cantonese take on a whole roast chicken, or the crispy skin version if you're feeling adventurous in the kitchen. Drunken Chicken is a cold dish that comes as a great contrast from the other heavily seasoned hot meat dishes.
Hopefully this gives you a peek into what we like to cook for the new year, and you can bring something to wow your friends! If all else fails, get frozen dumplings from your local mom and pop shop. If you’re scouting through a Chinese grocery store, this meal is worth some mid-tier dumpling in the frozen aisle. Pan frying is actually faster than boiling them, but boiled dumplings are closer to tradition and frankly I prefer boiled ones when you get good dumpling.
Happy year of the Dragon! I bid you 龍年行大運 🐉, 恭喜發財🧧
🛵
