Recipe: Chinese New Year Recipes

VEGETARIAN POT STICKERS:

1 red onion sliced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 cup white cabbage, shredded
1 cup carrots, shredded
1 cup chopped garlic chives or chives
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 package round dumpling skins, also called gyoza (preferably twin dragon brand)

Salt to taste
Canola oil

In a wok or large saute pan, add a little oil and saute onions and ginger. Add the mushrooms and stir. Add the cabbage, carrots and chives. Season. When mixture is soft, place in colander to drain. Add the sesame oil and cilantro when mixture is cooled. Check for seasoning. Using the gyoza skins, make half moon dumplings keeping the bottom flat. In a hot non-stick pan, coat with oil and place dumplings. When bottom gets brown, add 1/4 cup of water and immediately cover. This will steam the dumplings. Carefully watch the dumplings and completely evaporate the water so that the bottom gets crispy again and sticks to the pot.

Serve with dipping sauce.

SPICY SOY DIPPING SAUCE:

1/3 cup thin soy sauce
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup sliced scallions
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sambal

Combine all.

Yield: 20 to 24
Prep Time: 1 hours 0 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
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SHAO MAI (PORK DUMPLINGS)

1 pound ground pork
1 cup finely chopped water chestnuts
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
30 shao mai or dumpling wrappers

Combine the pork, water chestnuts, soy sauce, vinegar, oil, sugar, ginger, cornstarch, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well to combine (hands work well for this). Place a dumpling wrapper in the palm of one hand and cup it loosely. Place a generous tablespoon of filling in the center of the wrapper. With your free hand, gather the sides of the wrapper around the filling, letting the wrapper pleat naturally. Squeeze the middle gently and tap the dumpling to flatten the bottom so that it can stand upright. The meat filling will show a little at the top. Make the remaining dumplings in the same manner.

Arrange filled dumplings about 1/4 inch apart in two steamer trays that have been lined with wet cheesecloth. (At this point, you can refrigerate dumplings, covered, for 24 hours.)

When ready to steam, fill a wok or lower part of a steamer with water so that it comes within an inch of the steamer tray, and bring to a rolling boil. Stack the steamer trays in the wok or steamer, cover tightly, and steam dumplings for 20-25 minutes over high heat, reversing the trays after 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer dumplings to a platter and serve with Spicy Dipping Sauce.

SPICY DIPPING SAUCE:
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons black vinegar, or Chinkiang vinegar
1 teaspoon chile paste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon minced garlic

Combine ingredients in a small bowl and serve with Pork Dumplings.

Yield: 2/3 cup

Yield: 30 dumplings
Prep Time: 1 hours 0 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
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TRADITIONAL MANDARIN FRIED RICE:

Canola oil
3 eggs
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1 bunch chopped scallions, green and white separated
1 lapchang, diced (Chinese sausage), can substitute with 4 strips of cooked bacon
8 cups cooked, day old long grain rice
3 tablespoons thin soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
Salt to taste

It is recommended to use day old rice so that the drier rice can soak up the flavors. In a wok, add 2 tablespoons of oil and quickly soft-scramble the eggs. Remove the eggs. In the same wok, coat with oil and stir-fry garlic and ginger. Add white scallions and lapchang. Add rice and mix thoroughly. Add soy sauce, white pepper and scrambled eggs. Check for seasoning. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
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UDON NOODLES WITH LEMON GRASS CLAM BROTH:

Canola oil
2 pounds manila or little neck clams, cleaned
6 stalks lemon grass, sliced, white part only
4 slices ginger
2 Thai bird chiles
1 white onion sliced
1/3 cup mirin
4 cups chicken stock
2 packages udon noodles
1/2 pound spinach leaves
1 tablespoon butter (optional, but really good)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and white pepper to taste

In a very hot stock pot, add 1 tablespoon oil, add clams and stir for 2 minutes. Add lemon grass, ginger, chiles and onion and stir for 2 more minutes. Season. Deglaze with mirin and reduce liquid by 80 per cent. Add chicken stock and turn heat down to simmer. When clams are open, remove and continue slowly simmering the broth. Check for seasoning. Reduce broth by 20 per cent, which should take about 30 minutes, then strain. Bring broth back to a boil; add udon, spinach, clams and butter. Add lemon juice and serve in large bowls.

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hours 0 minutes
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TEA SMOKED CHICKEN

3 pound whole chicken
1 teaspoon ground Szechwan peppercorn
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon fivespice powder

Smoking Mixture:
1/2 cup black tea leaves
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raw rice
2 to 3 chunks fresh ginger
2 to 3 large strips of orange zest
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Scallion brushes

Wash the chicken and pat dry inside and out with paper towels. Combine Szechwan peppercorns, salt, and fivespice powder in a small bowl. Rub the seasonings into the outside and inside cavity of the bird. Place the chicken in a large bowl, cover, and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Fill the lower part of a steamer with enough water to come within an inch of the cooking rack. Bring the water to a rolling boil, place the chicken on the rack, and cover the steamer. Steam the chicken for 45 minutes, keeping the water at a boil and replenishing it as it boils away.

Line a large wok or a heavy Dutch oven with tightfitting lid with heavyduty aluminum foil.

Combine the smoking mixture ingredients and spread over the foil in the bottom of the pot. Turn the heat under the pot to high and place a rack about 3 inches above the smoking mixture so that the chicken does not touch it. Place the chicken on the rack, breast side up. Line the inside of the lid with more foil, leaving an excess of 3 inches around the lid. Cover the pot tightly and crimp the foil down so the lid fits securely and smoke doesn't escape.

After you detect smoke, smoke the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the smoke subside, about 5 minutes. The chicken should be a rich, golden brown on the outside.

Lift out the smoked chicken and transfer to a cutting board. Immediately brush the sesame oil lightly over the outside. Allow chicken to cool, about 10 minutes. To serve, cut off the wings and legs. Divide the body of the chicken in half lengthwise by cutting through the breast and backbone. Lay the halves flat on the cutting board, skinside up, and use a cleaver to chop through each half, bones and all, into 3 to 4 equal pieces. Chop the wings and legs into pieces as well. Arrange the chicken pieces on a large platter, and garnish with the scallion brushes.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Prep Time: 8 hours 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hours 30 minutes