It might be 2006 to many, but to those who march to the date of a different calendar, it’s almost 4704. To get a feel for Chinese New Year celebrations, think Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve with a smidge of the Fourth of July and a dash of Mardi Gras rolled into one celebratory event.
The Lunar, or Asian, New Year observance is a two-week event – part merrymaking, part remembrance, part old-home week and part revelry.
Most Asian cultures calculate months on a 4,000-year-old lunar calendar, which, in turn, is based on a 60-year cycle with five cycles of 12 years, and each year is named for an animal.
So claim your Chinese zodiac sign – Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog or Boar, and feast accordingly.
Locally, home cooks and restaurateurs are planning special dinners, many based on meals served in a traditional Chinese home.
That home at one time might have been in the the Northern provinces, where a lamb hot pot, Mongolian beef or chicken velvet might be featured in a meal; in Shanghai and Eastern China the meal could include beggar’s chicken, salt and pepper spareribs or steamed custard.
The highlights of a New Year’s meal in Szechuan might be hot and sour soup, kung pao chicken, orange beef, spicy eggplant or smoked duck.
One thing is certain: The New Year’s meal will be a feast – a 10-course collection of dishes, each designed to bring good fortune, along the lines of Southerners who eat black-eyed peas and collard greens Jan. 1 to conjure up good luck and financial success.
But the Chinese New Year isn’t just a day of celebration. Events leading up to the 15-day observance begin at least a week before. One is in tribute to the kitchen god, who watches over the place where food is prepared. Since he is the one who invented fire, needed for cooking, it’s only appropriate he be honored.
The kitchen god leaves the house just before the New Year to report on the family to the proper authority. So, a few days before he leaves, there is a meal of sweets (bribery for a good report?). The family is then free to begin preparations for the New Year. And starting Sunday, members of the Asian community across the metro area again will invoke the spirits of their ancestors to guide them through a new year, in this case the Year of the Dog.
For 15 days, many restaurants will be decorated in red, considered a lucky color. Some will offer special menus that feature foods associated with a traditional New Year’s meal. No menu items will be too scary for timid tastes, and all will feature fish, salad, soup, fowl, pork or beef, vegetables, a special rice and dessert. Many dishes have special significance: dumplings signify wealth; lettuce, prosperity; noodles, long life; a whole fish, abundance and tgetherness.
Be forewarned: Eat sparingly. The food keeps on coming.
Chuoi-Sen Hsu, who owns Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant on South Broadway, plans to serve a menu that will include a winter melon and lamb meatball soup, filet mignon with sugar peas, striped bass in a sweet-and-sour sauce, a wild-rice stuffed Cornish hen, vegetables in curry sauce and sticky rice filled with Chinese sausage wrapped in taro leaves.
Hsu, known as Johnny, has fond memories of growing up in rural China, where his mother spent days preparing the New Year’s feast she and her husband provided their four sons and daughters.
“My sisters would help, but the men mainly stayed out of the way,” Hsu says with a laugh. “But everyone looked forward to New Year’s. We would build an altar to the ancestors, and before each dish went to the table we would pray before it and be thankful and hopeful for bounty in the coming year.”
Hsu, born in the Year of the Rooster, comes from Behai, a small city in the south of China near the Gulf of Tonkin.
“But no matter where you’re from, everyone comes home on the eve of the new year,” he says. “The traffic is crazy. The rural people come to the city; the city people go home to their villages. People drive or take the bus, train, plane. All the best foods are served. There are so many courses – the food is different in different parts of the country, because some things are not always available. Inland, where there is no easy access to fresh fish, a rural family might use dried shrimp or scallop to flavor a dish. But fish is mandatory.”
In some areas factories close, and the owners serve their employees a big meal. Families visit relatives, leaving little red envelopes, often with money for children. Married couples give red envelopes to unmarried friends.
The seventh day is like a national birthday for everyone – so big, but less-sumptuous, meals start all over again. On the 15th day, everyone hangs lanterns and shares a meal of dumplings. The lantern festival also includes a tossed fish salad, which redefines what most people think of when they think of a tossed salad.
Hsu’s salad consists of colorful julienned vegetables arranged around a mound of finely chopped iceberg lettuce topped by slivers of smoked salmon. Pine nuts and sesame seeds are scattered on top. Everyone squeezes lime juice as a dressing, then uses chopsticks to combine the ingredients.
The longer and higher the tossing, the more luck everyone is believed to receive. In traditional New Year dinners, a rice cake is also part of the meal.
“The rice cake is always big and round, and you only eat part of it,” Hsu says. “It symbolizes unity and good luck. The new year is always about bringing good luck.”
And bringing families together.
Like Hsu, Dan Tang, owner of Heaven Dragon restaurant in Thornton, remembers the New Year meal as a special one. The event is still important to Buddhists around the world.
“We believe that the family must get together and reunite and be together on New Year’s Eve. If we are together, we can be whole for the entire year. That meal together, it is very important,” says Suzanne Mark, a member of Denver Buddhist Cultural Society.
Tang is putting the finishing touches on a 10-course menu that will feature lobster Cantonese style with ginger sauce, Cantonese roast duck, scallops with baby bok choy, “long life” noodles, honey-walnut shrimp and a choice of soups.
The restaurateur, who came to America 25 years ago as a frightened teenager, has parlayed years of hard work into a thriving business. Tang grew up in a farming village near Canton, where his family grew sweet potatoes and tea. They had chicken three times a year – for the Aug. 15 Full Moon Festival, dragon boat races and the New Year.
“A lot of Americans don’t know the Full Moon Festival, but it is very important to farmers in China,” Tang says. “It’s the time when there are many crops and good weather. Everyone in the family gets together and eats outside. We look at the moon and hope for a better year next time. Hope for good luck. But at the New Year we pray for peace and to have a happy, healthy family. We wait all year to kill a pig and the chickens. It’s a very big deal.”
Tang, born in the Year of the Tiger, has decided not to accept reservations for his New Year Dinner on Sunday because it’s too much of a headache.
“People have already started calling me to say ‘I want to come.’ But my old customers will come and stand in line because they want to watch the dragon dancers.”
Not every restaurant is planning such elaborate meals, so it’s best to check with your favorite spot to find out. Tim Cao of August Moon Asian Grill in Parker says he might have one or two special entrees, or a package that features a soup, appetizer and entree for a fixed price.
Moreover, don’t forget: On the seventh day, it’s everybody’s birthday, and we all turn one year older at the same time.
And you didn’t have to slaughter a chicken or a pig to eat well.
Smoked Salmon Salad: a toss to prosperity
This salad is a consistent favorite with diners at the Imperial Restaurant on South Broadway. Everyone tosses the multicolored arrangement of julienned vegetables and fish. The longer and higher you toss the ingredients to mix them, the more bountiful your new year will be. The ingredients can be found at Asian grocery stores. Serves 4.
Ingredients
Directions
Combine daikon and carrot strips in a nonreactive mixing bowl. Mix sugar, vinegar and water and stir into daikon and carrots thoroughly. Marinate overnight, refrigerated. Assemble the salad on a large platter. Place shredded lettuce in the center of the plate and arrange daikon, carrots, ginger, green onions and bell peppers around the lettuce. Place sliced salmon on top of the iceberg lettuce then sprinkle sesame seeds and pine nuts over the entire salad. Arrange the lime halves so that each diner has one. Squeeze fresh lime juice and toss before serving on individual plates.
Wine ideas: There are few matches more beautiful than the silky sensation of smoked salmon against a satiny, lightly sweet riesling, no matter the preparation. There are a few good domestic versions, but the best bets come from Germany, and are marked Kabinett or Spätlese. Look for names such as Selbach, Lingenfelder and Leitz.
-Tara Q. Thomas
Pan-Seared Black Sea Bass with Caramelized Red Pepper Sauce
Black sea bass, native to the Atlantic, has firm, succulent flesh with a delicate flavor. If you can’t find it, try red snapper or trout. From “Susanna Foo Fresh Inspiration,” serves 4.
Ingredients
Directions
Rinse fish fillets under cold running water and dry well with paper towels. Place fillets in a shallow dish large enough to hold them in a single layer. Mix 2 tablespoons oil, vodka, soy sauce and ginger in a small bowl. Pour over fish and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour, turning once or twice.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove fish from marinade and place on a plate. Reserve marinade.
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until lightly golden, about 30 seconds. Add red pepper, balsamic vinegar, reserved marinade and the stock. Bring to a boil, turn heat to low and simmer 15 minutes, until vegetables are very soft. Remove from heat and purée in a food processor or blender until smooth. Spoon sauce into a small saucepan and keep warm.
Sprinkle cornstarch over fish and pat lightly so it adheres. Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil. When hot, add 2 fillets skin-side down and cook until skin is browned and crisp, 2-3 minutes. Spoon half the melted butter over flesh side and transfer, skin-side up, to a baking pan large enough to hold all fillets in a single layer. Repeat with remaining fillets. Bake 5-7 minutes, depending on thickness of fish; the flesh should be white throughout when you test it with a knife.
Place fillets skin-side up on serving plates. Spoon sauce around fish, garnish with daikon and chives or parsley.
Wine ideas: It’s a good bet that whatever alcohol you’ve cooked with will match well as a drink, except when it’s vodka. Not that vodka is a bad drink, but you’ll get more enjoyment out of a cool, crisp sauvignon blanc with this delicate fish and its sweet pepper sauce. Peju Province out of Napa and Gainey from Santa Ynez both strike an impressive balance between sharp, grassy green flavors and smooth, richer guava notes for $16 or less. -Tara Q. Thomas
Chinese Black Rice
In their exquisite “Seductions of Rice,” authors Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid embarked on a journey that took them throughout China, Southeast Asia, West Africa, the Mediterranean, West Africa and North America to explore the variety and role of rice in varied cultures. Black rice from China has recently become available in North America. It is a medium-grained unmilled rice, with white kernels inside the black bran. Washing turns the water a deep purple-black. Very tender when cooked, the rice makes good leftovers. It is beautiful served with fresh Chinese green vegetables; its nutty taste pairs well with ripe avocado or with strong meaty flavors. Cooking time is just over half an hour, relatively short for unmilled rice. Makes about 5 1/2 cups rice.
Ingredients
Directions
Place rice in a heavy 8-quart pot with a tight-fitting lid and wash thoroughly under cold running water until the water runs clear. Drain in a sieve, then return to the pot, with the water. Heat to a boil, stir briefly, and skim off any foam. Cover tightly and reduce heat to very low. Let cook, without lifting the lid, for 35 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.
Serve from the pot, using a wet wooden rice paddle or wooden spoon, or turn out into a shallow bowl.
Note: You can also add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the rice as it begins to cook if you are planning to serve the rice with a non-East Asian meal. In China, plain rice is generally cooked and served with no salt or oil.
Cantonese Five-Spice Roast Duck
The most celebrated Chinese duck dishes are Peking duck and Cantonese roast duck. Peking duck is a complex restaurant dish that requires 24 hours of cold-weather air-drying (or an industrial fan) to tighten the skin so it becomes very crispy. Cantonese roast duck requires less preparation (it is often seen hanging in windows of Chinese restaurants) but has a much less crispy skin. From “Essentials of Asian Cuisine: Fundamentals and Favorite Recipes,” by Corinne Trang, this is her family’s version of Cantonese roast duck. Serves 4-6.
Ingredients
Directions
Whisk together soy sauce, sugar, and five-spice powder in a large dish. Season with black pepper. Carefully loosen the skin of the duck by gently running your fingers between skin and meat (breast and legs). You may need a paring knife to separate the skin from the central bone area. Try not to tear skin in the process. Place duck in marinade and rub marinade over it, inside and out and between the flesh and skin. Drain and refrigerate duck, uncovered, turning it occasionally, for 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place ginger, green onions and garlic inside cavity of the duck, then truss it with kitchen string. With a metal skewer, poke skin a few times on breast, legs, and back. Place duck breast-side down on a rack set over a baking dish filled with 1/4-inch water. Roast duck 45 minutes, basting it every 15 minutes with drippings. Turn duck breast-side up and continue roasting (basting every 15 minutes) until juices run clear, about 45 minutes.
Wine ideas: Duck meat is rich enough to stand up to a red wine, but face it: the best part is the skin, right? If you agree, then white wine is the way to go: the acidity scrubs away any feeling of fatty residue, and the coolness refreshes the mouth for the next bite. Riesling handles fat like a charm, but also look for chenin blanc, which takes on rich, waxy fruit flavors yet retains an acid edge. Pine Ridge and Chappellet make two of the best examples in the U.S.; otherwise head straight for France’s Loire, where the grape excels. -Tara Q. Thomas
Double-Cooked Yard-Long Beans
This Sichuan-style recipe is so named because the beans, after being fried until tender, are then cooked again with seasonings and a sauce. Traditionally, yard-long, or snake, beans are used. These are available in Chinese markets, but haricots verts work fine. From “The Food of China,” serves 4-6.
Ingredients
Directions
Diagonally cut the beans into 2 inch pieces. Lightly chop ground meat with a cleaver until it becomes slightly fluffy. Put meat in a bowl, add 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon rice wine and sesame oil; combine.
Fill a wok one-quarter full of oil. Heat oil to 350 degrees, or until a piece of bread fries golden brown in 15 seconds when dropped in oil. Add 1/3 of beans, covering wok with lid as they are placed in oil to prevent oil from splashing. Cook 3 1/2-4 minutes, stirring constantly, until they are tender and golden brown on the edges. Remove with a wire strainer or slotted spoon and drain. Reheat oil and repeat with remaining beans. Pour oil from wok, leaving one tablespoon.
Reheat reserved oil over high heat until very hot, add ground meat and stir-fry until color changes, mashing and chopping to separate the pieces of meat. Push meat to the side and add preserved mustard cabbage and green onions. Stir-fry over high heat for 15 seconds, or until fragrant. Add beans with remaining soy sauce and rice wine, sugar and 1 tablespoon water, and return meat to center of pan. Toss lightly to coat beans with sauce.
Long-Life Noodles
Adapted from a recipe by Dan Tang, this will be one of the New Year’s Special Dinner courses at his Thornton restaurant, Heaven Dragon. Ingredients can be found at Asian grocery stores. Serves 4.
Ingredients
Directions
Combine soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, salt, black pepper and 1 teaspoon sugar, whisking in cornstarch last. Place chicken and beef in separate bowls, pour soy mixture over and allow to marinate 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the noodles and vegetables. Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the noodles. Bring to a boil. Add noodles and cook 5 minutes. Drain, run under cold water, and drain again. Toss with 1 tablespoon sesame oil and set aside.
Rinse and drain sprouts.
Heat wok over medium-high to high heat. Add 3 tablespoons peanut oil. When oil is almost smoking, add green onion. Stir-fry for 10-15 seconds, then add beef and toss for about 20 seconds. Add chicken and stir-fry until the chicken turns white and is about 80 percent cooked.
Add carrot and cabbage. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes or until it is softened, seasoning with a bit of soy sauce if desired. Remove beef, chicken and cabbage from the wok.
Add 1 tablespoon oil. When wok is hot again, stir-fry shrimp until they curl and turn pink. Remove to the plate with the beef, chicken and shrimp.
Add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the bean paste. Stir-fry for a few seconds. Stir in dark soy sauce and sugar. Add noodles and toss briefly. Return all remaining ingredients to the wok and mix thoroughly. Stir in bean sprouts and heat through. Remove from heat and stir in sesame oil. Serve immediately.
Wine ideas: Sweet, salty and filled with different textures, this dish would fare best with a white wine that would let all the different components shine, yet also be powerful enough to stand up to the red meat. That’s a tall order for a white, but riesling takes on the challenge easily. Germany provides the model, but look also to Australia, where wineries such as Leasingham, Mitchell and Petaluma make bright, gingery examples for $16 and under. -Tara Q. Thomas
Roast Chicken with Peppercorn Rub
Brining, which has become popular in America, has been practiced in China for centuries. Rubbing it with an aromatic Sichuan peppercorn-coriander blend adds flavor. Placing it on a rack and roasting it over stock also keeps the meat juicy, while the skin gets crisp and brown. Root vegetables are roasted in stock at the same time. The result is an easy one-pot meal. If you don’t have the time for brining, use a kosher chicken, which is already soaked and salted and will remain moist when roasted. Serve with steamed white rice or crusty French bread. From “Susanna Foo Fresh Inspiration: New Approaches to Chinese Cuisine,” serves 4.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Rub the skin with 2 tablespoons of the butter.
Heat a small dry skillet over medium-low heat. Add the peppercorns, swirl, and toast for about 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Add the coriander seeds and toast for another minute. Remove from the heat and cool.
Grind the spices almost to a powder in a spice grinder or coffee mill. Rub the mixture all over the bird.
Pour stock into the bottom of a roasting pan and place the chicken breast side up on a rack over the liquid. Roast for 30 minutes, or until the skin begins to brown. Remove chicken from roasting pan and place on a plate. Remove the rack and spread the celery root, sweet potatoes, potatoes, mushrooms, and thyme in the roasting pan. Spoon a little stock over the vegetables to moisten them, then dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Return the rack to the roasting pan and place the chicken on it breast side down.
Roast for another 45 minutes, or until skin is nicely browned and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thigh reaches 170 degrees. Place the chicken on a large plate or platter, cover loosely with foil, and let it rest for 15 minutes. Remove the rack and discard thyme. Spoon vegetables into a serving bowl and cover with foil to keep warm. Or keep them warm in a 325-degree oven.
Carefully pour the broth into a bowl and skim off and discard any fat floating on the surface.
If the vegetables or broth have become too cool, warm them in a microwave oven until hot. Reheat the broth in a small saucepan over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes, until hot. Season the vegetables to taste with salt and pepper.
Carve the chicken and divide among four dinner plates or shallow bowls. Spoon the vegetables and broth around the chicken, sprinkle with the cilantro, and serve.
Wine ideas: The beauty of roast chicken is that it’s as much as a foil for whatever spices you want to add as it is any wine. White, red or rosé, nearly any wine will usually do quite fine next to the bird. If you want to play up the exotic spice of this preparation, pick something spicy-a syrah, for instance, from France’s Rhône, or a carmenère from Chile. Santa Rita and Arboleda make good examples for $15 or less. -Tara Q. Thomas
Beef with Peppers and Black Bean Sauce
Lean steak is a particularly good cut of beef for stir-frying. The traditional version of this Cantonese dish calls for just green peppers, but this recipe uses different colors to make a more attractive dish. This recipe is from “The Food of China,” written and produced by a team of food writers who traveled throughout China to learn about regional foods and traditions. Serves 6.
Ingredients
Black bean sauce:
Directions
Cut beef against the grain into very thin slices. Cut each slice of beef into thin strips and place in a glass, ceramic or nonreactive bowl. Cut each slice of beef into thin strips and place in a bowl. Add soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water, toss lightly to combine, then marinate, refrigerated, for 30 minutes. Drain beef.
Heat a wok over high heat, add oil and heat until almost smoking. Add a third of the beef and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute, or until the pieces brown. Remove with a wire strainer or slotted spoon, then drain. Repeat with the remaining beef.
To make the black bean sauce, heat a wok over high heat, add the oil and heat until very hot. Stir-fry the scallions, garlic, black beans and ginger for 10 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the peppers and stir-fry for 1 minute, or until cooked. Combine soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, stock, sesame oil and cornstarch, add to the sauce and simmer until thickened. Add the beef and toss lightly to coat with the sauce.
Wine ideas: there’s nothing subtle about crisp, crunchy green beans enriched with meat and kicked up with preserved cabbage. You can pull out a big red here-not an oaky one, but something like a California cabernet franc, which balances black fruit flavors with a green pepper streak, spicy and savory all at once. Lang & Reed and Titus are names to look for. Europhiles should look in the Loire sections under Chinon for examples. -Tara Q. Thomas
