Wednesday 6 February 2013

Gonna Party Like it's 4711!!

Image from saynotes.com
The Lunar New Year is the most important of all the Chinese holidays. It starts this year on Sunday February 10th and lasts from the new moon to the full moon on the 25th. So there will be lots of celebrating and FOOD!!

This year is 4711 (or around there) and will be the year of the snake. As with every new year, a it's a time to reconcile and sincerely wish for peace and happiness to everyone.

Many of the traditional foods eaten at this time represent the hopes for the coming year. Here are a few:

Tangerines: A great gift to bring to someone as they are associated with good luck, having an abundance of happiness and prosperity. Get the big round ones and if possible, with the leaves still attached.

Spring Rolls: They look like little bars of gold and signify wealth. Try making your own gold bars of goodness with this recipe from Steamy Kitchen

Long Noodles: The noodles symbolize long life so the longer the noodle the better! Here's a recipe with the very tasty garlic chive and mushrooms.

Shitake Longevity Noodles
Ingredients:
  • Dried, thin egg noodles
  • 20 fresh shitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
  • 1/4 cup of canola oil
  • 1 inch of ginger thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup of roughly chopped garlic chives
  • 3 spring onions, sliced
  • 1 Tbsp Chinese red vinegar
  • 1 tsp of sesame oil
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp of light soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp of oyster sauce
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 cup of warm water
  • Special equipment: A wok and chopsticks
Preparation:
  1. Cook noodles in boiling water for 1 minute or until tender. Drain and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl mix together the Chinese vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce and cornstarch. Mix well to combine sauce. Set aside.
  3. Heat canola oil in a wok over a medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Next add the shitakes, garlic chives and spring onions. Fry for another 30 seconds then add the sauce. Stir well to combine then add 1 cup of warm water. Let the mixture bubble for about 2 minutes then add the cooked noodles.
  4. Use chopsticks to toss the noodles in the wok. Toss them well to coat them in the sauce and mix through the mushrooms, chives and spring onions. Let the noodles cook for another minute or two and then serve.
Enjoy and we wish you happiness, health and prosperity for this Lunar New Year. Kung Hei Fat Choi!!

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