Here's a sample of our Chinese New Year's Feast

Chinese New Year was on February 14 this year. The Tiger is considered a formidable animal in the wild and in the Chinese zodiac. Step with confidence and caution this year. When it feels right – press on. When it doesn’t feel right, trust your gut and retreat if necessary. The bottom line is:  go with the flow, not against it.

This Chinese New Year I was an animal in the kitchen and I have many recipes to share. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Chinese New Year menu:

Steamed Pork Buns aka Banh Bao

Steamed Dumplings with Shrimp and Pork

Ginger-Soy Dipping Sauce

Fresh Vietnamese Summer Rolls

Hoisin Sesame Dipping Sauce

Spring Rolls

Indonesian Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

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Makes about 25 small bao.

Vietnamese Banh Bao usually include a quail egg and Vietnamese sausage. My easy recipe has a simple meat and mushroom filling and is similar to some of the Chinese Bao Zi I’ve had, but my family enjoys saying “Banh Bao” so that’s what we call them.

I make them small so I get 25 instead of just 12 like it says on the package. I also make a yeasted version which takes more time and doesn’t yield a significantly better bao. If you want to try it, get the Momofuku cookbook. You can use their dough to make traditionally shaped bao.

To make meat filling

Mix in small bowl:

1/2 pound ground pork, chicken, turkey or beef (or mixture)

8 shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted if dried, and chopped

1/2 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

about 2 T oyster sauce

½ t salt

pinch of ground black pepper

To make dough

Thoroughly mix by hand for ten minutes:

1 cup milk

¼ cup sugar

1 t vegetable oil

1 16 oz bag banh bao flour mix

Let sit for 15 minutes or so.

Knead for about 5 minutes.

Roll dough into a long cylinder and then divide dough into 25 sections.

To put together the bao

Cut wax paper into 25 2×2 inch squares.

For each Banh Bao, roll out each section of dough into a little circle. Put 1 T uncooked meat filling in center. Pleat dough up and around, gathering edges together on top. Pinch to seal well. Place on small square of wax paper and arrange in large steamer basket and large pot. Put extras on a cookie sheet and cover with a dish cloth.

To steam the bao

Put water in bottom of steamer or large pot with lid (and without the steamer basket) and set over high heat. When water starts to boil, put steamer tray on the pot and the lid on the steamer.

Steam until cooked through, about 15 minutes.
When done, allow to cool for about 10 minutes and enjoy.

Banh Bao freeze well. Put left-over steamed buns in a container in the freezer. Thaw for about 15 minutes and re-steam them for about 1-2 minutes.

Shopping list

large steamer basket

½ pound ground pork or other meat

8 shiitake mushrooms

1 16 oz package of banh bao flour mix (Ba Chuong Vang or other brand)

oyster sauce

onion

garlic

milk

sugar

veg oil

salt and pepper

wax paper

For this recipe, you will need a steamer basket of some kind. A simple collapsible steamer basket will do. Alternatively, you can get a bamboo or stainless steamer at an Asian market.

Mix in medium bowl:

12 ounces shrimp, raw, peeled and coarsely chopped

4 ounces ground pork

12 water chestnuts, minced

1 T finely grated ginger

1 T dry sherry or vermouth

1 T cornstarch

1 ½ T oyster sauce

2 t sesame oil

1 egg white

1 t sugar

½ t salt

Pinch ground pepper (or to taste)

4 T minced scallion greens

The filling can be prepared the day before and kept in the refrigerator.

Take 1 package wonton wrappers, round out of the freezer at least one hour before you are ready to start making the dumplings.

To make the dumplings:

Shortly before you are ready to steam them, make the dumplings. Hold the wonton wrapper in the palm of your hand and place one rounded teaspoon of filling in the center. Cup your hand around the wonton wrapper, gathering folds up around the filling. Press the gathered folds lightly around the filling to adhere, forming a cup-shaped dumpling.

You can put wax paper between layers if you want to stack them.

Fill the pan under the steamer with enough water to almost reach the bottom of the steamer basket and begin heating. Lightly oil your steamer basket and place dumplings in basket ½ inch apart. When the water is getting close to boiling lower steamer into pan, cover and steam until the dumplings are cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Serve with Ginger-Soy Dipping Sauce.

Shopping list

steamer basket

12 oz shrimp

4 oz ground pork

water chestnuts

ginger

dry sherry or vermouth

cornstarch

oyster sauce

sesame oil

egg white

sugar

salt

ground pepper

scallion greens

1 package wonton wrappers, round

wax paper

Mix in small sauce pan:

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup rice vinegar

2 ½ t sugar

¼ cup water

Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Pour into small bowl.

Stir in:

½ medium scallion, minced

2 t fresh ginger, minced or finely grated

½ t sesame oil

½ t chili oil

Serve with Steamed Dumplings with Pork and Shrimp.

Shopping list

soy sauce

rice vinegar

sugar

scallions

fresh ginger

sesame oil

chili oil

Makes about 30.

I like to make two versions of these delicious healthy rolls, both are equally popular: the Traditional Pork and Shrimp and the sweet and tangy Mango Jicama. Make sure you give yourself lots of time for rolling, or invite your friends to help.

Prep:

Boil, strain and let cool 1 package of Asian vermicelli.

1/4 pound pork tenderloin

rub with 1 t each kosher salt and sugar, let stand 20 minutes or more and grill on low.

Alternatively, buy some Chinese BBQ pork if you can find it.

1/4 pound of shrimp – quickly boil till pink, peel and cut in half lengthwise.

Wash 1 bunch of spearmint, pat dry with dish cloth.

2 mangoes and 1 jicama – peel and either julienne or use a mandolin to slice into long thin slices.

Roll:

Pour some hot water in a pie plate and soak one rice paper at a time until it softens (about 30 seconds). You can leave rice paper in to soak while you are rolling another one. Take it out and allow excess water to drip back into the pie plate. Lay the wet rice paper out on a plate and neatly layer 3 or so mint leaves, some noodles and either mango and jicama or shrimp and pork in the lower third of the rice paper. Make the pile of fillings approximately 1 x 3 inches. Fold the bottom of the paper over the veggies and make the little package snug. Fold the two sides in (making 90-degree corners) and roll it up. Add hot water to the pie plate when the water gets cold and keep rolling. Put wax paper between layers so they don’t stick together.

Eat as you go or store covered with damp dish cloth until ready to eat.

Serve at room temperature with Hoisin Dipping Sauce.

Shopping list

1 or 2 packages rice paper

1 package vermicelli

1/4 lb shrimp

1/4 lb pork tenderloin or Chinese BBQ pork

2 bunches spearmint

2 big or 2 sm mangoes

1 med jicama

wax paper

2 T hoisin sauce

1 T rice vinegar

1 t sesame oil

1 T soy sauce

2 T water

Heat:

1 T vegetable oil in small saucepan over medium heat.

Sauté until fragrant but not browned, about 30 seconds:

2 T fresh ginger, minced (about a 2 inch piece)

2 cloves garlic, minced

Stir in hoisin mixture and cook until flavors meld, about 2-3 minutes.

Off heat and stir in 2 T chopped fresh cilantro

Serve warm or room temperature with Fresh Vietnamese Summer Rolls.

Shopping list

hoisin sauce

rice vinegar

sesame oil

soy sauce

vegetable oil

fresh ginger

garlic

fresh cilantro

Makes 50.

This is a Thailand meets Vietnam recipe.

Soak:

2 ounces dried wood ear fungus in hot water for 20 minutes

2 ounces glass noodles

Sauté:

1 small onion until translucent.

Add one at a time:

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 ounces ground pork

1 cup julienne carrots

1 cup very finely chopped cabbage (napa or green)

Drained glass noodles

Drained wood ear fungus*

1 t salt

1 t sugar

The spring roll filling can be made 1-2 days in advance. Roll the spring rolls the same day that you are frying and eating them.

Take the spring roll wrappers out of the freezer at least an hour before you are ready to start rolling.

Roll:

Lay several small spring roll wrappers out on a table with a corner pointing towards you so it looks like a diamond. Spoon 1-2 T of the filling one inch above the lower corner of the wrappers. Brush egg white across the top corner of the wrapper. Fold the lower corner over the filling and shape into a cylinder approximately 1/2 inch by 2 inches and start rolling. Fold sides in, making sure you have a 90 degree angle at the bottom corners and finish rolling. See photos.

Stack with wax paper between layers.

Pour an inch of vegetable oil into a frying pan. Heat oil on medium-high. Fry 10 or so spring rolls at a time. When the bottom gets golden brown, turn over using chopsticks. Repeat on second side. Remove from pan and place on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Serve with Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce, available at Asian markets.

* I buy the dried wood ear fungus at my local Asian market already thinly chopped. If you get the whole ear, you will need to chop it into very thin slices after you soak it.

Shopping list

1 package small spring roll wrappers

dried wood ear fungus

glass noodles

onion

garlic

ground pork

carrots

cabbage (napa or green)

salt

sugar

1 egg white

vegetable oil for frying

Sweet Chili Sauce (Mae Ploy)

paper towels

wax paper

mix in a medium bowl:

3 T soy sauce

3 T tomato paste or sauce

1 T peanut oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pinch ground black pepper

1 t ground cumin

½ t ground coriander seed

Cut 6 chicken breasts into long and skinny ½ inch thick slices (about 1 x 3 inches). Place chicken into the mixture, and stir to coat. Cover, and marinate for at least 15 minutes, but not overnight. This will make the meat too dark.

To make the sauce,

heat 1 T peanut oil in a saucepan over medium heat and sauté:

¼ cup minced onion and

1 clove minced garlic until lightly browned.

Mix in:

1 cup water

½ cup chunky peanut butter

2 T soy sauce

2 T sugar.

Cook and stir until well blended. Remove from heat, mix in:

1 T lemon juice and set aside.

To grill the chicken:

preheat the grill for high heat. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers, and discard marinade. Grill skewers about 5 minutes per side, until chicken juices run clear.

Serve with the Peanut Sauce.

Shopping list

6 chicken breasts

soy sauce

tomato paste or sauce

veg oil

garlic

black pepper

cumin

onion

garlic

chunky peanut butter

soy sauce

sugar

lemon

skewers