3 Recipes To Help You Celebrate The New Year

Unlike the New Year we celebrate here in the UK, Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year) is celebrated just a few weeks later, marking the beginning of the lunisolar calendar, and has its very own special set of traditions that have been loved for many centuries.

This event is celebrated widely in many countries including Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, and of course China, whilst even here in the UK there are many events held all around to mark the occasion. With events including dramatic processions, thorough cleansing of the home, and of course an extra special dinner served on a table surrounded with cultural lanterns and decorations, this is an event that brings families and friends together to welcome in a fresh year. The first day of Chinese New Year usually falls between the 20 January and 21 February. In 2017 it is on the 28 January, opening up the year of the Rooster!

If you are thinking of holding a celebration for Chinese New Year, or simply want to try out some delicious oriental recipes, we’ve got three right here that will tantalise your taste buds and help you to host the best celebration of the New Year! Chinese New Year calls for a feast, and the traditional elements that are always included in the dishes are duck, chicken, pork with some variety of fish. The main dishes are the main focus of the meal, however, some would argue that side dishes are equally important including rice, noodles and other tasty treats. These side dishes are often the family favourites of a meal.

Char Siu Pork

This dish is a great centrepiece for the table; the sticky outer and succulent centre will have everyone at the table wanting to dig in right away. This Chinese BBQ flavoured cut of pork can be eaten either hot or cold and in a few simple steps, you will have a perfect dish for your New Year’s celebrations!

Ingredients:

1kg boneless pork loin

4 tbs. oriental soy sauce

2 tbs. hoisin sauce

2 tbs. oyster sauce

2 tbs. dry sherry

2 tbs. sugar

1 clove garlic

½ teaspoon 5 spice

Method:

First off, you’ll want to create the marinade, simply mix together all the ingredients listed above in a pan over a low heat, this will need to be stirred until all of the sugar has been dissolved, then remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Next, cut your piece of pork into two strips, these should be around 5cm wide and 1 ½ cm thick, then pop these pieces of meat into a lock seal bag with half of the marinating mixture- try to remove as much air as possible as this helps the marinate so surround the meat better. Leave this all to sit in the fridge overnight.

Then, line a baking tray with aluminium foil and add 1cm of water to the tray. Then pop this in the oven, and above, sit the pork loin on a baking rack and bake for around 25 minutes, and turn the meat over every 5 minutes or so to achieve the best texture.

For the last 10 minutes, every minute you should flip the meat and coat with the left over marinade. This will help to create a sticky, crispy, caramelised and delicious outer layer. Once the Char Sui pork is cooked, top it with a foil hat and leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving with your choice of rice or noodles.

Savoury spring rolls (egg rolls)

Spring rolls are often saved for the special occasion of New Year and other festivities, filled with a variety of savoury filling for the occasion, these are an excellent side dish, perfect for dipping into sauces and soups, combining a crispy outer shell with a Chinese spiced vegetables, paired with a glossy sauce. Known to symbolise wealth for the coming year, as spring rolls are seen to resemble the shape and colouring of a bar of gold.

Ingredients

25 spring roll wrappers/filo pastry

Sauce

1 tbs. oyster sauce

1 tbs. Japanese sake

1tsp. sugar

½ tsp. salt

Pinch of ground white pepper

100ml chicken broth

Filling

Shiitake mushrooms

½ small bamboo shoots

½ small carrot

200g bean shoots

2 cloves of garlic

400g-ground pork (or meat of your choosing such as sliced/shredded duck/chicken)

2 spring onions

1 tsp. sunflower oil

Pastry glue

1 tsp. potato starch/corn-starch

2 tsp. water

Method

Rehydrate the shiitake mushrooms and slice into thin slips along with the bamboo shoots and carrot. Crush the garlic and pop into a hot pan with the sunflower oil and the ground meat of your choosing, then add in all the sliced vegetables and fry until the meet is brown. Add in the sauce mixture and continue cooking this mixture until all the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated. Pop this filling onto a plate and set aside to cool completely.

While the filling is cooling, remove your roll wrappers from the freezer and leave to thaw for 20 minutes to half an hour, then lay them onto a side surface, ensuring to cover with a damp tea towel so that the pastry doesn’t dry out. Take the sheets one at a time, and roll with 1 tablespoon of filling and a couple of slices of spring onion, ensure that these are rolled tightly and use the pastry glue to stick the final flap down. Place these to the side and cover with cling film to preserve.

Once you have between 5 and 7 rolls ready to be cooked, heat around 2.5cm of oil in a wok until it begins to smoke being very careful not to spill any. Then place the spring rolls into the oil and turn halfway (once the rolls look golden on one side) and continue cooking. These should then be placed into a draining basket to get rid of any excess oil and can be served along side the dipping sauce of your choice!

Chinese Bok Choy & Tofu Soup

Soups are a popular dish to be eaten at Chinese New Year, offering a warming and comforting dish, perfect for the wintertime. This recipe is very simple to make but doesn’t skimp on depth of flavour. Eaten as either a starter or main, this bok choy soup is certainly a New Year favourite! You can even add in strips of fried pork or prepared fish to make this meal a little extra special.

Ingredients

Soup

450g bok choy (pak choy)

½ block firm organic tofu (sliced)

600ml vegetable stock

1 tbs. rice wine vinegar

1 tsp. light soy sauce

1 tbs. caster sugar

1 tbs. dry sherry

1 fresh red chilli

1 tbs. cornstarch

2 tbs. water

Method

Wash the bok choy and chop into rough pieces, slice the chilli and remove the seeds, then add the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and cooking wine to the mixture.

Put the vegetable stock into a pan and bring it up to the boil before adding in the bok choy, let this mixture boil for around 5 minutes, in the last 2 minutes, add in the sliced tofu to warm though.

Mix together the cornstarch and water, then add to the soup. This acts as a thickening agent, but it shouldn’t thicken too much as it is a watery style soup. There are many other ingredients that can be added at this stage if you want to make it more substantial, such as glass noodles or boiled chicken.

This quick and easy recipe is a perfect way to start a meal for Chinese New Year, offering a light and healthy beginning to a wonderful celebratory meal.

From all of us about Oriental Mart, we hope you have a very happy Chinese New Year!