Comfort Food For The Lunar New Year

 Nothing says a good holiday meal than comfort food. This is true with the Lunar Nw Year starting this Saturday.Hot pot is one of those .It's hot and comforting , with ingredients used for centuries.It's shared throughout the Asian community , especially for those far from home.

New contributor and New YorkTimes Cooking assistant content strategist Allison Jiang wrote this piece in yesterday's New York Times wednesday Food section. The Lunar New Year, the Year of the Dragon starts this Saturday and for many  the hot pot is the way to celebrate. There is a Chinese Diaspora where many are far fromthe homeland and want a taste of it. It's also served when the weather turns cold as Tansy Pike of seattle Washington states.Her mtohr always makes it as a way of showing care for each other along with being warm and healthy. for some it's a sub in for Thanksgiving turkey and a highlight at as birthday meal. This is the case for Zoey Gong, a food therapist (a clinician who helps people overcome or deal with eating disorders) who makes it for these occasions along with others. She left China eleven years ago and has no family here.Creating a hot pot helps her reconnect with those roots and forge new bonds with friends.Hot pot isn't known in other Asian counties like Korea.Korean Irene KIm has her CHinese roomamte Jenna Zhang teach her about hot pot and now she's hooked on it.

There's nothing to dislike about hot pot. To some it's reminiscent of other communal pot dishes like bagna calda and fondue.Diners put what they want into the pot and eat it. Someione's shrimp might wind up in another's plate while spinach is shared by the whole table. What makes a good hot pot? You'll need meat such as a good chuck, rib eye or Wagyu, along with pork belly or lamb. They have to be thawed out first if they are frozen. Seafood is always lobster, shrimp or fish balls along with fresh thinly sliced white fish . Think halibut or bass. Cut up squd and shrimp, scallop or clams round it out. You're also going to need bean curd strings  and sheets along with tofu. Veggies are a marriage of East and West with russet potatoes being cooked with chrysanthemum greens and Daikon radishes. Add canned baby corn ears along with an array of such mushrooms as  shiitaki and enoki. A starch is added . Use vermecelli ro glass noodles. You cna also use frozen dumplings or rice cakes too. The broth is a hot pot soup[ base that you can find at any Asian grocery store. As what to dip the cooked piece in, try shar cha, Chinese barbecue sauce, sesame sauce or oil along with chili saouce or crisp.There' also fresh chopped garlic , cilantro and scallions to put on top along with toasted sesame seeds.

Celebrate the year of The Dragon with a fun and tasty hot pot.It's a great way to njoy a meak with family and friends.Enjoy the varied ingredients and flavors.