A Taste Of Chinese

 With the Chinese New Year and the Beijing Olympics it's time to celebrate Chinese food. It's easy to make at home along with being a fun dinner. It's time to ring in the Year of The Tiger.

Some home chefs think a wok is necessary to make the best Chinese food. Not true. You can easily use a saute or fry pan so long as it's flat and close to the flame. If you do want to buy one then consider a carbon steel or cast iron one. The original woks were made out of cast iron and the tradition continues. Look for one with a wood handle because wood is the best material to diffuse the heat. Stir fries are easy and can be tailored to your family's tastes. Vegetarians will love one that's purely plant. Crunchy water chestnuts and baby corn give it color and crunch while broccoli, carrots and corn a boost it with vitamins and flavor.Make sure sugar snap beans along with green and red bell pepper slices are also added. For heartier and meatier fare add chicken.Shrimp or pork is a nice change up too. Soy sauce or homemade ginger sauce  can be drizzled into the stir. fry. Ginger sauce is made with light soy sauce,rice wine ginger, brown sugar and spring onions or scallions. These can also be used as a dipping sauce for dumplings too.

Dumplings or pot stickers are another dish that can be made at home. You can buy the wrappers that encase the filling or make them yourself. The wrappers can also be used to make egg rolls too. Home made ones are nothing more than a dough of flour, eggs, water and a pinch of salt. They're rolled out in cornstarch instead of more flour for a crisper , crunchier bite. Any Asian grocery store has them  though, usually under the name gyoza.  As for filling, you can try any kind of minced meat. You can try only beef or pork or combining them.  For a really luxurious filling think lobster spiked with ginger. They're a great treat , especially with a ginger sauce.  Of course there are the noodle dishes, Lo mein is a good dish for the family.It can be made like spaghetti and all sorts of veggies and protein can be added to it. Chicken or beef  lo mein is a good week day dinner., You can also throw in snow peas and mushrooms  along with bean sprouts and ginger slivers. It can also be a veggie one with more mushrooms and tofu added.

It's the Lunar New Year and the Beijing Olympics. Celebrate with great homemade Chinese food. It's a tasty way to honor this country and its' people.

Happy Year Of The Monkey

It's the first day of the Chinese New Year, and it's a day to celebrate. The Year of the Monkey  ushers in yummy foods and centuries old traditions. They are easy to make too and fun to eat.Anyone, even novice home chefs can enjoy cooking these delicious dishes!

Dumplings are one of the oldest and symbolic Lunar New Year dishes. They can symbolize both family and prosperity due to their resemblance to purses.Dumpling or potsticker skins are simple to make. They're just a mix of regular flour, water and a pinch of salt.Think of them like ravioli.The fillings can be anything you want. Traditional ones are filled with pork or cabbage but you can also use shrimp or chicken.Spicing is important too. There's a dash of dry sherry or Shaoxing wine along with green onion and ginger for bite.Add Szechuan peppercorns for real fire  and heat or even fresh ground pepper. Cook , like pasta in salted boiling water for ten minutes or until tender.Serve with homemade hoisin sauce which is a mixture of  soy sauce, peanut butter and either molasses, honey or brown sugar for sweetness (I'd recommend using dark honey, it;s the healthiest, however both the others will give the sauce an earthy richness).along with garlic powder and sesame oil. Jalapeno pepper or Chinese pepper is added for heat.Homemade duck sauce is another good dipping sauce. This is simply a mix of apricot jam and Chinese plum sauce  You can also just dip them in plum sauce too.

These sauces would work with another New Year's classic, spring rolls which represent gold bars and prosperity . These are also easy to create. You do have to buy spring roll wrappers to start with, imply because it's hard to duplicate their delicate layers.. These are always vegetarian and are filled with shredded carrots, green onions and sweet bell peppers. Cilantro is also added for color and taste along with Thai basil. The rolls are fried in  a wok but you can also fry them in a regular frying pan using peanut oil.Make sure they are tightly wrapped otherwise two things will happen: the filling will fall out while frying or the oil will seep in and sog up the filling. It's just tightly rolling and tucking to prevent that. Another traditional treat is a dish of noodles.Use egg noodles if you can't get the authentic. These are cooked  first before cooking the  mushrooms and thinly sliced chicken breasts and broccoli florets. Bok choy can also be added as snow peas.Use  scallions and ginger for more flavor along with garlic. Boil the noodles first and then stir fry the chicken with soy sauce. The vegetables are then added as are the aromatics . Home chefs  can also add Napa cabbage too for color and crunch. Eat this to guarantee a long life.

Enjoy the Year of the Money with tasty New Year's moon, Eat the spring rolls and dumplings for prosperity and the noodles for a long life. Enjoy not only their deliciousness but their rich symbolism too!