Traditional feast to celebrate Chinese New year
If you visit a Chinese home for their New Year celebrations, you will realise that when they serve a dinner or lunch spread it is almost like a treasure hunt.
By : migrator
Update: 2016-02-06 12:19 GMT
Chennai
The holiday is often the only time of year when people get to see their relatives and hence, a gala feast is laid out. Each individual dish is steeped in custom and is a homonym for a particular wish in the upcoming year. This year, the Spring Festival falls on February 8. Culinary treasures like yusheng (raw fish salad that is said to bring good luck), a whole chicken dish (which signifies happiness for the whole family) Buddha’s delight, an elaborate vegetarian dish, varieties of dumplings, spring rolls and nian gao (a celebration cake) are a must on the table. Here we share a few recipes.
YUSHENG (FISH SALAD)
For Salad:
Rice vermicelli noodles (crispy): 30 gms
Wheat noodles (crispy): 30 gms
Wonton sheets (shredded and crispy): 30 gms
Shredded radish, spring onion: 20 gms
Coriander sprigs: few Carrot (shredded): 30 gms
Apricots (dried): 30 gms
Fresh red chilli (shredded): 10 gms
Pickled ginger: 10 gms
Garlic whole (sliced): 10 gms
Salt: to taste
Salmon (smoked or raw, sliced): 30 gms
For Sauce:
Apple jam: 2 tbsp
Plum sauce: 2 tbsp
For Garnish:
Shredded spring onion: 20 gm
Coriander sprigs: few
Seasame seeds: 5 gms
Peanut (crushed): 20 gms
White pepper powder: 10 gms
Five spice powder: 5 gms
Peanut oil: 15 ml
Method:
- Heat the apple jam and plum sauce together, bring it to a boil and scum. Keep aside for cooling.
- Accumulate all the salad ingredients on a plate.
- Add a generous amount of the prepared sauce to the salad.
- Put all the garnish ingredients on top.
- Toss the entire stuff with the help of a chopstick in the plate itself.
- Serve at room temperature.
Recipe: Chef Ho Chun Kee (William), Master Chef at Golden Dragon, Taj Coromandel
FRESH FRUIT SPRING ROLL
Ingredients:
Pineapple cubes: 6
Peeled apples: 6
Papaya cubes: 6
Banana cubes: 6
Melon cubes: 6
Custard powder: 1/4 soup spoon
Honey: 1/2 tsp
Icing sugar: to garnish
Strawberry crush: 2 tbsp
Mint leaves: few
Spring roll sheets: few Oil to fry
Method:
- Mix the fruits with custard powder, honey and strawberry crush.
- Place in centre of spring roll sheet and fold like a spring roll.
- Fry in hot oil.
- Cut into 2, dust with icing sugar.
- Pour strawberry crush on the side of the plate and garnish with mint leaves.
Recipe: Chef Shanmugam, The Residency, GN Chetty Road, T Nagar
BUDDHA DELIGHT – STIR FRY MIXED VEGETABLE
Ingredients:
Sliced black mushroom: 2
Broccoli floret: 10 gms
Peas: 5 gms
Soft fried, diced tofu: 10 gms
Pokchoy: 1
Shredded cabbage: 3 leaves
Soaked glass noodles: 5 gms
Water chestnut: 3
Asparagus: 3
Sliced carrot: 5 gms
Bamboo shoot: 5 gms
For sauce:
Cooking oil: 15 ml
Sliced garlic cloves: 4
Light soy sauce: 1 tbsp
Vegetable stock: 20 ml
Salt: 1 tsp
White pepper powder: 1 tsp
Cooking wine: 1 tbsp
Sesame oil: 1 tsp
Potato starch: 5 gms
Method:
- Cut all the above vegetables as per desired shape and blanch them. Keep aside.
- Heat oil in wok, add garlic and sauté it, add light soy sauce, blanched vegetables and toss it.
- Add the salt, pepper powder and stir fry it. Check the seasoning and finish with cooking wine and sesame oil.
- Thicken the sauce with potato starch.
CHICKEN CLAY POT WITH SWEET BASIL
Ingredients:
Boneless diced chicken: 200 gms
Onion, finely chopped: 1
Spring onion cut in 8 parts: 2
Sliced ginger pieces: 5
Garlic clove, chopped: 1
Dry red chilli: 3
Sweet basil leaves: 10
Soy sauce: 2 tsp
Chicken seasoning powder: 1 tsp
Sesame oil: 2 tbsp
Black bean paste: 1 tsp
Sweet soy sauce: 1 tsp
Egg: 1
Potato starch: 2 tsp
Method:
- Cut the chicken into medium dices and marinate with salt, egg, starch and a little oil. Keep aside for a few hours.
- Heat sesame oil in wok, add chilli, garlic, ginger and chopped onion, sauté it.
- Add the marinated chicken and black bean paste, sweet soy sauce, soy sauce and cook in slow fire till the chicken looks tender and cooked.
- Then add chicken seasoning powder, finish with sweet basil and spring onion. Thicken the sauce with starch, serve in clay pot and garnish with fried basil.
Recipe: Chef Tenzin Namkha, Chef de cuisine, Chap Chay, The Raintree, St.Mary’s Road.
Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!
Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!
Click here for iOS
Click here for Android