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.

migrator|6 Feb 2016 5:49 PM IST

Traditional feast to celebrate Chinese New year

Image of YUSHENG (FISH SALAD)

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.

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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.

migrator

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