It’s fair to say Chinese New Year represents one of the busiest times of the year in the SK kitchen.
Only Christmas is busier for us and as an example this year will be providing 1.5 million pieces of prawn toast, 2 million spring rolls and hundreds of thousands spare ribs, lemon chicken and wontons.
You don’t need to be Chinese to celebrate Chinese New Year and given how amazing Chinese food is, there are certainly no excuses for tucking in to mark the occasion, so what should you eat?
Certain foods are eaten during the festival because of their symbolic meanings, based on their names or appearances. Fish is a must. The Chinese word for fish sounds like the word for surplus so eating fish is believed to bring a surplus of money and good luck in the coming year. Fish can be cooked in various ways such as boiling, steaming, and braising. The most famous Chinese fish dishes include steamed Weever, West Lake fish with pickled cabbage and chili, steamed catfish fish in vinegar sauce, and boiled mkud carp fish with spicy broth. If these fish sound too challenging, or you can’t get hold of them, you can always make oriental sea bass, pan-fried trout fillets or crispy salt and pepper squid.
Chinese dumplings are popular at this time of year and legend has it that the more dumplings you eat during the New Year celebrations the more money you can make in the New Year. Dim Sum anyone?
Dumplings (see recipe below) are made using a thin dough and can be filled with a variety of ingredients, including minced pork, diced prawn, fish, ground chicken, beef, and vegetables. They can be cooked by boiling, steaming, frying or baking.
Spring rolls are also widely eaten. They are known as ‘a ton of gold’ because the fried rolls look like gold bars. Open them up though and rather than gold, you will find vegetables, meat, or something sweet wrapped in these dough rolls.
Chinese New Year wouldn’t be the same without something sweet. In Chinese culture, cakes symbolize togetherness and a rich life and the most famous is Nian Gao (sticky cake). Made with glutinous rice flour, the cake is filled with dried fruit and steamed. Fortune cookies, almond cookies and egg custard tarts are also eaten.
To celebrate Chinese New Year, here’s our own recipe for chicken dumplings:
Dumpling filling:
Garlic puree 20g
Ginger puree 40g
Light soy sauce 12g
Spring onion, chopped 120g
Rice wine 15g
Toasted sesame oil 5g
White sugar 8g
White pepper- 1.5g
Shredded white cabbage or Pak Choi – 100g
Free range chicken thigh, minced – 400g
Shitake mushrooms, finely diced – 30g
Fresh coriander, finely chopped 25g
Dough:
Water – 500g
Rapeseed oil – 40g
Pure dried vacuum salt – 15g
Strong flour 680g
1 egg white
Methodology:
1. For the dough, place the flour into a large bowl and stir in the water gradually into it, mixing all the time. Tip the dough mixture onto a clean work surface and knead it with your hands, dusting the dough with flour.
2. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover it with a clean damp towel and let it rest for about 20 minutes.
3. For the filling combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix them together thoroughly. Set aside and rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.
4. Divide the dough into equal ball-sized pieces and with a rolling pin shape into pancake sizes of 9cm in diameter.
5. Place about two teaspoons of filling in the centre of each ‘pancake’ and moisten the edges with the egg. Fold the dough in half and pinch together with your fingers.
6. Pleat around the edge, pinching with your fingers to seal well. The dumpling should look like a small Cornish pasty with a flat base and rounded top.
7. To cook, heat a large lidded frying pan (preferably a non-stick pan) until it is very hot. Add the some groundnut oil and place the dumplings flat-side down into the pan.
8. Reduce the heat and cook for about two minutes until they the dumplings are lightly browned. Add the water, cover the pan tightly and simmer gently for about 12 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Check the water half-way through and add more if necessary. Uncover the pan and continue to cook for a further two minutes..
9. Carefully remove the dumplings with a slotted spoon and serve on a bed of lettuce in a Chinese ‘steaming’ bowl, putting a cooked pea on top to garnish, if you wish.
10. Eat with a hoisin or sweet chilli dipping sauce.
About Neil Shaefer
Marketing & Communications Executive of SK Foods.
Your food. Our Passion.
