Feb3

Chinese New Year Celebrations

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Chinese New Year Celebrations

Tonight we celebrated Chinese New Year with a little Chinese Banquet.

We started with Pot Sticker Dumplings. These were delicious little pork dumplings initially cooked in a fry pan to create a crispy bottom. Boiling water is then poured into the pan, and the pan is partially covered with a lid to create a little steam room to complete the cooking process.  These little morsels were a huge hit with the kids.

Pot Sticker Dumplings
 
2 x 4cm pieces ginger, peeled
250g Chinese cabbage, finely shredded
350g minced pork
2 green onions, finely chopped
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs oyster sauce
2 tsp sesame oil 1 tbs Shaoxing rice wine* or dry sherry
Cornflour, for dusting
2 x 275g pkts gow gee pastries (wrappers)
1/3 cup (80ml) peanut oil
  1. Finely grate 1 piece of ginger, then finely shred second piece. Place cabbage in a bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt then leave for 30 minutes. Squeeze handfuls of cabbage to remove excess water then place in a bowl. Add 1 1/2 tsp grated ginger, minced pork, onions, sauces, sesame oil and wine and combine well.
  2. Line a large tray with baking paper then dust with cornflour. Using a finger, wet edge of a wrapper with a little water. Place 2 level tsp of filling in centre. Fold wrapper in half and, using your thumb and index finger, pleat one edge, then press edges together to seal. Place, in a single layer, on prepared tray. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. Dumplings can be made up to 6 hours in advance; store covered in the fridge.
  3. Preheat oven to 150°C. Heat 1 tbs peanut oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 12 dumplings, pleated side-up in a single layer, and cook for 1-2 minutes or until brown underneath. Carefully add 1/2 cup boiling water, then cover partially with a lid and cook for a further 4-5 minutes or until water has evaporated and dumplings are crisp underneath. Transfer to an oven tray, cover with foil and keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining oil and dumplings.

Then, for main, we had Longevity Beef Noodles and Fried Rice.

 

I actually made the fried rice for the kids but they adored the noodles as well.

Longevity Beef Noodles
from taste.com.au

500g packet fresh thin egg noodles
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 cup peanut oil
500g beef fillet, thinly sliced
2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, finely grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
150g snow peas, trimmed, cut finely lengthwise
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 cups beansprouts, trimmed
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
fresh coriander leaves, to serve
  1. Place noodles in a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Stand for 5 minutes or until heated through. Separate with a fork. Drain. Return to bowl. Add sesame oil. Toss to combine.
  2. Heat a wok over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil and swirl to coat. Add half the beef. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until sealed. Remove to a plate. Repeat with 1 tablespoon oil and remaining beef.
  3. Heat remaining peanut oil in wok. Add ginger and garlic. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Add snow peas and half the stock. Stir-fry for 2 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half.
  4. Return beef and any juices to wok. Add noodles, soy sauce, oyster sauce, remaining stock, beansprouts and pepper. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through. Serve topped with coriander.

 Finally, we finished off with Egg Custart Tarts and (shop bought) Fortune Cookies.

Egg Custard Tarts
from taste.com.au

70g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
80ml (1/3 cup) water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 sheets (25 x 25cm) frozen butter puff pastry, just thawed
  1. Place sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool.
  2. Whisk the eggs and sugar syrup in a bowl to combine (do not overwhisk). Strain the mixture into a small jug.
  3. Preheat oven to 150°C. Use a 7cm-diameter fluted pastry cutter to cut 12 discs from the pastry. Line twelve 30ml (1 1/2-tbs) capacity patty pans with the pastry discs. At this stage I popped my pastry lined patty pans in the freezer for a few minutes to firm them up. I think this stops the pastry from puffing up in the oven too much.
  4. Divide the egg mixture among the pastry cases. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until the custard is set and the pastry is light golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Then we all lay on the couch holding our fat tummies. But, we are pleased to say that we highly recommend all of these recipes. 

Filed under Dinner and tagged | 73 Comments

About Lisa

In this blog I will share some of these, including stories about my two most gorgeous creations - my sons, Hamish & Will. I am married to a wonderful man, John, who ohs and ahs at the right time when I present my latest creation. By day I work in Corporate Communications for a global software company.

73 Responses »

  5. this looks amazing… i’m going to have to try all of these recipes! especially the egg custard tarts, one of my absolute favourite things to get from asian bakeries :)

    Reply ↓

    • And – the egg custart tarts were sooooo simple to make. The tip is to put the tart shell in the freezer for 10 minutes or so before you pour in the custard and pop them in the oven.

      Reply ↓

  7. Happy Chinese New Year!!!!

    I see you have enjoyed your dinner very much! Dumplings, noodles, rice and egg tarts all happen to be my favourite foods :D

    I had a hearty dinner as well — steamboat!

    Reply ↓

  8. I posted about the chinese buffet I went to last Sunday and none of the pictures I took came out! I was so upset! So glad you posted something so much better! I love asian food! And I will definitely make some of these!

    Happy New Year!

    Reply ↓

  9. I love to hear about a family that cooks, spends time together, and is proud to do/try new things.
    This all looks amazing, and i would have loved to be there! (how much for the next seating tickets?)
    ~J

    Reply ↓

  14. Pingback: Chinese New Year Celebrations « Created Today | 2011 Welcome

  24. A few months ago I started studying chinese language. I know it will be hard, but I love doing it.
    Chinese culture and food interest me a lot!
    Thank you for sharing

    Reply ↓

  29. Thank you so much for including these recipes! My children will love this. I am sure they will even help me make this because they love Asian food. I usually buy the frozen pot stickers for my son because he loves them so much.

    I just wrote a post about the Lion Dance, which celebrates the Chinese New Year, and and of which my son is a part. We are supposed to go to another performance tomorrow, weather permitting. You can check out the colorful costumes and stunts here: http://rtcrita.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/lion-dance-celebrating-the-asian-new-year/

    Reply ↓

    • Thanks for that. My kids are so scared of Lion Dances but I’m going to try again this year!
      Please do try the Pot Sticker Dumpling recipe – it’s super easy and lots of fun to make – especially with the kids.

      Reply ↓

  31. Pingback: Diabetics – Chinese New Year, Super Bowl Sunday « Diabetes Diet Dialogue

  37. Happy Chinese New Year of the Rabbit.

    One of the dishes my mother made for our dinner was seaweed soup…it’s like a fine brown linguine. I can’t remember the Chinese word but it’s a pun on millionaire / being wealthy.

    Actually all types of seaweed is delicious…vegetable of the sea.

    Reply ↓

  40. Pingback: Chinese New Year dinner | A Taste of the World

  48. In some families, we have hotpot for reunion dinner for Chinese New year. You can have different type of soup base and everyone just gather around the hotpot and dump in the different type of food such as meatball, prawns, meat and vegetable into it. It’s fun and everyone get to eat together. :)

    Reply ↓

  56. We made Pot Sticker Dumplings by accident once because our original plan of making mince meat rolls didn’t work out. But they were more in the shape of mini-envelopes!

    You probably avoid having such things happen to you.

    Reply ↓

  57. Pingback: Chinese New Year Food (via Created Today) « The Journey of Culture

  59. Pingback: Tweets that mention Chinese New Year Celebrations « Created Today -- Topsy.com

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