Chinese New Year

Lion's Head Meatballs in a Spicy Coconut Sauce made by Dani

My husband always talks about Lion's Head meatballs when he is traveling for work in China, so I decided to give them a try! This recipe is from Cooking Light, January 2002 (found on MyRecipes.com). This makes approx. 8 servings.

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup light coconut milk
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons minced hot red chile pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped green onions
• 2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
• Meatball Ingredients:
• 1 pound ground round or ground pork
  
• 1/3 cup chopped green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped water chestnuts
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon minced hot red chile pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind

To prepare sauce, combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl.

To prepare meatballs, combine ground pork and next 9 ingredients (pork through salt) in a large bowl, and shape mixture into 8 meatballs. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add meatballs; cook 7 minutes, browning on all sides. Drain well.

Place sauce in a large saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add meatballs; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes. Garnish with basil and rind.

I wanted to make a noodle dish because it seems that every Chinese banquet I attend, there is a noodle dish. So it must be good luck! I asked my personal expert - my mom - as to what kind of noodles would be significant. She suggested going for the savory version of 'nian gao'. I honestly didn't expect that Rebecca would make it as a dessert, so I thought it was a good idea. See Rebecca's writeup below about the auspicious meaning of 'nian gao'!

The noodle itself comes in two different forms, both of which look identical to me. The difference is that one is dried and the other fresh. The dried version is hard oval white disks about 1-1/2 inch long in a bag on the supermarket shelf. The fresh version is also hard oval white disks of the same size but in the refrigerated section. Both versions need to be soaked. The dried version needs to be soaked overnight (according to my mom). I used the fresh version which I soaked for about an hour.

I made up the recipe with mom's help:

1 bag of nian gao (rice sticks) from local Asian supermarket
1 tsp minced garlic
small head of cabbage, finely sliced
1 large carrot, julienned
1/2 lb of pork (or chicken), julienned
dark soy sauce,
salt,
pepper

Use a nonstick pan as the nian gao can get sticky. Adding a little oil to pan, I stir-fried the cabbage, carrot, and pork together first. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then remove from pan. Add more oil to the pan, and cook the garlic for a minute and then add the nian gao. When it starts to soften and begins to stick a little, add some dark soy sauce. This will help it from sticking too much as well as flavor it. I wish I had the exact measurement, but I started with a dash or two, mixed it in, tasted, then added a little more. Repeat until you're satisfied! (Some of the disks were sticking to each other, so I had to peel them apart.) The nian gao is done when it's soft and chewy. Add the cabbage, carrot, and pork back in and mix thoroughly.

New Year's Dumpling Delight - brought by Kim

Knowing I didn't have much time to devote to making dumplings on Saturday, I made them the night before and planned to just steam them at Dani's house right before our dinner. Unfortunately, the wonton wrappers turned very doughy after a day in the refrigerator. They were sticky and difficult to move to the steamer without tearing the wrapper. Next time if I needed to make them ahead, I would freeze them and steam them a little longer.

In addition to the dipping sauce that was contained in the Cooking Light recipe, I also made the following dipping sauce from Dishing Up Vermont by Tracey Medeiros

Spicy Apricot Sauce

1 cup apricot glaze or jelly (I used apricot preserves and removed the large chunks)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2 tablespoons mirin

Combine the apricot glaze, vinegar, soy sauce, pepper flakes, ginger, and mirin in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until sauce becomes smooth, whisking frequently. If you find that the sauce is too thick, add a little water.

• Chinese Almond Cookies (Dani) from Sunset December 2001, MyRecipes.com
• About 1 cup (1/2 lb.) butter or margarine, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/3 cup blanched whole almonds
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat 1 cup butter and sugar until smooth. Add whole egg and almond extract and beat until well blended. Add flour and baking powder; stir to mix, then beat until well blended.Shape dough into 1-inch balls, flatten each slightly, and place about 1 inch apart on buttered 12- by 15-inch baking sheets.In a small bowl, beat egg yolk with milk to blend. Brush cookies lightly with egg mixture; discard any remaining. Press an almond into the center of each cookie and sprinkle with about 1/8 teaspoon sesame seeds.Bake cookies in a 325° regular or convection oven until lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes; if baking two sheets at once in one oven, switch their positions halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then use a wide spatula to transfer to racks to cool completely.

Dessert - brought by Rebecca

Choosing a dessert for the Chinese New Year's get-together was a bit of challenge! I finally decided on Baked Chinese New Year Cake (Nian Gao)

and oranges.

According to my research, this cake is considered good luck to eat during Chinese New Year because "nian gao" is a homonym for "every year higher and higher." Additionally, the rice flour gives this cake a sticky texture which represents the sticking together of family and friends. I made the recipe a little lighter by using lite coconut milk and replacing one of the eggs with 2 egg whites. I got the original recipe for this cake from a former co-worker, who brought these bars to work for Chinese New Year many years ago at my first job. I've long since lost track of her, but I've still got her recipe! Unfortunately, she included no mixing instructions with her recipe, just baking instructions, so I mixed it up like a regular cake. There are a number of optional ingredients listed in this recipe. I chose to add the zest of one orange to the batter and to sprinkle the top liberally with sesame seeds. Yum!

Baked Chinese New Year's Cake (Nian Gao) - Recipe by Linda Yang Hardman

1 lb sweet rice flour
2 whole eggs plus 2 egg whites
1 1/2 c brown sugar
1 c granulated white sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 c lite coconut milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter, softened
sesame seeds (optional)
orange zest (optional)
shredded coconut (optional)
1 can red bean paste (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13 pan and set aside.

Mix together the eggs, sugars, vanilla and butter in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the rice flour and baking soda. Add the flour mixture and coconut milk alternately to the egg/sugar/butter mixture, mixing well between additions and ending with flour. Fold in the orange zest and/or coconut, if using.

If using red bean paste, pour half of the batter into the pan, cover with red bean paste, and then pour in the remaining batter. If not using red bean paste, just pour the full amount of batter into the pan. Smooth out the top and sprinkle generously with sesame seeds.

Cover the pan with foil. Bake covered at 350°F for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 300°F and bake for 20 minutes more. Uncover and finish baking for 10-15 minutes or until done (a chopstick or toothpick should come out clean). Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack until room temperature.

Cut into bars and serve.