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Greetings!
Gung Hay Fat Choy!
This year the lunar new year is falling close to our calendar new year and all the festivities will erupt this weekend in our International District of Seattle. I hope you can brave the weather and make it out for some good eating and well wishing for the Year of the Dragon.
It is also a good time to reflect on what is important to us, how we can fulfill our own desires of the heart, hearth and how we might participate in our communities.
As you eat your long noodles and chicken on New Year's Eve, I wish you a most prosperous, joyful and healthy Dragon Year!
Building Community through Cuisine,
Naomi
Naomi Kakiuchi, RD, CD, CCP
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Lunar New Year
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Much of Asia marks the new year based on the lunar calendar. It comes at the first new moon, and depending on various traditions, may be celebrated through to the first full moon. In 2012, the first new moon corresponds with January 23rd. In the Chinese and Vietnamese zodiacs, it will be the year of the Dragon. Were you born in 2000, 1988, 1976, 1964, 1952, 1940, or 1928? Then this is your year!
Lunar New Year is also known as a spring festival. Here in the Northwest, that may be hard to imagine with all of this chilly rain. But by now harvest is long over, and figuratively and literally we're turning towards renewal and planting a new season.
Here's what you can do to welcome the Lunar New Year:
- Fully clean the house. (But make sure you get done by New Year's Eve, otherwise you might accidentally sweep out any good luck hanging around.)
- Pay off debts and return any borrowed items.
- Give money envelopes as gifts for the kids (But only as long as they've greeted their elders with good wishes for the New Year first!)
- Wear new clothes.
- Firecrackers, lion dances and dragon dances!
- Get your fortune told.
(Did you notice how Lunar New Year traditions are similar to those I talked about for Japanese New Year in my last e-news? Japan used to celebrate on a lunar calendar too, but has switched over to the Gregorian calendar.)
Most of all though, Lunar New Year is a time for getting together with family and friends. Family reunions are opportunities for remembering traditions and strengthening bonds between one another. Everyone tries not to get into arguments since that could cause a negative trend for the year. In Vietnam, it's a sign of good luck if the first guest to your house on New Year's day is happy and joyful. So feel honored if you're the invited first guest, but don't forget your responsibility to set everyone's year off right! What better way to spend time with family then by eating together? Here's some traditional foods to consider:
China
- Fried egg rolls and dumplings represent gold. If you're lucky, you'll be the one to find a gold coin in your dumpling, symbolizing wealth for you for the rest of the year. (Or maybe for your dentist!)
- Foods served in China at New Year's have names that sound like other words with positive meanings. For instance, shrimp are welcome at the New Year's table for representing happiness & joy, because the word for shrimp in Cantonese sounds like the word for laughing.
- Steamed sweet rice cakes, called nian giao, are popular because the round shape symbolizes family togetherness and the sweetness is for having good things in life. But they also have a double meaning. Nian gao means "sticky cake", but nian also sounds like the word for "year" and gao sounds like the word for "high". This gives the idea of greater prosperity every year.
- And of course, you need long noodles for long life. But be sure not to cut them before serving or you'll be cutting your life short!
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Tteokguk with mandu Image via Flickr user gus00gus |
Korea
Tteokguk (rice cake soup) is eaten year-round in Korea, but it has special significance on New Year's Day when it's eaten at breakfast for good luck, good health, and long life. The white color of the rice cake symbolizes purity and a fresh start. If you don't eat a bowl of tteokguk on New Year's Day then you don't grow a year older.
The main ingredient is garaetteok - cylinders of rice cake cut into thin diagonal slices. Of course there are different recipes for tteokguk all over Korea. But commonly the soup will have beef brisket, scallions, egg, and toasted seaweed. People also add mandu (dumplings) to the soup, especially in North Korea.
 | Bánh tét and bánh chưng
Image via Wikipedia by Viethavvh |
Vietnam
New Year's Day is supposed to be restful and free from cooking. Bánh chưng and bánh tét is the quintessential New Year's food in Vietnam because it can be made ahead and lasts a long time. If you've been to a Vietnamese deli then you've seen these large squares or cylinders tightly wrapped with banana leaves. (The squares are bánh chưng and the cylinders are bánh tét, but they are otherwise the same thing.)
Inside is glutinous rice, mung bean paste, pork, and pork fat. To make them, the packages are boiled for 6 hours! Once done and cooled, you unwrap the leaves and cut the cakes into slices or wedges. Serve with pickles, fish sauce, or a sprinkle of sugar. Don't worry if you open it up and see green rice - the color comes from the banana leaves and mainly gives it a nice aroma. In Vietnam la dong leaves are used, but aren't available here.
Click to read about bánh chưng made here in Seattle and learn the royal, yet humble, story of its origins.
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Steamed Whole Fish
| | Serving a whole fish, including the head and tail, is considered lucky at New Year's since the Chinese word for fish, yú, sounds like the word for plenty. Plus the head and tail give the idea of a good start and end to the year. It's always the last food eaten during the New Year's eve meal, and to really stretch the idea of abundance, you should leave some leftovers for the next day.
I encourage you to try this recipe using a whole fish, but if that makes you squeamish, or if your pan just isn't big enough, the method will work with filets or chunks just as well. Steamed Whole Fish Chinese Style
2-4 servings if combined with other dishes
1 whole fish such as snapper, rockfish, cleaned, scaled 2 inches ginger root, peeled and sliced thin plus 2 tablespoons chopped 16 very thin slices peeled garlic plus 2 tablespoons chopped 16 large fresh cilantro leaves plus 3 tablespoons chopped 3 tablespoon chopped shallots 3 tablespoons chopped green onions ½ cup chicken broth 3 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons sesame oil 2 tablespoons vegetable oil - Sprinkle inside of each fish with salt. Using sharp cleaver or knife, make 4 diagonal slit on 1 side of each fish, spacing equally and cutting to the bone. Insert 1 slice of ginger, 1 slice of garlic and 1 cilantro leaf into each slit. Turn fish over and repeat slits and stuffing. Arrange fish in 9-inch glass pie dish. (Can prepare 6 hours ahead and refrigerate).
- Sprinkle 1 tablespoon each of chopped cilantro, shallots, and green onion around fish. Pour broth and 1 tablespoon soy sauce into dish.
- Pour enough water into wok or large pot to 1½ inches. Place in steaming rack and turn pot on high. Bring water to a boil, place fish on rack, cover and steam fish until just opaque, about 8-10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine sesame oil, vegetable oil, ginger and garlic, and 2 tablespoons each of chopped cilantro, shallots and green onions. Stir over medium heat until oil is hot. Remove from heat and add 2 tablespoons soy sauce.
- When fish is done, transfer to platter. Spoon juices from steamer over fish and some of the seasoned oil. Garnish with cilantro sprigs. Serve with rice and pass remaining seasoned oil separately at the table.
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Community Calendar
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Seattle Tet Festival
 Time: Sat. & Sun., January 21-22
Location: Seattle Center
Tet Festival celebrates the cultural roots of Vietnamese and Vietnamese-Americans by presenting and promoting arts, music, performances, and foods that are unique to Vietnam.
Lunar New Year at The Wing
 Time: Sat., January 21st
Location: Wing Luke Asian Museum: 719 South King Street, Seattle, WA 98104
Special programming all day for children and families! Interactive exhibits with Chinese, Cambodian, Korean traditions, colors, foods, and games. Plus at 11:00 - Lion dance complete with drums, firecrackers, and dancers. And at 4:30 - Oshogatsu Japanese tea ceremony with green tea and sweets.
Lunar New Year Festival in the ID
 Time: Sat., January 28th, from 11 am - 4 pm
Location: Hing Hay Park, Maynard Ave S & S King St, Seattle, WA 98104
Nonstop entertainment throughout the day including Lion and Dragon dances, Taiko drumming, martial arts and the third annual Children's Parade Contest where kiddies can strut their best New Year's cultural outfit on stage!
Treat your taste buds to a trip around the world at the 2nd Annual Lunar New Year Food Walk on Saturday, January 28th! Restaurants across the Chinatown-ID will be offering a variety of $2 tastes from China, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, and beyond! Sample (and collect stamps) from FOUR (4) or more restaurants and you will be eligible to enter a drawing for a GRAND PRIZE!
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