Xing Nian Kuai Le! Happy New Year! This year, we celebrate the year of the cock, or rooster. I get a lot more excited for Chinese New Year than regular New Year since Chinese New Year is celebrated for 2 weeks. In Taiwan and China, many stores close for days, and people are off school and work, so they can spend the time with family and friends. For me, Chinese New Year usually means lots of family meals, parties, and lion dance.
This is my lion dance troupe, East Rising, at the Library of Congress, for a performance last Saturday. Lunar New Year is our busiest season of the year, and we get invited to perform at various functions every weekend for a couple of months. It’s not a rockin’ New Year party without a noisy and exciting lion dance ushering in good luck and happiness. For more information on East Rising, check out our website and Facebook page.
Friday was Chinese New Years Eve, and my family came over for dinner. We had a large meal of roast duck, crispy pork belly, whole steamed fish, braised pork belly, shrimp and tofu, chicken stir fry, snow pea shoots, pickled vegetables, and nian gao (rice cakes). I will share with you my whole steamed fish, braised pork belly, and pickled vegetable recipes.
A traditional dish to eat during Chinese New Year is a whole fish. The saying nian nian you yu means may you have an abundance every year, and the word for abundance is a homophone for the word fish. I wanted to try making the whole fish this year. I rarely cook fish, and when I do, it’s usually frozen and already in fillets, so I was a little nervous.
I went to Wegmans on Friday morning to get a fresh fish. The seafood counter was pretty intimidating for an inexperienced fish cook like me. Luckily, the staff manning the counter were friendly and knowledgeable, and hooked me up. I asked for a whole white fish without a strong fishy taste, and the lady steered me to the bronzini. I picked one and it was already gutted, but they scaled it and removed the fins per my request.
I prepped my aromatics earlier in the day so they would be ready for cooking. I thinly julienned (or in other words, cut them into matchsticks) ginger, green onion, garlic, and chopped up cilantro.
When I was ready to cook the fish, I rinsed it and wiped it dry. Then I seasoned the inside and outside with salt and pepper, and stuffed half of the cilantro, garlic, ginger, and green onion into the cavity. This was not the ideal steamer to use for a whole fish, but it worked. I sprayed cooking spray on the steamer first. You can also MacGyver a steamer by placing the fish on a heat proof plate, and place the plate on top of a small bowl to keep the plate above the water.
I poured a little water in a wok and let it come to a boil. Once the water boiled, I turned the heat down to medium low, and I placed the steamer in the wok (make sure the water does not touch the fish), and covered the wok. I steamed the fish for 10 minutes. If you don’t have a wok, a big pot will work fine.
While the fish steamed, I got the sauce ready. I let oil, soy sauce, rice wine, mirin, and sesame oil come to a boil. Then I added the rest of the cilantro, green onion, garlic, and ginger. Let it cook for a few minutes until everything smells absolutely fantastic and the aromatics get cooked.
Here is my steamed fish on the serving plate.
Pour the hot sauce and aromatics right over the fish. I love eating this dish with white rice. The sauce tastes so freaking good poured over rice. I was very pleased with my first attempt at steaming a whole fish. This looks like an impressive dish to serve at a dinner, but it’s so simple and you really can make this anytime. When my grandma was alive and we visited her in Taiwan, she made fish for every dinner. If I lived closer to a grocery store with a decent selection of fresh fish, I would definitely make this more often.
Meat is also a big part of a Chinese New Years Eve dinner. I decided to make a braised pork belly. It takes about 3-4 hours of cooking time for the meat to become super tender, but it’s low maintenance and quick to put together. This recipe was inspired by Serious Eats’ chashu pork for tonkatsu ramen. The braising liquid is gold. DO NOT throw away the braising liquid after you finish cooking the pork. I often make extra so I have plenty of liquid to marinate soft boiled eggs afterwards. After I finish marinating eggs, I will pour the marinade over rice, noodles, or in rice porridge (congee). The sweet and savory sauce with that deep, rich, porky goodness is absolutely delicious. If you don’t plan on using the sauce immediately, then freeze it in portions for future use.
I got a 4.5 lb tray of sliced pork belly from Costco.
I roughly chopped up green onion, ginger, shallot, and garlic
I dumped the aromatics into a large pot with water, soy sauce, mirin (sweet rice wine), rice wine, and sugar and brought it to a boil. Then I added the pork belly that I cut into 1 inch pieces. The pork will probably not be submerged. That is ok.
You can cook this in the oven, or on the stove top. If you continue in the oven, transfer the entire pot with the lid on, but slightly ajar, to a 275ºF oven. Let it cook low and slow for 3-4 hours. Give it a stir every hour, and take it out once the pork is cooked to your desired tenderness.
If you cook this on the stove top, just cover the pot, but leave the lid ajar. Turn the heat down to low, and let it cook low and slow for 3-4 hours. Give it a stir every hour, and turn off the flame once the pork is cooked to your desired tenderness.
Here are the unctuous, melt in your mouth morsels of fatty pork. You can serve it as is, or if you want to kick it up another notch, broil or use a blowtorch to char the surface. They are delicious wrapped in steamed buns, over rice, in ramen, etc.
As I mentioned earlier, I keep the braising liquid. There will be a thick layer of pork fat on top, so use whatever method you want to get rid of that. I like to let the liquid cool in the fridge, then just peel the hardened fat off in pieces. It’s gross, but effective.
I soft boil eggs, but if you prefer medium or hard boiled, knock yourselves out. Once the eggs are boiled to the desired doneness, put them in ice water to stop the cooking process. Peel them, and then marinate them in the braising liquid for at least a day. They’ll turn into a shade of light brown, and taste infinitely better than plain boiled eggs. Once the eggs are ready, I like to keep the liquid to pour over hot rice, noodles, or mix it into a pot of congee (rice porridge). There are plenty of other tasty applications as well.
Whenever I make this braised pork, I usually make a side of pickled cucumbers to go with it. This is a quick pickle and it’s NOTHING like the dill pickles you are used to seeing served with sandwiches. I really dislike dill pickles, they just taste nasty to me. This Asian pickle is sweet, sour, spicy, and salty, but with flavors of rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. This tangy pickle goes well with the fattiness of the pork belly.
I thinly sliced an English cucumber. I prefer English cucumbers because their skins are thinner, their seeds are smaller and more tender, and they don’t get as watery as regular cucumbers. I happened to have carrots, so I also sliced up a couple of carrots.
I heated up the water and dissolved the sugar and salt in it before mixing in the rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili oil, and sesame seeds.
I let it marinate for at least a day before serving.
Ready to eat with my braised pork!
Happy New Year! Happy Eating!
Steamed Whole Fish
Ingredients
– 1 whole white fish, I used bronzini (cleaned, gutted, scaled, fins removed)
– 1/3 bunch of cilantro
– 1/2 bunch green onion
– 3 cloves of garlic
– 2 inch knob of ginger
– 1/4 c soy sauce
– 2 tbs rice wine
– 1/4 c neutral tasting oil
-1 tbs sesame oil
– 1 tbs mirin
Directions
– Chop up the cilantro. Divide the cilantro into 2 piles, one of the stems, the other of the leafy parts
– Thinly julienne the garlic, ginger, and green onion
– Rinse and pat the fish dry. Season the cavity and the skin of the fish with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the stems of the cilantro, and half of the ginger, half of the garlic, and half of the green onion. Place the fish on a greased steamer basket or heat proof plate.
– Pour a little water into a wok or large pot. Once the water comes to a boil, turn the heat to medium low. Place the steamer or plate in the wok, but make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the steamer or plate. Elevate the plate with a small bowl if necessary. Cover the wok with the lid, and steam for 10 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily.
– While the fish steams, combine the oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, and mirin in a small saucepan or pot. Once it comes to a boil, add the remainder of the garlic, ginger, green onion, and cilantro. Cook them for a few minutes until they wilt and smell fragrant.
– Once the fish is cooked, move it to the serving plate, and carefully pour the hot oil mixture on top of the fish.
Braised Pork Belly
Ingredients
(Note: this makes a lot of braising liquid, enough to marinate about 2 dozen eggs. If you don’t want so much liquid leftover, you can scale down the amounts, just keep the proportions approximately the same.)
– 4.5-5 lb sliced pork belly
– 1 c water
– 1.5 c soy sauce
– 1.5 c rice wine
– 1.5 mirin
– 3/4 c sugar
– 1/2-1 bunch of green onion
– 1 head of garlic
– 1 shallot
– 3-4 inch knob of ginger
Directions
– Roughly chop the green onion, quarter the shallot, slice the ginger, and peel the garlic.
– Cut the pork belly into 1 inch pieces, or to whatever size you want.
– Combine everything but the pork belly into a large pot. Bring to a boil, then add the pork. Cover the pot with the lid slightly ajar.
-If you are using the oven, put the pot into a 275ºF oven. Stir the pork every hour, and cook for 3-4 hours until the pork is extremely tender.
-If you are using the stove, turn the heat to low. Stir the pork every hour, and cook for 3-4 hours until the pork is extremely tender.
Asian Pickled Cucumbers and Carrots
Ingredients
– 1 English cucumber
– 2-3 carrots
– 1 c water
– 1/2 c sugar
– 1 tbs salt
– 1/2 c rice vinegar
– 2 tbs soy sauce
– 2 tbs sesame oil
– 1 tbs chili oil
– 2 tbs sesame seed
Directions
– Thinly slice the cucumber and carrots, and place them into a bowl
– Microwave the water until warm, and dissolve the sugar and salt first. Then add the rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili oil, and sesame seed.
– Pour the mixture over the cucumber and carrots. Let it sit in the fridge for at least a day before serving.
– The liquid can be reused to pickle more vegetables, but note that it will be watered down due to the water released by the vegetables.
