Chinese Lunar New Year Recipes

Celebrate the Year of the Monkey with these traditional (and tasty) dishes

Steamed B.C. Black Cod with Garlic Chili

Jenice Yu, Fresh Ideas Start Here

Growing up with seafood as our family business, we naturally always had the freshest B.C. seafood at our Chinese New Year dinners.

Ingredients

• 1 lb black cod fillet, skin off
• salt and pepper
• 3 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1 tsp chopped chili

Sauce Ingredients

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp cooking rice wine

Garnishing Ingredients

• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 green onion, finely chopped

Method

1. Clean fish and pat dry. Season fish with salt and pepper. Place fish in dish and top with chili and garlic.
2. Bring water to a boil and steam fish for 10 minutes.
3. While steaming, heat sauce ingredients in a separate pot.
4. After fish is cooked through (10 minutes or so), remove it from the steamer.
5. Pour sauce and sesame oil over the fish and garnish with green onion.
6. Serve immediately.

Prosperity Steamed Fish

Chef Clement Chan, Torafuku

My mom would always make fish for Chinese New Year and we would all gather around the dinner table and enjoy a festive feast. Fish is a staple because it means prosperity and it's important to serve it head to tail to signify a good year from start to finish.

Ingredients

• 1 lb whole fish (a white fish such as tilapia)
• 1-2 ounces ginger, finely sliced
• 1/4 cup light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 4 sprigs cilantro
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Method

1. Rinse fish in cold water and pat dry.
2. Season the fish inside and out with salt and pepper.
3. Place the fish on a heatproof plate that will fit inside your steamer.
4. Stuff half of the ginger inside the cavity of the fish and spread the remaining ginger on top of the fish.
5. Pour water into a wok or pot and set a steamer in the wok or on the rim of the stockpot. Make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the steamer. Bring the water to a boil over high heat.
6. Place the fish in the steamer, cover, and steam for about 10 minutes, until the fish flakes easily.
7. While the fish is steaming, in a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, wine, and a tablespoon of water. Set aside.
8. Remove the plate from the steamer and pour off any liquid. Place green onion and cilantro on top of the fish.
9. Heat the oil over high heat until it is hot but not smoking. Remove the oil from the heat and pour it directly over the scallion and cilantro.
10. Drizzle the soy mixture over the fish and serve.

Pomelo Salad

Executive Chef Jenny Hui, The Lazy Gourmet

A salad is an item you would not normally see at a traditional Chinese New Year dinner. However, for me, I love the refreshing textures, especially when served with all the other dishes during the big family meal. The pomegranate symbolizes fertility.

Ingredients

• 3 honey or red pomelos, segmented
• ½ cup pomegranate seeds
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• ¼ red onion, thinly sliced
• ¼ bunch cilantro leaves
• ½ lotus root, very thinly sliced
• 2 cups vegetable oil

Method

1. In a large pot, heat oil to 350°.
2. Gently add lotus root one at a time. Deep-fry until golden.
3. Drain onto paper towel. Season with salt. Set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, combine pomegranate seeds, carrots, red onion, and cilantro. Add half of the dressing and toss. Place on platter.
5. Arrange pomelo segments on top.
6. Drizzle with remainder of the dressing.
7. Top with lotus chips.

Dressing Ingredients

• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• ½ cup vegetable oil

Method

1. Place all ingredients except for oil in a bowl.
2. Slowly whisk in oil until dressing thickens.
3. Season with salt and pepper.

B.C. Sidestripe Shrimp Dumplings

Jenice Yu, Fresh Ideas Start Here

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb organic ocean sidestripe shrimp, shelled, deveined and chopped into small pieces
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp shitake mushroom, sliced thinly
• 3 tbsp cilantro, leaves only, minced)
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 egg, beaten, for sealing wontons
• Salt to season

Method

1. Mix all ingredients together. Set aside.
2. Fill each wonton skin with about 1 heaping teaspoon of the filling and seal the wonton skin with the beaten egg.
3. Steam wontons for 10 minutes or until cooked.
4. Serve hot with ginger vinegar dipping sauce.

Ginger Vinegar Dipping Sauce Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons peeled, grated fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dark vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chopped scallion

Method

1. Combine all ingredients together.

New Year “Nian Gao” Cake

Chef Clement Chan, Torafuku

We weren't allowed to eat a lot of sweets, but Chinese New Year was the one time we could go all out on anything we wanted. Nian Gao is best dipped in egg and fried, like French toast.

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 1 lb sweet rice flour (about 3 cups)
• 3 cups whole milk
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for coating the baking dish
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 1/4 tsp salt

Method

1. Heat oven to 350°.
2. Place eggs in a large bowl and beat.
3. Add remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth.
4. Pour mix into baking dish (round or square, about 6-8") and bake for 25 minutes.
5. Bake until the edges are starting to brown and the top is just set, about 20 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes in fridge.
7. If desired, whisk two eggs. Slice the nian gao to about one-inch thick. Dip in the whisked eggs and pan-fry on medium to high heat until crispy.

Steamed Whole Chicken in Lotus Leaves With Sticky Rice

Executive Chef Jenny Hui, The Lazy Gourmet

A chicken is always served on Chinese New Year. It reminds me of having large dinner gatherings at my grandmother's house when she would be prepping and cooking all day long. Now, with everyone working and families growing, it's harder to gather everyone together, which makes it even more important than ever to celebrate the New Year together.

Chicken

• 1 whole chicken
• 4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp ground 5 spice
• 3 tsp sand ginger spice
• 2 each green onion
• 1 inch ginger
• 6 each whole garlic cloves

Method

1. In a bowl, combine salt, pepper, five spice and giner spice together.
2. Rub the spice over the entire chicken.
3. Wrap and place in refridgerator overnight.
4. Remove wrapper.
5. Salt chicken cavity and add the green onion, ginger and garlic.
6. Set chicken aside.

Rice

• 2 cups sticky rice
• 4 tsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tsp oyster sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 3 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 4 oz  dried shrimp
• 2 each Chinese sausage, finely chopped
• 12 each Shitake mushrooms, finely sliced
• ½ red thai chili, finey chopped
• 4-5 lotus leaves, soaked in hot water

Method

1. Combine dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and Shaoxing wine. Set aside.
2. Strain the rice. Place into large mixing bowl. Set aside.
3. Soak dried shrimp in hot water for 5 minutes and strain. Set aside.
4. Heat a sauté pan over high heat, add Chinese sausages and sauté for 3 minutes.
5. Add the mushrooms and soaked shrimp. Sauté until mushroom are tender.
6. Add vegetables, chili, and sauce into rice. Mix.
7. Line bamboo basket with lotus leaves. Add chicken to middle. Place sticky rice mix around the chicken.
8. In a wok, bring water to a boil. Add basket on top and cover.
9. Steam chicken for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Add boiling water if water is low. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6