Year of the Ox
Yet another virtual holiday to plan and “celebrate.”
I remember last Chinese New Year like it was yesterday. China put Wuhan on lockdown the day I landed in New York, turning what was supposed to be a week of busy celebration into to a nonstop monitoring of Chinese news. The start of the Year of the Rat marked the beginning of a whole YEAR of fear and uncertainty. So while everyone hoped for a fresh start at the start of 2021, my personal reset is Feb 11, 2021.
This year we’re gonna do a video chat celebration with my parents and try to make a similar menu so we can “eat the same things.” This is my mom’s relatively pared down menu for two for me to replicate.
CNY 2021: Year of the Ox
红烧鱼 Braised whole fish
油爆虾 Quick-seared head-on, tail-on shrimp
白切鸡 Plain poached chicken
八宝饭 Eight Treasure glutinous rice
梅菜扣肉 Steamed pork belly with preserved mustard
卤牛肉 Braised cold cut beef
腊肉炒蒜苗 Garlic scapes stir fried with chinese sausage
青菜王子菇 Bok choy and king trumpet mushroom stir fry
三鲜水饺 Shrimp, pork, and chive dumplings (for midnight)
Um. So yeah. I probably won’t make all of these, though looking at it on paper, it seems perfectly doable compared to normal menus. We have the whole week off, scheduled months ago in the hopes that life would allow us to visit, but unfortunately we’re not quite there yet. So I’ll have plenty of time!
The theme here is that the animals have to be whole, without their head severed. That’s bad luck and a whole animal symbolizes unity. If I had to cut one thing, it’d probably be the steamed pork belly dish, though I am also secretly looking forward to attempting it? We’ll see.
My biggest worry is… I don’t really know how to cook Chinese food? I mean, the basics, sure. But I don’t have a culinary framework in my mind on how to go about executing these dishes. I do have a couple of cookbooks in English (written by white people…) and Chef Wang Gang’s youtube. And I might have to venture into a Chinese grocery store instead of rely on delivery :woozy:
HAPPY NEW YEAR or something, I guess. Hopefully I’ll think to take a few pictures this time around.
Good riddance, year of the rat!