Lunar New Year Feast to Usher in the Rooster...

Little New Year is the eve and is enjoyed with a reunion "toon neen fan" dinner with the family. While feast-ivities involving meat is popular, on the new year's day it is actually celebrated by eating meatless dishes. Combining reunion dinner and new year's day food traditions together, I made sure there were plenty of vegetarian-friendly offerings at my extended family party! 

This soy product specialty by my mom is one of my family's favourites! Delectable and tasty!

Layered Bean Curd Sheets (aka vegetarian goose or duck)

1 pkg. dried bean curd sheets (large sheets that come folded in packages found in the refrigerated or frozen sections in an Asian supermarket).
1 can (397 mL) chicken broth

oil for pan-frying

Take one large sheet, cut into half and fold it several times until you get a layered flat roll as per photo. Secure open fold with a toothpick. Repeat to make as many pieces you wish.

Add two Tbsp. oil in a hot skillet. Pan fry bean curd rolls in one layer in batches until golden brown on both sides. Place cooked bean curd in a shallow pot to fit; pour in chicken broth. Cover and simmer to cook for ten minutes. Add more broth if drying up. Turn over and simmer for five minutes more, until roll is soft but not falling apart. Transfer rolls, stacked two high to a large container. Cover and chill for 5 hours or overnight. Turn rolls over once to moisten them. Slice into bite-sized layered strips. Serve cold. You can also serve warm up by pan frying rolls on both sides before slicing.

Simmering the bean curd rolls gives a wrinkled skin result.

I made it simple by preparing a few dishes: Marbled Tea Eggs, Spicy Szechuan Smashed Cucumbers, Deep-Fried Spring Rolls and Jellyfish and Cucumbers, and buying a variety of Asian deli-prepared meats and roasts. My parents, sister and cousin's family all brought their homemade favourites to add to the big meal. 

Spicy Szechuan Smashed Cucumbers and Jelly Fish and Cucumbers

Deep-Fried Thai Shrimp Chips

My mom and aunt cooking Chinese greens

My mom slicing up whole roasted chicken

The complete Chinese New Year food spread!

My sister's Korean gimbap rolls

Shredded green vegetable salad

Other vegetarian dishes included sliced lotus salad, seaweed salad and braised soy mushrooms.

Gimbap and seaweed salad

Coconut Jackfruit Tapioca Dessert

GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!

Home-style Cantonese Ginger and Green Onion Lobsters...

Lobsters in ginger and green onions have always been a Cantonese Chinese restaurant favourite but never attempted in my kitchen. I imagine few have as it can be a rather daunting and challenging task to undertake with live lobsters (the only way I would want to prepare it). But now I can say I slayed, conquered and served it home-style! With Lunar new year around the corner, this lovely culinary representation of the dragon in Chinese culture symbolizes strength and good luck as it turns vibrant red when cooked. This particular lobster dish is a classic and serving it brings high energy, longevity, respect and prosperity to inaugurate the new year of the Rooster!

Home-Style Cantonese Ginger and Green Onion Lobsters

(adapted from thewoksoflife.com)

two 1¼ to 1½ lb. live lobsters (choose fiesty, lively lobsters for optimal freshness) or use 6 to 8 frozen lobster tails
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup oil for shallow frying, plus 2 Tbsp.
6 slices ginger
3 green onions, cut into 2-inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tbsp. Chinese cooking wine or shaoxing wine
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. sesame oil
pinch of sugar
fresh ground white pepper

If not preparing lobsters right away, keep live in open bag in fridge.

When ready to cook, place lobsters in the sink and run a stream of cold water to wake them up. Try to prepare the lobsters when ready to cook and eat for its best taste, although dissected on a dish up to two hours in the fridge should be fine.

First off, you want to put the lobster down as quick as possible. I do this by lifting the head shell upwards and pressing a sharp knife into the flesh of its head. This should do it and then I remove the head shell to dispatch the lobster. You can discard or trim them so that they can sit upright on the plate for presentation.

Twist off the lobster claws, and cut off the smaller legs. Discard the rubber bands. Set claws aside.

Remove and discard the lobster gills, which are inedible (these are attached on the sides of the head revealed under the head shell). Take out the tomalley and innards if you don't want to use them or include it in this dish. We love this delicacy and of course it stays put!

Both heads contain a nice chunk of tomalley (liver and pancreas)

Cut off the tail portion (there is a nice piece of meat in it). Split the lobster lengthwise from the head portion to the end of the tail, so you have two halves. Take each half and cut into two to three equal pieces. Cut the head piece with attaching legs in half, then halved again.

Separate the elbow joint from the claws and crack each claw with a cleaver (using a mallet may help). Note: Splitting the claw with the light colour side up tends to be more porous and less slippery than the dark side (although I cracked one claw dark side up).

Dissecting and setting all the lobster pieces on a platter.

Pat dry any excess water on the pieces with a paper towel. Mix the flour and cornstarch in a shallow bowl, and lightly dredge the lobster pieces. Dredge only the exposed meat to seal in the juices.

At this point, many restaurants deep fry the lobster in a large wok to quickly seal in the juices. I like to shallow fry in the wok, and 10 seconds will do. This flash fry method cooks the lobster about 70% of the way through, enhances the lobster flavour, produces a rich colour, and seals in the juices while preventing the tender meat from overcooking.

Heat 1 cup of oil until hot (wooden skewer inserted shows tiny bubbles shooting upward its sides) and drop the lobster into the wok for about 10 seconds, stirring occasionally. The shells should turn bright red almost instantly. Remove to a sheet pan to drain and towel pat.

Now onto the actual dish- start with a clean wok over high heat. Add 2 Tbsp. oil to the wok, along with the ginger. Let the ginger fry for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the white portions of the onions and the lobster claws (their shells are thicker and needs two minutes of cook time before adding the rest of the lobster and stir fry for one minute, adding the garlic, keeping the heat on high.

Pour the wine around the out sides of the wok and immediately cover it. Let it cook for about three minutes. This step infuses or “bakes” the lobster with the ginger and green onion flavors. Uncover the wok and add the soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, white pepper, and the green part of onions. Stir fry for another minute. You can add a couple tablespoons of water if the wok is too dry. Remove onto a large serving platter.

And there you have it! Home-style Cantonese ginger and green onion lobsters!
No guts, no glory.... Utterly delicious!

Another lobster feasting occasion. This time with lotsa tomalley!

Lobsters always add the "feast" in a meal. 

Dinner is served!!

Celebrate Lunar New Year with Asian Hot Pot...

The Rooster will crow its infamous crow to welcome 2017, a new lunar year celebrated across Asia January 28th. It was a privilege along with my mother to check out Korean Galleria Supermarket's York Mills location last Friday as they kicked off the year with a multiple "Asian fondue" demonstration. Sponsor products included condiments and sauces from Lee Kum Kee and seafood from Anchor's Bay. Host chef Sang Kim, award-winning author, chef and restaurateur (Toronto's Blowfish, Ki Modern Japanese, Ame Cuisine, KOKO! Share Bar and more) showcased how hot pot traditions are famously celebrated in China, Japan and South Korea in their distinctive styles and ingredients.  During new year, this do-it-yourself experience becomes a special gathering for family and guests at the table to cook their favourite foods in one or two large communal pot(s) of simmering broth. Across the countries, this meal ritual is meant to bring good luck, peace and happiness to the entire family. 

Well-organized and interactive, the event was a fun tasty experience with guests parting with a generous tote of Galleria and sponsor products to enjoy at home!

Chef Sang Kim

Media press and guests enjoy the experience first-hand.

The first demo introduced China's hot pot otherwise known as Mongolian fire pot. Two broth bases were featured in one pot separated by a divider. Yin- seafood, and yang- spicy Szechuan. The ingredients included sliced lamb, sliced beef rib eye, shrimp, fish ball, bean curd, tofu, napa cabbage, watercress, enoki, mushrooms and potato. The raw meat and vegetables cook quickly, thus a few minutes will do, and tasty morsels are fished out with basket ladles into individual bowls, to be dipped into your choice of sauce and eaten right away.

For the Chinese hot pot, dipping sauce is an important aspect since the food is rather bland by boiling. The customize-your-own combination can include soy sauce, sesame oil, chilli oil or sauce,  shrimp paste, sesame paste, preserved red bean curd, chopped green onions, cilantro, garlic, vinegar, sugar and wine. A fresh raw egg can also be cracked into the sauce concoction to bring down the heat of the ingredients (yang) before dipping and eating. Note the soup becomes rather rich and flavourful as you go from cooking all the delicious variety of foods in it, and more soup/water is added to replace the amount that has been boiled away or scooped up. At my home, we always finish our hot pot meal with flat rice noodles (ho fun) bathing in the tasty broth, and slurp our way to the end.

Lee Kum Kee's assortment of condiments and sauces perfect for dipping.

This dual soup pot allows for double the flavours and fun!

A rare photo of my mum and me.

Next was Japanese hot pot, also called sukiyaki (literally meaning "to grill on a flat spade"). A heavy-walled shallow skillet is most suitable for cooking sukiyaki. The base here is a sweet soy sauce (made with soy sauce, sake and sugar- a definitive characteristic of home-style Japanese cuisine) and only requires a shallow amount to simmer-cook the ingredients. Sliced beef is most popular, clam, scallop, napa cabbage, watercress, onion, enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, tofu and yam noodles were also enjoyed. A distinct difference between Japanese hot pot to Chinese is that it does not require any dipping condiments. The broth imparts its light sweet and savoury flavours while enhancing the foods' tastes when cooking. Served over hot rice, the umami flavours are soaked up and each bite becomes more irresistible and full-filling.

Sukiyaki is traditionally done with beef but seafood is complementary and can be added too.

The last demo was the most noteable for me as I was least familiar with Korean hot pot. There are several varieties but the one chef Kim showed us was Korean Army Stew or Army Base Stew (Budae Jigae), and is apparently one of the most popular hot pot dishes in Korea. It uses a seasoned hot pepper paste and flakes to make the base for the broth. Some out-of-the-ordinary ingredients such as Spam, sausage, processed cheese, as well as tofu, king mushrooms, kimchi, rice cake, instant noodles and green onions make up this hearty and highly-addictive stew. Interesting facts I've learned-- soon after the Korean war (in the early 1950’s), food was extremely scarce so surplus processed foods from the US military bases were a great supplement for the Koreans, thus the creation of army stew-- a Korean-American fusion stew that incorporates processed foods such as Spam, sausages, canned baked beans and sliced cheese. An unusual combination at first, but no doubt was it savoury and delicious!

There's that slice of processed cheese.

A true meal-in-one-- taking hot pot or instant ramen to another level!

I love the addition of sliced Spam and frankfurters... It reminds me of good ol' fashion Hong Kong-style toppings in macaroni soup growing up in a Chinese household. I will definitely be bringing some of this nostalgia by making this for my family!

The spicy broth penetrated the ingredients and the melted cheese
gave the stew a slight creamy dimension. 

After such a delectable experience at Galleria with chef Sang Kim, I was more than inspired to do some hot potting with my extended family as a prelude celebration to the coming lunar year! Here is our version Chinese-style. For more details on how to entertain with your own Chinese hot pot, read my previous Post.

The dual soup pot will hold chicken broth in one side and vegetable broth in the other.

This second pot of broth contains herbal ingredients as a healthy soup option.

Cool vegetarian appetizers complimented the hot meal.

Hot pot is a healthy way to try new foods and tastes. It is as enjoyable to cook together as it is to eat.

A cold beer or glass of wine goes well to reduce the heat from the eats. Cheers!

To read on how to create your own DIY hot pot at home, check out my previous Chinese new year post on Chinese Hot Potting. Come back and join me this week for more celebration foods for the upcoming lunar new year of the rooster January 28th!