Chinese New Year, Year of the Pig, 2019

Menu for 2019 Year of the Pig

It is always fun to visit the Asian Market especially before Chinese New Years.  I can now get most of the ingredients at our local supermarket.  However, I was looking for specific items, ginger preserved in syrup, pickled plums and anise extract, which I did not find.  In returning to my local supermarket, I did find fresh plums which I will use for the duck.  I also find fresh Shiitake at the Asian Market which I wanted to use for the Stuffed Shiitake Mushrooms instead of dried shiitake.  I will be added the recipes and pictures next week. 

Our Mascot will be this Vintage Piggy Bank that my mom bought for my son, who will attending. I have also extended an invitation to his in laws who are Korean.. Talk about adding extra pressure on me. 

I had such fun planning Chinese New Years for Year of the Dog and Year of the Roaster,  that I decided to plan a menu for this Lunar New Year.  Here is my planning menu

Appetizers

Shrimp Toast, Baked 

Pearl Meat balls

Shrimp Cakes

BBQ Pork Buns

Stuffed Shiitake Mushrooms

Asian Drums of Heaven

Crispy Duck with Plum Sauce

Chinese ‘Char Siu’ BBQ Pork 

Veggie

Long Life Noddles

Dessert

Tiger Tiger Ice Cream

Ginger Pear with Lycées 

Menu for Year of the Dog, 2018*

*All the recipes are in the same in the same blog

Cantonese Duck Recipe 2*

Long Life Noodles for Chinese New Year

CHINESE BBQ PORK (CHA SIU)

Sushi rice with Asian flavoured Coleslaw

Stir Fried Bok Choy 

Asian Pork Ribs 

Dessert

Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku) 

Check out my other blogs on Asian food
Peking two ways

Rice Noodle Rolls , traditional along with a new twist!

Menu for Year of the Roaster, 2017

Chinese Menu for Lunar New Year 2017; the Year of the Rooster!

Cantonese Roast Duck Recipe1*

Sweet Pea Shots with Napa Salad

Chinese BBQ Pork using an Authentic old recipe

Long Life Noodles for Chinese New Year

Almond Milk Pudding

*The two Cantonese duck recipes are very different  One marinades the duck, the other plunges the duck into boiling hot water 

Almond Milk Pudding

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Almond Milk was thickened with 2 -3 T cornstarch
Beep the mixture in the microwave a minute at a time until thick
Whisk after each minute 
Add honey to taste
Add 1 tsp vanilla
Let set. 
Decorate with fruit cocktail and whipped cream!

Cantonese Roast Duck

Although the recipe called for a chicken, since I have two ducks in my deep freeze, I decided that a duck would be more festive!

Fill the cavity of the duck with

• large slice of ginger smashed
• 4-6 garlic cloves
• 1/2 white onion. 

Rub the skin of the duck with

• 2T Rice Vinegar
• 4 T sake

Sprinkle generously salt and fresh pepper over the duck

Insert pieces of garlic between skin and meat randomly over the duck.  This is a step one can skip as it really did not flavor the meat as it does with lamb, even though the high test organic garlic was used! 

Roast the Duck on an open rack at 500degrees for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature  to 325 degrees and roast until the meat is cooked.  Pierce the skin during the roasting to ensure the fat runs off. 

There were two dipping sauces for the duck, but really only one needs to be made

Ginger Soya Dipping Sauce 

• 1T dark soya sauce
• 1T light soya sauce
• 1 T minced fresh ginger
• 2 tsp sesame seed oil
• 1 tsp sugar

The recipe started with 

Hoisin Lemon Ginger Dipping Sauce 

which I thought was the marinade for the bird as.   But it was the dipping sauce for the duck and I have named it as such. This dipping sauce is delicious  with the sweetness of the Hoisin sauce and I would make it again. 

Whisk the following ingredients and let sit to develop flavors

• 3/4 c Hoisin sauce* 
• 3 T rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice*
• 1 tsp fresh minced ginger
• pepper
• 2 T sesame seed oil

*I used fresh lemon juice and the rind of lemon

I also would not use as much Hoisin sauce