Johannesburg - Christine Miller, cookery teacher at The Angela Day Kitchen, shares her lighter, fresher take on recipes for celebrating the Chinese New Year.
Chinese New Year celebrations on Monday will usher in the Year of the Monkey. Traditional foods served during celebrations symbolise prosperity, good luck, health and long life for everyone at the table - either by appearance or the pronunciation of their names.
Noodles represent long life and it is bad luck to cut them. Spring rolls symbolise wealth because they are shaped like gold bars.
Foods also have a symbolic meaning because of what they sound like. For example, the word orange and tangerine sounds like the word for luck and wealth so these are freely passed around at New Year. The word for fish, 'Yuâ', sounds like the words for wish and abundance, and often a new year's meal will end with a whole fish being served, symbolising a wish for abundance in the coming year.
Something sweet is always served as this symbolises a rich sweet life.
Tofu would never be served at this time because its colour symbolises the hue of death.
Another New Year tradition is to hand out red envelopes or packets containing crisp new notes, always of an even number. Fireworks at New Year are believed to drive away evil spirits and will bring good luck. People will also typically wear new clothes from head to toe.
NOTE: Obtain special ingredients for these recipes from Chinese shops and supermarkets. In Joburg, you can buy them at the Chinese supermarkets in Cyrildene, the China Mall in Rivonia and the Korean supermarket opposite Saigon restaurant, also in Rivonia.
LUCKY LIFE STIR-FRY
Serves 4-6
400g cleaned tiger prawns
15ml peanut oil
15ml freshly grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
2 small carrots, cut into julienne strips
1 red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 yellow pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 green pepper, julienned
120g sugar snap peas
250ml thinly-shredded red cabbage
250ml spinach, chopped
3 large fresh oyster mushrooms, sliced
half a cup of canned water chestnuts, sliced
1 spring onion, finely sliced at an angle
SAUCE
250ml cold vegetable stock
15-30ml oyster sauce
20ml cornstarch
15ml soy sauce
15ml rice vinegar or cider vinegar
a pinch of salt
a pinch of sugar
Before cooking, prep all the vegetables.
Heat a wok over high heat and once it starts to smoke, add the oil.
Add the prawns and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until just cooked. Remove from wok.
Add the remaining oil and then the ginger, garlic and chillies, and stir for a second.
Add the carrots, peppers and snap peas, then stir-fry for a minute.
Toss in the cabbage, spinach and mushrooms. Stir-fry for 2 minutes more, adding a splash of water to help the vegetables cook.
Pour the sauce over vegetables in the wok and toss just until the sauce begins to thicken and bubble, and becomes glossy.
Then add back the prawns, toss and remove from the heat and garnish with coriander.
SAUCE: In a small jug, add the stock, oyster sauce, cornstarch, soy sauce, vinegar, salt and sugar. Mix well.
SOY SPICED ROAST CHICKEN
Serves 4-6
1.5kg whole chicken
120ml peanut oil
15ml Chinese five-spice powder
5ml salt
3ml white pepper
zest of 1 orange, remaining orange reserved for later use
STUFFING
2 spring onions, cut into 2cm pieces and bruised
3 whole star anise
1 green chilli, split in half
2cm piece of ginger, sliced
1 orange, cut into pieces
BASTING SAUCE
60ml honey
60ml soy sauce
CHINESE SALSA VERDE
30ml freshly grated ginger
10-15ml chilli oil
30ml soy sauce
30ml rice vinegar or red wine vinegar
15ml peanut oil
red chillies, seeded and finely-chopped
spring onions, finely- chopped
1 large orange, zested and juiced
Preheat the oven to 180degC.
Pat the chicken dry, inside and out, with a paper towel.
In a small bowl, combine the peanut oil, five-spice powder, salt and pepper. Stir the zest into the spices.
Rub the chicken inside and out with the spice mixture.
STUFFING: Stuff the cavity with the spring onion, star anise, chilli, ginger and orange.
Roast the chicken for 1 hour.
BASTING: Combine the honey and soy sauce. After the chicken has cooked for 1 hour, baste the chicken generously every 10 minutes until it is cooked through and an internal thermometer reads 70-72C, about 30 minutes.
Remove the chicken and rest, covered in foil, for 10 minutes before serving.
Carve the chicken and serve with the Chinese salsa verde.
SALSA: While the chicken rests, whisk together the ginger, chilli oil, soy sauce, vinegar, peanut oil, chillies, spring onion and orange juice and zest until well combined.
Serve with the chicken.
SAGO WITH PALM SUGAR AND COCONUT CREAM
Serves 6-8
375ml multicoloured pearl sago
2 litres water
250ml coconut cream
2ml salt
PALM SUGAR SYRUP
50g grated palm sugar
200ml brown or muscovado sugar
60ml of water
Put the sago in a sieve and shake over sink to dislodge any loose starch.
Bring the water to boil in a large pot and slowly add in the sago, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
Boil uncovered, stirring occasionally, until sago balls turn transparent, about 15 minutes.
Tip the sago into a large sieve and hold under cold running water to wash away starch. Shake sieve until well drained.
Transfer to small serving glasses/bowls and refrigerate until cooled.
Boil the coconut cream and salt in a small pot until reduced, about 15 minutes.
Serve the chilled sago in bowls with a spoonful of coconut cream and syrup to taste.
SYRUP: Combine the ingredients in small pan. Bring to the boil, stir until the sugar is dissolved and simmer until reduced a little.
CHINESE CUCUMBER SALAD WITH SESAME POTATO NOODLES
Serves 6-8
6-8 small pickling cucumbers
1 tsp salt
1 clove of garlic, crushed (optional)
45ml soy sauce
15ml rice vinegar
30ml castor sugar
45ml sesame oil
150g sweet potato noodles
30ml sesame seeds, toasted
Cut off the tips on each side of the cucumbers. Holding one end, bruise each cucumber with the flat of your cleaver until the cucumber splits and flattens out.
It will be a little mushed up, which is what you want. Once the whole cucumber is flattened, chop diagonally into bite-sized pieces.
Do the same to each cucumber.
Add salt, mix and place into a colander.
Allow the cucumbers to drip juices out for 15-20 minutes in the fridge.
Rinse with water and squeeze cucumber lightly to remove most of the juice.
Mix together with the garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and sesame oil.
Taste. It should be equal parts salty, sour and sweet. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Let the salad marinate in refrigerator for at least half an hour, stirring once or twice. The longer, the tastier.
Meanwhile, bring water to the boil and add the sweet potato noodles. Boil until noodles are tender, about 5-7 minutes, then drain and rinse under cold water.
To serve, add the noodles to the chilled cucumber salad, and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
Garnish with carrot ribbons if desired and serve.
GOLDEN PRAWN AND PORK DUMPLINGS
Makes 30-35
400g raw prawns, shelled, deveined and chopped
400g pork mince
15ml cornstarch
15ml freshly grated ginger
20ml soy sauce
20ml Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
20ml rice vinegar
a pinch of sea salt
a pinch of sugar
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 large spring onions, finely chopped
1 medium red chilli, seeded and finely-chopped
5ml toasted sesame oil
30 round dumpling wrappers
cold water, for sealing
oil for frying
GINGER RICE VINEGAR DIPPING SAUCE
30ml water
60ml soy sauce
30ml black rice vinegar (Chinkiang)
2cm piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1 medium red chili, seeded and finely-chopped
30ml chopped coriander
In a bowl, combine all the ingredients up to but not including the dumpling wrappers, and mix well.
Place a wrapper on a board on your work surface and put a spoonful of filling in the centre.
Brush some water around the edge of the wrapper and fold over to enclose the filling to form a half-moon shape.
Pleat the sealed edges.
Place dumpling on a tray and cover with a damp tea towel.
Repeat with the rest of the filling and wrappers.
Heat the oil in a large pot or deep-fat fryer until hot, then deep-fry the dumplings in batches, until golden.
Drain on paper towel.
Serve with the dipping sauce.
SAUCE: Combine the ingredients and whisk.
The Angela Day cookery column is published in The Star, the Cape Argus, the Daily News and the Pretoria News.