Ching-He Huang’s top tips for an authentic Chinese New Year feast

For my Chinese New Year menu, I love to serve a combination of dishes that are laced in Chinese culture and symbolism.

So, at my Chinese New Year dinner, I like to serve plenty of:

1) Noodles

Noodles symbolise longevity. Make sure they are uncut or it’s bad luck!

2) Fish

Have plenty of fish because the honomyn for fish is “yu” which also means abundance. There is a popular phrase “Nian nian you yu” every year you have more abundance. Make sure you serve the fish whole as wholeness symbolises unity and completeness.

3) Whole roast animals

Whole roast animals are served such as chicken, goose, duck, pig – the whole animal symbolises unity and completeness.

4) Sticky rice cakes

Sticky rice cake – called “nian gao” – it is also a hononym for “Nian nian sheng gao” – which means every year you rise the ranks in your career.

5) Oranges and apples

Oranges and Apples are popular because the homonym for oranges is “sons” and “peace” for apples. Their red and orangey golden appearance are also both traditional Chinese colours that symbolise wealth and luck.

6) Black moss seaweed

Black moss seaweed slowly braised with seafood in a hotpot – this is a delicacy and the black moss seaweed is a honomyn for “Fa Tsai” which means increase in wealth and prosperity.

7) Golden pan fried dumplings

Golden pan fried dumplings with a variety of filings because these symbolise little nuggets of gold.

My favourite Chinese New Year recipe

I love tang yuan at Chinese New Year. My grandmother used to make a sweet variety with mung green beans and adzuki red beans in sweet syrup with floating pieces of plain sticky tang yuan.

Tang yuan literally means “soup rounds” in Mandarin Chinese. They are made from glutinous rice and water and when cooked in broth they double in size. They are the Chinese equivalent to Gnocchi.

Tang yuan can be cooked in savoury or sweet broth and they don’t taste of anything except they are eaten more for their sticky texture.

However, they can be filled with sweet or savoury fillings too.

Here’s my take on it, and how to make it:

Stuffed pork “tang yuan” dumplings and meatballs noodle soup

This is my one pot solution to Chinese New Year – it has the traditional tang yuan filled with a minced pork filling and meatballs in a savoury broth.

At Chinese new year, the tang yuan symbolize completeness (perfect like the 1st moon on the 15th day of the 1st lunar calendar year ie. new year) and the uncut noodles for longevity.

How many does it serve?

Serves four people - makes 12 large stuffed tang yuan meatballs and 16 meatballs.

Ingredients for the soup

2 celery stalks, each stalk sliced into 3 pieces lengthways, then diced

220g tin (120g NW) bamboo shoots, sliced julienne

2 chestnut mushrooms, sliced

1.7 litres water

6 teaspoons bouillon vegetable powder stock

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

dash of sesame oil

salt

Ingredients for the meatballs

250g lean pork mince

1 tablespoon grated fresh root ginger

1/4 medium red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

few coriander stalks, finely chopped

2 chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped

1 dried Chinese mushroom, pre-soaked in hot water for 20 minutes and finely chopped

1 teaspoon shaosing rice wine

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

Dash of toasted sesame oil

pinch of ground white pepper

Ingredients for the tang yuan

100g glutinous rice flour

50-60ml water

100g mung bean noodles, uncut

To serve

1 spring onion, finely sliced

1 small handful of chopped coriander

Method

1. In a large soup pan, add all the soup ingredients (except retain 20g bamboo shoots for the dumpling filling). Bring all the ingredients to a simmer.

2. While the soup broth is being prepared, get a large bowl and mix together all the meatball ingredients.

Knead the mixture with your hand so that all the ingredients are mixed well. Keep to one side.

3. In another bowl, measure the glutinous rice flour and add the water. Use your fingers to mix the flour and water together and then knead into a dough.

Roll the dough out onto a board and then roll roughly into a long sausage shape and divide the dough into equal pieces (12 pieces).

Roll each piece into a ball and then using your second finger, flatten the dough.

Take a teaspoon of the meat filling and place it in the middle. Gather the sides to meet into the middle and then roll the dumpling into a round ball.

Make 12 of them. With the rest of the meatball filling, make them into small meatballs.

4. Place all the filled dumplings and meatballs into the simmering soup broth and cook on simmered heat for 8 minutes, until the dumplings and meatballs float to the surface of the broth.

Add the mung bean noodles and cook for another 1 minute until the noodles are translucent. Taste the soup broth and season further to taste if necessary.

5. To serve, using chopsticks, lift some noodle into each bowl and then divide each bowl with 3 stuffed dumplings and 4 meatballs.

Top with sprinkling of finely chopped spring onion and coriander and serve immediately.

Also worth your attention

Recipe by Rachel Green: Lamb, shallot and citrus kebabs

Recipe by Ching He Huang: Fried sweet chilli chicken