Issues → January/February 2008 → Features →
Occasion: Chinese New Year
How to celebrate the Year of the Rat in style
by Annie B. Copps
Long after the bubbly and the noisemakers are all gone, the Chinese community here in America and around the globe begins to think about its own New Year celebration, based on thousands of years of ceremony and revelry. Festivities begin February 7 this year and end February 21. For Joanne Chang, a Boston restaurateur, the New Year is about connecting with her roots.
"Gong He Fa Tsai," says a little boy, bundled in layers of down and wool clothing, to an older man reading a newspaper on Kneeland Street in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood. He says it again, and the man looks up, smiles, and reaches into his pocket for coins. "All the kids have to say is 'Happy New Year' and they get coins or candy," says Joanne, chef and owner of Flour Bakery & Café and the recently opened Myers + Chang restaurant. During the two-week celebration, the neighborhood welcomes dragon dancers and elaborate parades, fireworks that light up the sky, and family get-togethers centered around a time-honored cuisine.
Joanne and her fiancé, Christopher Myers (her partner at Myers + Chang and co-owner of Radius, Great Bay, and Via Matta restaurants), own a loft condo on the outskirts of Chinatown. "We love Asian food," says Joanne, "and if we're not cooking it at home, we're eating out at one of the great restaurants within walking distance. That's what propelled us to open our first restaurant together." This year, Joanne's mother, Sue, and her dad, C.Y., are visiting from Texas. It's a perfect opportunity to cook all day and have a few close friends over.
"The shopping is easy," notes Joanne. "There aren't a ton of ingredients for so many dishes."
"It's a lot of chopping," says Sue, "but the cooking is fast. I like to be in the kitchen with Joanne, getting ready before everyone shows up. She knows the food -- she doesn't need me anymore -- but it's a good reminder of her roots, and we have fun."
While making dumplings, Sue scoops the ground-pork stuffing into doughy wrappers and deftly shapes them into perfect half-moon packages. "I've been making these dumplings ever since I was married, some 40 years now," she says.
"My mother made them differently," adds C.Y. "Slowly, Sue's tasted a little more like my mother's, but still with her own touch. I wonder what Joanne's will taste like 40 years from now."
Joanne and Christopher's space is all about tall ceilings and minimal yet well-thought-out furnishings. "We have a large table, and we don't like things too fussy," says Joanne. "We like simple, white plates so you can see the food and the decorations -- traditional flower blossoms and citrus fruits -- without being over-the-top or gaudy. You can really go crazy with banners and all kinds of red and gold stuff."
It would be easier, and certainly a good way to celebrate Chinese New Year, to phone one of the many numbers on the trifold take-away menus tucked away in a drawer somewhere -- but a little time in the kitchen goes a long way toward mother-daughter bonding and showing your good friends a little something about Chinese tradition.
Host Your Own Chinese New Year Party!
Start with our free downloadable menu with recipes for Firecracker Beef, Happy Shrimp, Fortune Cookies, and more.
Chinese Dumplings
Miscellaneous Recipes | Meat Recipes
Preparation Time: 90 minutes
Start to Finish Time: 90 minutes
Yield: 3 dozen dumplings
- 4 leaves napa cabbage, finely chopped
- 5 garlic chives, finely chopped (substitute scallions or chives)
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger (1-inch piece)
- 1 pound ground pork
- 3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ground-garlic and chili sauce (such as Sriracha brand)
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 8 cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 package round dumpling wrappers (substitute square wonton wrappers)
- 6 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
- Soy Dipping Sauce
In a medium bowl, combine first 10 ingredients. With a dumpling wrapper flat in one hand, place about a tablespoon of filling in the middle in an oblong lump. There should be enough margin left along the wrapper to close it without spilling the filling, but don't "underfill."
Wet your finger and smear a little moisture along the outer edge of the wrapper; then fold the wrapper edges up into a taco shape and pinch the edges together at the top (in the middle) so that they're stuck together (don't let the pork filling get caught between). Create a pleat just to the right (or left) of the center pinch. Flatten the pleat next to the middle pinch point and squeeze the dough together.
Continue to the end of the dumpling; you should have two or three pleats from middle to end. At the end, you should have a small opening. Pinch the end of the loop in toward the center of the dumpling and squeeze together. Return to the middle pinch point and make pleats on the same side of the wrapper but in the opposite direction. At the end, pinch in the loop and squeeze the dough sealed.
Repeat with the rest of the wrappers. It's okay if your dumplings don't look perfect; it will take some time to get the coordination and rhythm. The important thing is to seal them.
Heat a large sauté pan to very high. Add about 2 tablespoons peanut oil. Add up to 12 dumplings to the pan (don't overcrowd) and brown well on both sides. Add 1/4 cup water; then cover and let steam about 3 minutes. Add another 1/4 cup water; then cover and let steam about 3 minutes longer. Remove to a plate and continue cooking remaining dumplings in batches. Serve with Soy Dipping Sauce.
Soy Dipping Sauce
- 1 cup light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 scallion, finely sliced
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients.
Find Similar Recipes
- By Category
- By Course
- By Preparation Method
Reader Comments
Comment from Mario Laguzzi on January 11, 2008
I do not see a date for the start the new year in the article It is Did I miss it or is it missing?
Comment from Annie Copps on January 17, 2008
Hi and thanks for taking the time to write... the information is in the printed version of the magazine, but for some technical reason it didn't survive the journey to the website. The dates for this year's celebration are February 7 through 21. Happy New Year.
Annie Copps -- Yankee Magazine
Comment from J Barden on January 26, 2008
Is there any way I can find out the type and name of wok Joanne Chang is using to prepare her firecracker beef? Thanks, J
Registered users can add comments.
Registration is free, and just takes a moment.
Login or Register.