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January 5, 2017

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Hearty dishes for that winter New Year reunion

By Xu Wenwen | January 5, 2017, Thursday | Print Edition

FOR Chinese people, the Chinese New Year holiday means family reunion — and family reunion means feasts. Chinese New Year feasts are always the most important meals of a family during the year, and cooking at home is preferred over eating out because paying is easy while DIY is not.

Chinese people also like making New Year dinner at home because it is an opportunity to wow family members by making food for them, which also becomes a bridge that connects relatives and brings more feeling to the family gathering.

Today, Shanghai Daily asks three experienced Hangzhou chefs to give easy-to-handle recipes for local dishes for the Chinese New Year table, and here are some of their favorites:

Eight-treasure dish

Chef: Sheng Ning
Years of career: 20+

Holiday feasts are lavish. To balance the meat and grease, vegetables are a must and that is why chef Sheng Ning recommends this ever-popular veggie dish.

“It is one of my favorite dishes,” he says. “Being a cook, you get to taste a lot of things and I always feel the eight-treasure dish serves as an appropriate balance.”

The “eight treasures” are bean sprouts, preserved bok choy, fungus, celery, radish, bamboo shoots, shiitake and dried or fried bean curd. Sometimes soybeans and water chestnuts are added.

It does not have to be exactly eight vegetables as “eight” is just a good number for the name since it is a lucky number.

The recipe is simple: Shred all the ingredients except the bean sprouts, then add 1/2 cup of oil to the pan. Fry until the dish has a fresh aroma, taste and a nice blend of textures.

Chef: Xu Haiping
Years of career: 20+

In winter, white-cut chicken is such a ceremonious cold dish that its presentation on a Hangzhou table usually symbolizes the meal is big — and the coming entrees are going to be equally nice, too.

People love the dish because chicken that have been raised a whole year is the meatiest, and therefore tastiest, in winter.

So nice is the poultry that it needs little processing but boiling.

Right. So simple that everyone can do it at home — boil it, and cut it into 2-centimeter-wide slices.

But because it is easy, quality ingredients and correct timing become vital, says local chef Xu Haiping, who uses a refined technique derived from his 20-plus years of experience.

First, you need a chicken (slaughtered and cleaned) which should weigh 1.2 to 1.5 kilograms.

Put the bird into a pot and cover it with cold water.

Bring the water to the boil. Turn off the fire and cover the pot. Eighteen minutes later, take the bird out of the pot and cut it into pieces.

“Eighteen minutes is the key,” says Xu. “Less time makes it not well-cooked. More minutes lead to old meat.”

And, for those who are picky on a dish’s appearance, Xu has two tricks of the trade.

First, if the head and neck are saved as a decoration, remember to pull the head five times when the water bubbles, in order to shape the neck into a nice curve.

The second trick is to immerse the entire bird into iced water immediately after it is taken out of the hot pot, to make the skin tight and glistening.

No seasoning is needed during boiling. Chopped garlic in soy sauce is the typical accompaniment.

Chef: Guo Lianbao
Years of career: 30+

Every year, when the temperature plummets and Chinese chestnuts are harvested, chef Guo Lianbao starts making pork braised with chestnuts in soy sauce at his restaurant.

It is a signature offering of his menu, and a homey Hangzhou dish seen in autumn and winter.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that winter is a season for storing up essence and therefore the kidneys should be well nourished because they save the body’s essence.

Chestnut and pork tone the kidneys, hence the dish is a good tonic in the cold season.

All ingredients can be bought at a supermarket: peeled chestnuts, streaky pork, cut into pieces (about 1.5cm), some cinnamon and anise, soy sauce and yellow rice wine.

First, add oil into the pan and saute the raw pork. When the meat turns gray and the grease bubbles out, it is time to add soy sauce.

“So, the pork now is like a sponge that absorbs anything you give to it,” says Guo.

The amount of soy sauce should be enough to coat the meat well, but not make it too dark. Tens of seconds later, when all pieces are fully colored, put a quarter cup of the rice wine, which helps remove the raw meat smell.

One minute later, add the chestnuts and hot water, a few pieces of cinnamon and the anise. The water does not need to cover all the ingredients because the dish is not a soup and the water will eventually become broth. One centimeter below the level of the ingredients is fine.

After the liquid in the pot bubbles, cover the lid and simmer until the water is reduced to one cup.

Hangzhou


 

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