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The year of the horse gallops in next Tuesday, bringing with it dancing lions, exploding firecrackers and all the trappings of the Lunar new year, not the least of which is a feast of great foods.
3 ways to celebrate the holiday
Star-Bulletin staff
In Hawaii, the Chinese, through numbers and sheer force of personality, tend to dominate this holiday, but never forget that it is the most important celebration throughout Asia.
Cultural lessons aside, imagine all the more food you get to eat if you keep alive Tet and Sol-nal -- the Vietnamese and Korean new year celebrations -- alongside Chinese Chuen Jie, or Spring Festival.
Cleaning house, settling debts and passing small gifts of money to children wrapped in red paper are common traditions, and so is a reverence for the colors of red and gold, for happiness and wealth.
Likewise, many foods of the holiday reflect a cross-pollination of traditions. Chinese joong -- steamed mochi rice with pieces of pork wrapped in banana or ti leaves -- is much like Vietnamese banh trung. Korean d'ok-guk, beef broth afloat with rice cakes, is much like ozoni, the Japanese new year's soup poured over a pancake of mochi (the Japanese, though, celebrate on Jan. 1, having adopted the Western calendar during the Meiji era). Back around again, we have the Chinese version of mochi -- round sticky cakes of gau, symbolizing togetherness and luck.
The recipes that follow allow for a three-way taste of the holiday.
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Sammy Li, owner of Beijing Chinese Seafood Restaurant at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, suggests this dish as a good symbolic beginning to the new year. The live prawns "dance" when wine is poured over them, bringing to mind a lively dragon.
Place prawns in bowl or pot and add 2/3 cup of wine. Cover bowl, as prawns will "dance" when wine is added. Soak prawns 15 minutes.Drunken Prawns with Chili Peppers
Beijing Chinese Seafood Restaurant1/2 pound live prawns
2/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine
Flour for dusting
Vegetable oil for frying
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon chopped chili peppers
3 tablespoons chopped green onionRemove prawns from wine, dust in flour, then deep fry.
Heat 2 teaspoons more oil in wok; add garlic and chili peppers; stir-fry briefly. Add cooked prawns, green onion and remaining wine and stir-fry until wine is absorbed. Serves 2.
Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 460 calories, 17 g total fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 220 mg cholesterol, 260 mg sodium, 31 g carbohydrate, 26 g protein.*
You may see this soup spelled d'ok-guk, duk-kok or tteokkuk -- they are all phonetic translations from Korean. The critical ingredient is Korean rice cake, which is sold fresh in cylindrical strips about a half-inch around. Palama Supermarket carries it for $3.99 for 2 pounds.
Cut 1/2 pound of the steak into thin strips. Combine marinade ingredients and pour over sliced beef. Refrigerate.Rice Cake Soup
1 pound Korean rice cake, in 1/2-inch slices
1-1/2 pounds flank steak
6 cups water
2 cloves garlic
Salt to taste
1 egg
>> Marinade:
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon mashed garlic
1 teaspoon chopped green onion
1 teaspoon sugarRinse rice cake and soak in cold water about 1 hour (or longer for softer texture).
Bring water to a boil; add remaining beef and garlic. Reduce heat and simmer about 1 hour.
Beat egg and fry. Cut in strips and set aside. Broil or pan-fry marinated beef. Set aside.
Remove beef from simmering broth and reserve for another use. Season broth with salt. Add rice cake. The pieces will float to the top when cooked.
Ladle soup into bowls and top with broiled beef, then garnish with egg. Serves 4.
Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: (not including salt to taste): 420 calories, 6 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 100 mg cholesterol, 100 mg sodium, 62 g carbohydrate, 27 g protein.* To simplify this soup: Simmer all the steak until cooked, then remove and shred. Season to taste with salt, pepper, chili pepper, green onion and sesame oil. Meanwhile, add rice cake to simmering broth. Serve broth topped with meat.
ACCORDING to Vietnamese legend, a king asked each of his children to bring him a gift. He was most pleased with the simple gift from one child, of sticky rice wrapped around pork and mung beans, and ordered this cake to be eaten annually to celebrate the new year.
Heat oil over medium heat. Stir-fry garlic until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; add pork, sugar, fish sauce, pepper and 1 cup water. Cook until pork is fork-tender, about 2 hours. Cool pork, then shred.Banh Chung
"Authentic Vietnamese Cooking" by Corinne Trang (Simon & Schuster, 1999)1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large garlic clove
8 ounces pork butt, in bite-sized chunks
Pinch sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 cups water
2 teaspoons pepper
1 cup dried mung beans (soaked 3 hours and drained)
2 lotus or banana leaves, soaked in warm water, cut into 2 8-inch squares and dried
4 cups cooked sticky rice (see note)Bring 2 cups water to a simmer over medium heat; add mung beans and cook, stirring constantly, until water is absorbed, 10 to 15 minutes.
Divide rice into 4 portions, 2 of them slightly larger. Place smaller portions in the center of the banana leaf squares and flatten into 4-inch squares. Top each with a layer of pork, then a layer of mung beans. Drizzle with cooking juices from pork. Top with larger portions of rice and shape so pork and beans are enclosed. Fold edges of banana leaves over the rice and tie into packages with string.
Steam cakes 45 minutes. Makes 2 cakes.
Note: Sticky rice is short-grain glutinous rice also called gao nep, available in Asian groceries. To make 4 cups, soak 2 cups rice in 6 cups water at least 6 hours, drain. Place in cheesecloth in a bamboo steamer and steam 25 minutes.
Approximate nutritional analysis, per cake: 1,150 calories, 29 g total fat, 7 g saturated fat, 100 mg cholesterol, 780 mg sodium, 170 g carbohydrate, 49 g protein.*
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