The coming 2016 will be held under the auspices of the Fire Monkey, according to the Chinese calendar. Chinese symbols and traditions of celebrating the New Year have long taken root in our culture and have become almost our own, homely. But how much do we know about the features and traditions of the Chinese New Year?
When is New Year celebrated in China?
>As you know, Chinese New Year falls on different dates in January or February. Do you know what is the reason for such an unstable new year, and when can we expect it to arrive in 2016?
Image of the symbol of the year - Monkeys - on parchment
Chinese New Year usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice and is celebrated on a grand scale between the end of the autumn harvest and before spring sowing, so the New Year's date fluctuates from year to year.
In 2016, the Monkey Chinese holiday falls on February 8th. The reason for the floating date of the New Year is that the Chinese lunisolar calendar adds an extra month every three years. This is done to align the lunar and solar cycles, on the basis of which the Chinese calendar is compiled. The Chinese leap year, for example, has 13 months and these are not necessarily the same months as their Gregorian counterpart, so the different start dates for the new year are understandable.
New Year's Day is of great importance in Chinese culture. Its history goes back at least four centuries, and a considerable number of Chinese traditions, customs and rituals are associated with it. The date always falls between January 21 and February 20 of each year.
2016 is the year of the Fire Monkey
>The previous year of the Monkey was 2004, and it was patronized by the Wood Monkey. According to the Chinese theory of elements, each zodiac sign is associated with one of the five elements: gold (metal), wood, water, fire, earth. This means that the Wood Monkey or Fire Monkey appears once in a 60-year cycle.
It is believed that a person's qualities are determined by the patron animal of his year of birth and the corresponding element. The year of your “beast” is considered the most unlucky in the 12-year cycle for a person. However, bad luck can be avoided if you wear something red all year long, given by an older relative: for example, red socks, beads, underwear, a belt, a wrist or ankle bracelet.
Baby in a New Year's monkey costume
Chinese astrologers predict that 2016 will be a memorable year due to major positive changes. The monkey is an intelligent and quick-witted animal, it does not like to sit still, it is active, energetic and symbolizes flexibility. In addition, the monkey is always eager to explore something new and learns very quickly. Therefore, 2016 is a good time for new discoveries and progress, and fire is an element that is very closely associated with the cardiovascular system and the heart. People born in the year of some fire animal are, as a rule, overly sensitive and hot-tempered, and sometimes they lack patience and endurance. As for the Fire Monkey, it has many positive qualities.
- People of the Year of the Monkey are cheerful and smart. They have exceptional leadership qualities and have won prizes since childhood.
- They are sensitive and receptive, but enjoy good health. An active lifestyle protects them from diseases and ailments, and if they are overtaken by illness, it is usually a problem with the nervous or cardiovascular system.
- They know how to save money, so they don’t have to worry about food and clothing. In addition, they love and know how to work to the point of being a workaholic, so they should take breaks in order to also save their own energy.
- Monkeys are endowed with natural wit and are quite attractive and attractive to others. They are mischievous and naughty. Although they do not have any bad intentions, their jokes and pranks sometimes hurt other people's feelings.
- Monkeys need time for stable relationships, as they get bored easily. They cannot be called stable partners. They have many acquaintances in society, but only a few become close friends. Having met their true soulmate, they form a very strong family.
How to celebrate New Year in China. Traditions and customs of celebration
>Chinese residents prepare carefully for the New Year and celebrate on a grand scale.
Honoring ancestors. First of all, the New Year for the Chinese is a time of remembering and honoring ancestors.
Home cleaning. Residents of China carefully clean their homes, since it is believed that the spirit of goodness and positive emotions can only live in a perfectly tidy, clean house.
Home decoration. This is a holiday for the family. Houses are decorated with flowers, fruits, and red Chinese lanterns. Red is the most widely used color, representing fire as the only element that can keep all evil and negativity at bay. Other bright colors are also used: orange, gold, yellow. Very crowded parades and processions with the participation of dancers and life-size replicas of dragons are common.
Dishes for the holiday. Food plays a very important role during the New Year holidays. Jiaozi must be made with minced meat or vegetables (Chinese dumplings), which are eaten by the whole family on New Year's Eve before dinner. This tradition is believed to bring good luck and happiness. Jiaozi are in the form of small metal ingots called yongbao (they were used as money in ancient China). With the help of such dumplings, the Chinese invoke wealth and prosperity. Sometimes a coin is hidden in one of the dumplings, and whoever finds it receives the blessing of the god of wealth Kaishan in the form of material wealth throughout the year.
Chinese New Year Dinner
>Tuan nian or weilu is a family dinner on New Year's Eve, usually hosted by the parents or older sibling in the family. Before the meal, which begins around 11 pm, all departed ancestors are usually remembered.
For the Chinese, food is always closely related to prosperity and longevity. During dinner, Veela are served a whole fish (usually at the end of the meal), symbolizing monetary wealth, a whole chicken with legs, head and tail as a symbol of the unity of a happy family, and pork, invoking strength, wealth and all kinds of blessings. In addition, there must be long noodles on the table, and the longer they are, the more years are added to the life of each family member.
Festive salad yu-shen. In Malaysia, the first dish is yu-sheng. This is a fish salad of good luck and happiness, the main ingredients of which are:
- strips of raw fish (traditionally mackerel/herring; optional salmon, abalone slices and sliced salmon sashimi)
- fruits (pomelo, lime, cucumber, dried oranges)
- oil (olive or sesame)
- finely chopped vegetables (carrots, white/green radishes, Chinese parsley, peppers, turnips, red/green yams, red pickled ginger, lime leaves)
- seasonings (plum sauce, kumquat paste)
- rice vinegar
- roasted peanuts
- spices and flavorings (chili pepper, toasted sesame seeds, Chinese 5-spice powder, cinnamon powder, Chinese ground white pepper)
- square flour chips, deep fried (Chinese shrimp crackers, bok choy crackers)
- jellyfish (optional)
A salad typically contains up to 27 different ingredients and is always associated with abundance. Mixing salad among all family members is usually accompanied by wishes. The ritual begins with the wish for wealth and the fulfillment of desires. When adding fish, abundance is desired. Fruits mean good luck and a smooth road. Pepper - attracting money and treasures. Oil - many sources of wealth. Carrots are a call of good luck. Green radish - eternal youth. White radish - rise, progress and flourishing. Peanuts - prosperity in the house. Sesame - business prosperity. And at the very end, flour chips with a wish for a floor covered in gold.
When the salad is already portioned on the platter, each family member should toss it with chopsticks with a smile and good wishes. The higher the salad is thrown, the better the family financial condition will be.
After dinner, all family members continue to stay awake and communicate. This ritual is called "shou sui". It is believed to prolong life, especially for older people.
Sweet cupcake nian gao. New Year's cake made from rice flour nian gao is eaten for dessert. Its name sounds like a homonym to the expression “higher every year,” which also attracts good luck and prosperity. In addition, nian gao is specially prepared to please the Chinese kitchen deity, who is believed to visit the heavenly abode every year, where he reports on the good or bad behavior of each family. The tastier the cupcake, the better the “report” on the family upstairs. Nian gao is also served to friends, relatives and neighbors.
New Year's food of Buddhist monks. During the first five days of the new year, Buddhist monks usually eat a strict vegetarian dish called luo-han zhai (or "Buddha's delight"). This follows the Buddhist tradition of not killing any living creature during the Spring Festival, as one should not begin the year with bloodshed.
Daikon pies. During the New Year holidays, square pies are made from daikon radish, which are also symbols of good luck and prosperity. They sometimes add Jinhua ham, Chinese sausage, dried shiitake mushrooms and dried shrimp to give the pies a more savory taste.
Chinese New Year gifts
>Relatives and friends generously exchange gifts: oranges or even live orange trees, lychee fruits, other dried fruits - all of them are laid out on a tray and presented to each other as a sign of love and wishes for good luck. In Malaysia, elder family members give red envelopes (ang po) filled with money to children and unmarried relatives. This tradition is also common in China: there red envelopes and sweets are placed under the pillow.
During the New Year holidays, everyone wishes each other good mood and optimism, good health, happiness, wealth and longevity.
Traditionally, the celebrations last for fifteen days. However, now they are limited to a week, or even less, since it is very difficult to take a break from work in the modern world.
The celebration of Chinese New Year is no longer limited to just China. Chinese people living in the USA, UK, Australia or India hold their traditional celebrations in the same way. In addition to China, New Year festivals are also held in other Asian countries, such as Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, and preparations for the New Year holidays actually begin in the summer.
Important tip: If you are attending Chinese New Year celebrations, never wear white or black. White symbolizes death, while black is associated with bad luck and the evil eye.
What should be on the table for New Year 2016?
In Russia, it is customary to fill the refrigerator to capacity, which will allow you to set a rich and full of excesses holiday table, abundant and varied, so that there is enough for everyone. There is no greater joy for a Russian person than the traditional eating of numerous “last year’s” salads “in the dead of night” at 1 p.m. on January 1st. The monkey is an omnivore, so don’t skimp on the food on the table for New Year 2016.
Firstly, on the table on New Year 2016, as always, there should be a traditional Olivier salad, which in Russia is considered a symbol that brings happiness in the coming year.
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Secondly, this year jellied fish, herring under a fur coat, caviar and fish milk are very popular. Treats made from crabs, shellfish, shrimp and squid will not go unnoticed on the table; the monkey in his habitat is not averse to eating fish. On New Year's Eve, love dreams and wishes often come true. If you have far-reaching plans after the New Year holiday, and you have made plans for yourself to continue the banquet after a hearty feast, then it’s a good idea to put fish dishes on the table. Monkeys are very loving animals and often catch fish, sometimes using fishing rods forgotten by tourists. Among many peoples who traditionally eat fish, fish has long been recognized as an erotic dish; their men are much more active than those who eat meat.
Thirdly, monkeys’ favorite foods in nature are insects, bird eggs, leaves and fruits. It is known that Julius Caesar loved grape snails, which caused strong sexual desire, and Arab sheikhs ate eggs fried in oil before love marathons. Not everyone can put grape snails on the New Year's table, but everyone can easily prepare egg salads. Also, do not spare fruits, fresh vegetables, bananas and fresh grass for the monkey, put a lot of greens in each dish. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and red pepper have a stimulating and warming effect. Use this little secret when preparing treats for your loved one to celebrate the Year of the Fire Monkey.
It will not be easy for you to choose a menu and answer a simple question: “What to cook for the 2015 New Year’s table?”, but listen to our advice, and the result will exceed all your expectations.
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On the New Year 2016 table there will always be a place for bananas, tangerines and confectionery sweets. According to Chinese belief, eating a variety of sweets on New Year's Day will provide sweet joys for the coming year. Bananas on the table will not only decorate and diversify your New Year's table, but will also respect the monkey who loves this delicacy, so let's not deny him this pleasure. Don’t forget to put a vase of tangerines on the table, which are traditionally considered a New Year’s fruit in Russia. Sweet tangerines are popular not only on our New Year's table, but every Chinese New Year is not complete without this wonderful fruit.
The thing is that the Chinese word “mandarin” is consonant with the word “luck” and “wealth”. Golden tangerines, like small gold bars, will bribe the fiery Monkey, and she will not be stingy with all sorts of benefits for you in the coming year.
New Year 2016 is called the year of the Fire Monkey according to the Chinese calendar, so the patroness of the year will be very pleased to see some traditional Chinese dish on your festive table. Although the Chinese associate all food with longevity and wealth, not all dishes on the table bring prosperity. Pears have negative associations in Chinese culture. On New Year's morning, you cannot eat porridge for breakfast, it is believed that this is the food of poor people, you need to eat rice, which brings wealth for the coming year, and the container with rice should be full throughout the New Year holiday. The Chinese believe that meat should not be eaten out of respect for the Buddhist gods, who do not approve of the killing of animals. It is believed that on this day all the gods meet and wish each other a Happy New Year. The exception to this rule is pork, which invokes wealth, strength and blessings.
During the New Year's dinner, the Chinese serve a whole fish, or a whole chicken with head and legs, or long Chinese noodles, as a symbol of the unity of a happy family. Long noodles must be on the table, and the longer they are, the more years of life will be added to each family member in the future. For the Chinese, the word “fish” is consonant with the word “prosperity”; a whole fish symbolizes financial wealth and longevity. Whole fish are usually served at the end of the New Year's meal on Chinese New Year's Eve. In Malaysia, China and Singapore, a salad consisting of fish, fruits and vegetables is traditionally prepared for the New Year. In Russia, this salad is known as Yu-shen. Prepare a New Year's masterpiece called Yu-shen to bring good luck closer to you. You can prepare a prosperity salad from fresh raw fish or use lightly salted salmon, which is often present on our table on New Year's Day. Then the patronage of the bright and witty fiery Monkey in the coming year will be guaranteed to you and all your guests.
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This tasty and beautiful salad from a large number of plant ingredients, there can be about 27 of them, can be prepared by any housewife, and we will tell you the recipe for its preparation. The wonderful taste of spicy Yu-shen, which combines a seemingly incompatible variety of flavors, will undoubtedly please all guests and will please the fiery Monkey. The Chinese believe that such a salad brings good luck and happiness; it is the first thing served on the New Year's table. The salad contains many different ingredients symbolizing abundance, including vegetables and fruits arranged in piles on the dish. The salad is mixed with smiles from family members with wishes for wealth and fulfillment.
Each ingredient is added to the salad with its own wishes, for example, when adding fish to the salad, they wish for abundance. Each product in this salad has its own meaning: carrots bring good luck, pepper attracts treasures and money, grapefruit brings big income, avocado promises good luck, green radish preserves eternal youth, white radish brings prosperity and growth in business. Adding fruits wishes for good luck and a smooth road, butter symbolizes many sources of wealth, sesame for prosperity in business, peanuts attract gold and silver to the home, and flour chips added at the very end are associated with wishes for a floor covered in gold. Salad in portioned plates is lifted or thrown up with chopsticks to improve one’s financial condition in the coming year, while trying to raise it as high as possible. And it is imperative that after dinner, relatives should communicate and not go to bed; it is believed that this prolongs life, especially for older people. It is necessary to wait until midnight, and then set off fireworks and salutes to scare away evil spirits and evil spirits.
Chinese salad of happiness and prosperity Yu-shen
Below are the ingredients that you should add to your salad. At the same time, you can safely replace them with those available for your table and wallet.
Raw fish 300 g, cut into strips. Traditional mackerel can be safely replaced with fresh or lightly salted salmon and salmon. If desired, add slices of abalone and jellyfish.
Place heaps of vegetables cut into strips. From vegetables: ripe avocado 1 pc., cucumber 1 pc., white and green radishes 1 pc., carrots 1 pc. or Korean carrots 100g, sweet red and green peppers 1 pc., turnip 1 pc., red and green yams (tropical potatoes) 1 pc.
From fruit you can use 1 piece. pomelo, dried oranges, grapefruit, lime.
Suitable greens include Chinese parsley or a small bunch of green onions, lime leaves, and ½ cup of sweet red pickled ginger.
Sesame or olive oil for dressing 4 tbsp. spoons, rice or wine vinegar 1 tbsp, lemon juice 1 tsp. spoon, plum wine 3 tbsp. spoons, roasted sesame seeds 2 tbsp. spoons, ¼ cup roasted peanuts, flavorings and spices. For spices, use chili pepper, Chinese ground white pepper 1/2 tsp. spoons, cinnamon powder and Chinese 5 spice powder to taste. You can add plum sauce and kumquat paste - Chinese orange - to taste.
Finally, deep-fried square flour chips are added, these could be Chinese shrimp crackers, bok choy crackers or potato chips.
To prepare the yu-shen salad, cut slightly frozen salmon into thin strips.
Cucumber, radish, turnip, yam, sweet pepper cut into strips. Remove the pit from the avocado, cut into strips and sprinkle with lemon juice. Grate the carrots into strips on a Korean carrot grater or take ready-made Korean carrots. Peel the grapefruit slices from the films and divide into 4 parts. Finely chop the onion.
Lightly fry peanuts and sesame seeds in a dry frying pan. Mix the dressing oil with vinegar and plum wine.
Arrange all the ready-to-eat components of the Yu-shen salad in piles on a large platter, place the fish in the center, sprinkle with sesame seeds and peanuts, seasonings and onions to taste, pour oil and vinegar on top. Cool the salad. Before serving, add heaps of flour or potato crisps.
There is a ritual of absorbing Yu-shen - all guests must take part in mixing the salad, all components of the salad must be mixed together by everyone present at the festive table. Such a bright New Year's salad will become the center and decoration of your table, and guests will not forget such a treat and will certainly ask for the recipe.
It does not have a fixed date and is celebrated differently every year. So, in 2017, the Chinese New Year begins from February 5 to February 20.
On the eve of the holiday, the whole family gathers at the table to discuss the past year - what has been achieved, what has been learned and what remains to be accomplished.
Traditional dishes of the Chinese New Year table are very symbolic, but this symbolism is often understandable only to the Chinese themselves. Most New Year's dishes have a "karmic" purpose, are dedicated to deities and serve to attract good luck to the house.
For example, jiaozi dumplings are a popular New Year's dish in northern China, and the name of the dish sounds the same as the phrase "farewell to the old and welcome to the new." A coin is hidden in one of the dumplings, and the one who gets it will be a successful person.
Dumpling noodle soup, popular in southern China, symbolizes long life, so the noodles should be eaten whole, without chopping.
Chicken and fish, cooked whole, symbolize prosperity, duck - fidelity, eggs - fertility, oranges - good luck.
"KP in Ukraine" has prepared for you a selection of recipes for traditional Chinese New Year dishes that you will definitely want to try to cook.
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JIAOZI (Chinese dumplings)
INGREDIENTS:
- 400 g minced meat
- 200 g fresh dill
- 1 piece large onion
- 50 g fresh ginger (approx. 4-5 cm)
- 2 tbsp wheat flour
- 1/3 tbsp starch
- 1 tbsp cold water
- salt, pepper to taste
COOKING
Prepare the dough: mix flour with starch, sift into a bowl. Gradually adding cold water, knead into a homogeneous dough.
Prepare the filling: add finely chopped dill, very finely chopped onions and grated ginger root to the minced meat. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir.
Divide the dough into small pieces, roll out the cakes. Place a spoonful of filling in the center of each cake (if the cakes are smaller - a teaspoon, for larger ones - a tablespoon). Gently lift the edges of the dough up and fold it like a flower, pinching it slightly. Don't forget to put a coin in the last dumpling (rinse thoroughly with baking soda before doing this)!
Jiaozi is cooked for 15-20 minutes in a double boiler or simply boiled in salted water in small portions.
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YU-SHEN (salad of happiness, wealth and good luck)
INGREDIENTS:
- 300 g fresh salmon
- 1 piece ripe avocado
- 1 piece sweet red pepper
- 1 piece green bell pepper
- 1 piece carrot
- 1 piece fresh cucumber
- 1/4 cup sweet pickled ginger
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup roasted peanuts
- 1/2 bunch of green onions
For the sauce:
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 3 tbsp plum wine
- 1 piece grapefruit
COOKING
Cut the avocado into strips and place in a heap on a small dish
Cut the carrots, bell peppers and cucumber into strips and place in a heap on a dish.
Peel the grapefruit from veins and skin, divide each slice into 4 parts and place in a heap on a dish.
Place ginger in the center of the dish.
Roast sesame seeds and peanuts. Lightly chop the peanuts.
First freeze the fish a little, remove from the freezer and cut into slices approximately 1x5 cm in size. Place on a plate on top of the ginger.
Sprinkle the vegetables with half the sesame seeds and peanuts.
Prepare the sauce: combine oil, lemon juice, pepper and wine in a bowl.
IMPORTANT! Each of those present at the table must take the utensil and together they must slowly mix the salad, alternately lifting each ingredient as high as possible and saying the traditional wish of good luck “Lo hey”! Mix well and pour the dressing over the salad. Then sprinkle with the remaining peanuts and sesame seeds. Sprinkle the salad with chopped green onions.
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SIHU TSUYU (fish in sweet and sour sauce)
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 whole fish (carp, sea bass)
- 1.5 liters of water
- 3 tbsp chopped ginger
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
- 70 ml rice vinegar (white or black)
- 4 tbsp cane sugar (can be replaced with regular sugar)
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine (can be replaced with sake or sherry)
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- a pinch of salt
- cilantro leaves
- sesame oil - 1 tsp.
COOKING
Wash the fish, remove scales and remove the gills. Using a knife, make 2-4 cuts diagonally on each side of the carcass.
Boil 1.5 liters of water with onion and ginger in a saucepan. There should be enough water to completely cover the fish. Boil the fish without turning over for 8-10 minutes, then drain the water.
Boil half a liter of water (you can use the water in which the fish was boiled) or chicken broth. Add soy sauce, sugar and vinegar. Heat over low heat until the sugar dissolves.
Mix wine and starch, add mixture to sauce. Mix thoroughly to avoid the formation of lumps. Remove the container with the sauce from the heat and add salt to taste (you can add black pepper to taste).
Place the fish on a plate and pour over the sauce, garnish with cilantro leaves. Drizzle sesame oil on top. By the way, the dish can also be sprinkled with 1-2 cloves of chopped garlic.
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CHINESE MARBLE EGGS
INGREDIENTS:
- 6 eggs
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp black tea
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- Tangerine zest to taste
COOKING
Place the eggs in a saucepan with cold water and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes.
Remove the eggs and make cracks in the shells using a knife and place the eggs back into the water.
Add the remaining ingredients to the water, cover and simmer over low heat for another 2 hours. Serve hot or cold.
Add the remaining ingredients, close the lid, and cook over low heat for 2 hours. Serve cold or hot.
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NIAN GAO (Chinese pie)
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 tbsp glutinous rice flour (available in oriental spice stores)
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp dried fruits
COOKING
Bring water to a boil, dissolve sugar in it and cool.
Add flour, milk and egg to the water. Knead the dough until it becomes homogeneous.
Finely chop some of the dried fruits and add to the dough.
Grease a baking dish with oil. Distribute the dough in it. Steam for about 45-50 minutes or bake in the oven.
IMPORTANT!Nian-gao is a mandatory attribute of any New Year's table. It is prepared from rice, less often wheat. flour with the addition of various fillings - fruits, soy puree.
In Shanghai, niangao is shaped into a round cookie, the dough is made into a loaf and served already sliced, sometimes niangao is not a big pie, but small cupcakes.
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COOKIES OF DESTINY
INGREDIENTS:
- 100 g flour
- 50 g powdered sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 2 squirrels
- Vanillin
- A pinch of salt
- 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
COOKING
Write your predictions on small pieces of paper. Preheat the oven to 160 C.
Beat the egg whites with butter and vanilla until light foam.
Sift flour with starch and salt, add powder. Add the egg whites to the mixture and beat. The dough should turn out like condensed milk.
Place a tablespoon of dough onto baking parchment and spread to form a circle.
Bake until golden brown.
Take out the cookies one at a time, take them with a glove, put the fortune in the middle and fold the cookies in half, and then in half again. And then place the cookies in a glass or shot glass until they cool completely.
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FISH IN HOT SAUCE
INGREDIENTS:
- 450 g fresh firm white fish fillet
- cornmeal for dredging
- 3 small bunches of green onions
- 150 ml peanut or vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
For the sauce:
- 150 ml chicken broth
- 2 tsp yellow bean sauce
- 1 tbsp chili sauce
- 2 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- salt, white pepper to taste
COOKING
Sprinkle fish fillets evenly on both sides with 1 teaspoon salt. Cut the fish into 5 cm strips and leave for 20 minutes.
Dredge the fish pieces in cornmeal. Cut the green onions into 5 cm diagonal pieces.
Heat a frying pan, add oil. When it gets very hot and begins to smoke, reduce the heat. fry the fillet on both sides until half cooked. Remove the fish and pat dry with a paper towel.
Drain the oil from the pan, reserving about 1 tablespoon. Heat the pan again and add the scallions, garlic and ginger. Stir-fry them for about 30 seconds, then add the sauce ingredients, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon white pepper. bring the mixture to a boil.
Reduce heat, add fish and leave everything to simmer gently for about 2 minutes. Place the fish on a plate, pour over the sauce and serve.
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BEIJING NOODLES
INGREDIENTS:
- 350 g egg noodles (fresh or dry)
- 1 1/2 tbsp. l sesame oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp. l nut butter
- 1 1/2 tbsp. l finely chopped garlic
- 1 tbsp. l finely chopped fresh ginger
- 3 tbsp finely chopped green onions
- 450 g minced pork
- 3 tbsp. l yellow bean sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp. l rice wine or dry sherry
- 2 tbsp. l dark soy sauce
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp chili oil (optional)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 300 ml chicken broth
For decoration:
- 3 tbsp. l finely chopped green onions
COOKING
Boil the noodles, then plunge them into cold water, drain and toss in sesame oil. Set aside and cover with film.
Heat oil in a wok or frying pan. Add nut butter, garlic, ginger and scallions. Fry, stirring, for about 15 minutes. Add the pork, stir and cook for about 2 minutes until the pork changes color.
add remaining ingredients except green onions for garnish. Bring to a boil, stirring, then reduce heat and cook for about 5 minutes.
Place noodles in boiling water for 30 seconds until warmed through. Then drain in a colander. Transfer the noodles to a large platter and pour the sauce over them. Stir and garnish with green onions.
BY THE WAY! No Chinese holiday meal is complete without noodles, which symbolize longevity. They say that you should never break or cut noodles so as not to shorten your life.
CURIOUS
In Hunan Provinceь goes "nyangao" (sticks made from rice) - this means that every year life will be better and better. The Miao people eat "zongzi" (glutinous rice wrapped in reed leaves) - life will be sweet and the harvest will be the richest.
In Hubei Province The first dish on the New Year's table is chicken soup. This is a symbol of calm. And the main workers in the family should try chicken feet - this means that in the new year they will be able to grab hold of wealth. Young students should try chicken wings - they can spread their wings and fly high. The owner eats chicken bones - you have to surpass everyone.
In Jingzhou and Shashi areas the first food is eggs, then life will be colorful, happy and prosperous. If you welcome guests, you need to eat two boiled eggs, through the white of which you can see the yolk. This means that silver attracts gold and gold attracts silver.
In Boyang District, Jiangxi Province First of all, they eat dumplings and fish. This means "meeting good people" and "abundance for the whole year." Some dumplings are filled with candies, flowers or silver coins, then “life will be sweet”, “people will retain eternal youth” and “get rich in the new year”.
To Chaozhou They usually eat "fuyuan", which is prepared from rice flour and dry radish, fried in oil, and drink "five fruit soup", which is made from grains of euryala (water lily). This means that "life will be wonderful and long."
In southern Fujian eat noodles. This means that “the year will be long,” and in Zhangzhou they eat sausages, “songhuadan” (eggs prepared using a special technology) and raw ginger, which means “life will be interesting.”
In some areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces you need to eat "chunpan", which is made from celery, leeks and bamboo shoots. This means that people "will be industrious and will live long."
Somewhere in Anhui Province locals must nibble on raw radishes. This is called “yaochun”, which means “you can destroy germs and prevent diseases, then everyone will be happy in the new year.”
“Olivier” is a classic folk salad, without which it is difficult to imagine any New Year’s table. Even rare restaurants, for example, in Moscow, take the liberty of not including “Olivier” in the New Year’s menu. Meanwhile, the “Olivier” aristocrat salad was born. It received its name in honor of its creator, Lucien Olivier, who owned the Hermitage restaurant in Moscow in the early 60s of the 19th century. The exact composition of the original salad remained a mystery. As V.A. Gilyarovsky wrote in the book “Moscow and Muscovites”: “It was considered special chic when dinners were prepared by the French chef Olivier, who even then became famous for the “Olivier salad” he invented, without which lunch would not be lunch and the secret of which he would not opened. No matter how hard the gourmets tried, it didn’t work out: this and that.” According to some reports, the original recipe for the salad was something like this: 2 hazel grouse, veal tongue, a quarter pound of pressed caviar, half a pound of fresh lettuce, 25 pieces of boiled crayfish, half a can of pickles, half a can of soybeans, two fresh cucumbers, a quarter pound of capers, 5 hard-boiled eggs. For the sauce: Provencal mayonnaise should be prepared with French vinegar from 2 eggs and 1 pound of Provencal (olive) oil. As you can see, it is quite difficult to call the original version of the salad native. But experiments with the composition began immediately, fortunately Olivier allows this with virtually no damage to quality. For example, in the book by P. P. Alexandrova, “Guide to the Study of the Fundamentals of Culinary Art,” published in 1897, the following recipe is indicated: Necessary products and their proportions for one person. Hazel grouse - ½ piece. Potatoes - 3 pieces. Cucumbers - 1 piece. Lettuce - 3-4 leaves. Provencal - 1½ table. spoons. Cancer necks - 3 pieces. Lanspik - ¼ cup. Capers - 1 teaspoon. Olives - 3-5 pieces.
Cooking instructions: Cut the fillet of fried good hazel grouse into blankets and mix with blankets of boiled, not crumbly potatoes and slices of fresh cucumbers, add capers and olives and pour in a large amount of Provencal sauce, with the addition of Kabul soybeans. Os-tudivo, transfer to a crystal vase, decorate with crayfish necks, lettuce leaves and chopped lancepick. Serve very cold. Fresh cucumbers can be replaced with large gherkins. Instead of hazel grouse, you can take veal, partridge and chicken, but a real Olivier appetizer is always prepared from hazel grouse.
In general, the variability of the salad is extraordinary, this can be seen even from the recipe of 1897; various variations of ingredients are already allowed in it. However, this does not spoil the result. Somehow in the “dashing 90s” several times I had to make “Olivier” even without meat and peas and nothing edible, even tasty. Although in this case we no longer have Olivier, but potato salad.
After the October Revolution, Olivier became a dish of the Soviet elite. At the same time, he changed both the name and composition. Hazel grouse are only for the bourgeoisie. Remember the famous “eat pineapples, chew hazel grouse, your last day comes bourgeois.” And the name “Olivier” is clearly “bourgeois”. Therefore, the salad became “Stolichny”, and chicken replaced the hazel grouse in it.
Further, as the people progressed, the recipes for the Olivier salad were repeatedly changed, some ingredients were replaced by others, cheaper and more accessible. The standard Soviet “Olivier” consisted of 5 components:
hard boiled eggs;
boiled chicken;
boiled potatoes;
pickles;
green pea;
Everything was cut into cubes, mixed and dressed with mayonnaise.
However, this recipe is by no means a dogma. No matter how many Olivier salads I have tried, each housewife turns it out differently. Maybe this is also the secret of its popularity, the salad allows and even encourages improvisation and it doesn’t get any worse.
I saw a wonderful Yu-shen salad. True, she doesn’t have it in LJ, but that’s not the point. I changed a lot in it, it turned out to be an absolutely wonderful salad. Just what the doctor ordered. Tasty to the point of obscene =)
Salad with salmon and vegetables according to Chinese motives:
How much of what:
Lightly salted salmon - 150 g
Avocado - 1 pc.
Bell pepper (red and green) - 1 pc.
Long-fruited cucumber - 1 pc.
Korean carrots - 100 g
Green onion - 1 bunch
Sesame - 1 tbsp.
Salt, white pepper - to taste
Olive oil - 2 tbsp.
Wine vinegar (white) - 1 tbsp.
Lemon juice - 1-2 tsp.
Cooking:
1. Lightly freeze the salmon in the freezer. Cut into thin strips.
2. Cut both types of peppers and cucumber into strips. Peel the avocado, remove the pit, cut into strips and sprinkle with lemon juice.
3. Add carrots and finely chopped onions to the salad.
4. Lightly fry sesame seeds in a dry frying pan and add to the salad. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Mix olive oil with vinegar, season the salad, stir.
6. Serve chilled.
In our deli they sell amazing chicken breasts with vegetables. When I was too lazy to stand at the stove, I bought them. They are expensive. And then I thought, why am I doing this? They take 10 minutes at most to make, plus baking. Delicious... I ate it myself and praised myself =)
Chicken breasts baked with vegetables:
How much of what:
Chicken breasts (fillets) - 600 g
Bell pepper (red) - 1 pc.
Tomato - 1 pc.
Korean carrots - 100 g
Hard cheese - 80 g
Salt, pepper - to taste
Greens, sesame - for serving
Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp.
Cooking:
1. Wrap the fillet in film and beat it lightly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Peel the pepper, cut into strips and mix with carrots. Add salt if necessary.
3. Cut the tomato into circles. Grate the cheese on a fine grater.
4. Grease a deep baking tray with oil. Place chicken breasts. Place 1-2 mugs of tomato on top of them, 1-2 tbsp. mixture of pepper and carrots. Sprinkle cheese on top. Place in an oven preheated to 165C for 20-25 minutes.
5. Serve breasts sprinkled with chopped herbs and sesame seeds.
This morning I wanted to make apple crumble. Frankly, I have never made them. It seemed too simple =)) Well, yes. Just. But it's delicious!
Crumble with apples:
How much of what (for one medium or 2 small molds):
Apples - 4 pcs.
Honey - 2 tbsp.
Butter - 140 g + for greasing the mold
Wheat flour - 100 g
Granulated sugar - 2 tbsp.
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp.
Hazelnuts - 10-15 kernels
Cinnamon, ginger, salt - a pinch
Cooking:
1. Remove the core from the apples, cut into medium cubes, pour in lemon juice, stir, set aside.
2. Melt 60 g of butter, add honey, cinnamon and ginger, heat over low heat until the honey is completely dissolved.
3. Finely chop or crush the nuts in a mortar. Add to the honey mixture, pour over the apples and stir.
4. Mix flour with sugar and a pinch of salt.
5. Cut the remaining butter into small cubes (It should be cold). Quickly mix flour and butter until fine crumbs form.
6. Grease the molds with butter, lay out the filling, and cover with the resulting crumbs.
7. Place in an oven preheated to 180C for 7-10 minutes.
8. Crumble can be eaten both cold and hot.
It was nearing lunchtime. I made chicken soup. But something was clearly missing. And then the idea came to my mind to make a savory crumble. Not only have I never done anything like this, but I’ve never even tried it. It was pure improvisation, but the result drove me crazy! This will probably be my favorite dish to date!
Chicken crumble:
How much of what:
Chicken breast (fillet) - 1 pc. (about 300 g)
Onions - 1 pc.
Butter - 2 tbsp + a little for greasing the pan
Peanuts or cashews (without skin) - a handful
Garlic - 1-2 cloves
Nutmeg, black pepper - a pinch
Salt - to taste
For the test:
Flour - 100 g
Butter - 80 g
Sugar - 1-2 tsp.
Salt - a pinch
1. Cut the chicken breast into small cubes.
2. Finely chop the onion and garlic.
3. Melt 2 tbsp in a frying pan. oil, add fillet, onion and garlic. Add spices and salt to taste. If there is not enough liquid, add 1-2 tbsp. water. The fillet should be stewed, not fried. Cook, stirring, for 4 minutes.
4. Cut the cold butter into cubes.
5. Mix flour with salt and sugar, stir in butter, making crumbs.
6. Grease the pan with oil, transfer the chicken, add broth from the pan on top (there shouldn’t be a lot of it). Sprinkle the chicken with nuts and place crumbs on top.
7. Place the mold in an oven preheated to 180C. Bake for 10 minutes.
8. Serve the crumble hot or slightly cooled.
