Lunar New Year Recipes

In addition to its impressive high-gloss appearance and savory taste, this Chinese barbeque pork is quite easy to make at home--even without a fancy ceramic grill.

These almond cookies are what you would typically find in Chinese dim sum restaurants in Hawaii. A lot of these neighborhood dim sum stores/restaurants have closed down recently, so it's nice to be able to still enjoy these cookies from your own kitchen. If you enjoy the flavor of almonds, you'll love these cookies. This is a simple recipe and is a favorite in my family. Give it a try!

This is a recipe I have perfected on my own through the years. I am one who never measures, so take the measurements as a guide, not as law. This recipe is one that my family members beg me to make all the time! Enjoy!

Quick and Easy! There are many variations of Jian Bing, a.k.a. Chinese Crepe; this is only one. I use scallions and cilantro in this recipe, but others use different ingredients, such as sunflower seeds. Instead of crackers one can also use Chinese fried dough (You Tiao). Enjoy!

A delicious brunch snack that can be found in many Chinese breakfast shops. Its various names include 'cong you bing,' 'jiu cai bing,', 'scallion pancakes,' 'green onion pancakes,' etc. This particular recipe is passed down through my mother's family, and brings back many good, yummy memories! Can serve with hot-sour sauce, or your favorite Chinese sauce.

After several experiments, I created this cross between a bread and pastry dough that works perfectly for making filled buns. I generally fill with a BBQ filling, but you can be creative.

Steamed pork-filled wontons and steamed vegetables make a hearty and satisfying soup.

My mom's been making me tsao mi fun, in Mandarin, or tsa bi whun, in Taiwanese, since I was a little girl. Tsa bi whun literally translates to 'fried rice noodles'. You'll most likely find all the ingredients at your local supermarket except for the five spice powder, dried Chinese black mushrooms and rice vermicelli which can be found at your local Asian food mart. All the measurements here are pretty much to taste, some people like more pork, some less, some more soy sauce, some less, etc.

These fun-to-make flatbreads are a common fixture on menus in China, and while they all feature the same few ingredients, they come in a variety of thicknesses. The thinner you make these, the crispier they'll be, but you won't get that nice, layered, oniony inside. On the other hand, if you make them too thick, they can be a little doughy inside, so I try to shoot for something in between.

These cocktail buns are like the ones you get at Chinese bakeries. They are filled with a creamy coconut filling. Yum!

A sweet dessert made with glutinous rice flour (also called sweet rice flour) and red bean paste. This recipe was given to me by my Chinese sister-in-law. It is a favorite of my family. It has a firm custard-like texture which is different to many western palates.

This is a common cold noodle salad in Japan, and always great to eat when the weather is hot. Enjoy!

People throw out the term "melt-in-your-mouth" pretty casually, but these meatballs really are. Some people think the name comes from their large size, while others believe eating these gives you the strength of a lion, but the actual answer is not quite as mythical. The look of this crinkled-up napa cabbage reminded the inventors of this dish of a lion's mane.

Taste the Southeast Asian seaside with this subtle, fragrant and tender chicken dish. Best served over a bed of jasmine rice.

Banh Tet and banh chung (the square cake version) are available year long and for the Lunar New Year in Vietnam. It's a sticky rice cake with various fillings, some are sweet and some are savory. Mung beans, pork, and sticky rice are the core ingredients. Raffia string is usually used to tie the cakes but I've used kitchen twine. Also, traditionally these are more elaborately trussed than tied, like I did here to simplify. I wrapped the cakes in foil, that's Andrea Nguyen's move. Once the cakes are cooked you can wrap them in gold or red plastic ribbon for luck in the new year.

This traditional Chinese cake is so moist and indulgent. You can substitute adzuki beans with mung beans, lotus seeds, chestnuts, mixed nuts, dried fruits, etc. Once cool, these are ready to be served or wrapped as gift. They will be even more moist if you leave them at room temperature for 2 days. For a more authentic shape, press the cakes into a mooncake mold, small cake tins, cookie cutters, even muffins tins after they have been rolled in flour.

On Lunar Chinese New Year, we usually like to have meatballs or sweet dumplings. Ball in Chinese is 'wan,' sweet dumpling in Chinese is 'tang yuan.' Their shapes are both round. So we use a meatball dish and/or sweet dumpling dish to emphasize the Chinese expression 'He Jia Tuan Yuan.' 'He Jia' means the whole family. 'Tuan Yuan' means 'all be together' ('yuan' also means circle, round as well, which connects with the shape of the meatballs and the sweet dumplings). This tofu ball dish is easy to make, and it is a great soup for your Lunar New Year meal.

Shui Zhu Yu is one of the most common Sichuan fish dishes. 'Shui Zhu' is also one of the most famous Sichuan cooking styles. Its essential ingredient is Sichuan bean sauce. 'Shui' means water. 'Zhu' means boil. You might have also heard about 'Shui Zhu Niu Rou' which uses beef in place of fish. You may use 2 cups of soy bean sprouts to substitute for the celery and Napa cabbage stem. Cod is also a good substitute for basa. Enjoy the fish and I wish you 'Nian Nian You Yu'--Happy New Year!

Pineapple baked rice uses a pineapple skin as a bowl, stuffing it with fried rice. After you bake it for 15 minutes, the pineapple flavor will go into the rice and your whole house will be filled with pineapple aroma! This is great for kids. It has vegetables and a light, sweet taste . You may add cheese on top of the rice if you like. I personally don't like to add cheese, I want to keep the dish simple and original. I serve it as a main course for Chinese New Year.

This is a sweeter rice dish, with lychees and raisins adding a pleasant and refreshing sweetness, balanced with salty cashew nuts. Maggi sauce is a German savory sauce popular in Thailand.

A Chinese New Year specialty, steamed pork buns for good luck!

These plump little almond cookies are easy to make and call for ground peanuts, corn flour, and vegetable oil.

Crispy rolled wonton wrappers filled with an Oriental spiced beef and sausage filling, fried to perfection. Delicious dipped in Oriental sweet chile sauce.

I don't know who 'Dotti' is, but this recipe was given to me at least 15 years ago. It goes great with hot jasmine tea, and they melt in your mouth--delicious!