“Year of the Tiger” New Year’s Eve Menu
Okay, so a week late, but at least the post is up. I blame the back twingie combined with a whack-load of (re)writing.
As I mentioned at the start of the Year of the Tiger, unlike last year, my parents weren’t out of town so my mom made New Year’s Eve dinner. Good thing too, as while my Year of the Ox dinner last year was okay, I think everyone just likes it better when it’s my mom cooking.
Though I did offer, I didn’t prep anything this year as my mom decided that she had more than adequate lead time to prepare everything she wanted to make. My sister made a dish (she normally does more than one but she’s been a little busy these days) and I did make at least a manual contribution by doing some choppy-chop and plating as things were finished and came off the stove.
Scallion (green onion) pancakes (蔥油餅). This is a snack that pretty much everyone likes, but we don’t make them too often because it really requires communal participation as the prep is not something that works well at a small scale or when solo. We actually didn’t break out the rolling pins to make some for New Year’s and the only reason I’m bringing them up is because of my parents’ penchant for “experimentation” when they do New Year’s grocery shopping. This year’s exemplar of trying something new came in the form of a commercial pancake because they thought it would be a nice quick snack to fix which wouldn’t interfere too much with dinner prep.
Okay… I think my brother is still shaking his fist in anger over the quality, validity and authenticity of this pancake (my parents too, but I think they’re trying to be polite about it). My mom prepped it really nicely but I don’t think any amount of care in cooking it would have saved this thing. A good 蔥油餅 will have layers, be toothsome and have that grilled onion flavor. This one was squishy inside, didn’t have layers and was studded with a sweet-ish pickled cabbage that generated those “why are we eating this?” expressions.
Anyway, my mother presented twelve (12) dishes, plus fish, plus rice. Great way to bring in the New Year.
The traditional greeting is 新年快樂, but I was spending quality time chewing so it sort-of came out ”mmm…”
The obligatory roster
Rice (d-uh). Steamed white rice, and plenty of it to ensure that we can show plenty (and I got my rice bag weeks in advance this year).
Fish. We don’t touch the fish on New Year’s Eve. Some families do, ours doesn’t. I actually don’t know what kind of fish this is but there’s mention of a gold strip along its back. It is however, tasty as I did get a chance to eat it after the Eve, when it was served with this really great sauce (a hot and sweet/sour one that resembled a gastrique – soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, chili peppers, onions, ginger).
Chicken. This year, the chicken option was my brother’s favorite dish: it’s a spicy chicken (pieces of boneless breast and thigh) sautéed with chili paste (specifically Lan Chi brand chili paste with garlic) and served with blanched baby bok choy. My mom didn’t tone down the chili paste so it was quite savory with that typical kick of heat on the back palate afterwards.
The rest of the menu
- Noodles; fried long noodles with plenty of shrimp, pork, shiitake, cabbage, onions, carrots (I think there was actually more ingredient than noodle)
- Roast duck; one of my father’s favorites, though if we were in Taiwan this would be replaced by goose, which he likes even better (me too)
- Char siu (叉燒); for oinky barbecue goodness
- Taiwanese pork sausages (香腸); these are slightly sweeter and juicier than the typical sausage but when in Taiwan, just buy the sausage from the vendor and resist the urge to “gamble” to win one (the same sausage will just cost twice the price if you do)
- Black mullet roe; a Taiwanese “must-have” for New Year’s and one of my father’s favorite things to eat (the roe is a gift of my second paternal aunt)
- Scallop and shrimp; a plate of oil-poached diver scallops and shrimp finished off with red peppers, onions, Sichuan peppers and other spicing
- Braised pork and eggs; soy-braised pork hock and knuckles and eggs (umami-laced deliciousness)
- Spare ribs and chicken; spiced velvetted ribs and chicken filets (my mom made the filets specifically for a little guy in short-pants who unfortunately had a cold on New Year’s)
- Sautéed mustard greens; this was the only purely-vegetarian option on the table (New Year’s isn’t about vegetables)
- Aubergines; my sister’s dish – Chinese eggplants stuffed with minced pork and served with a hoisin-based dipping sauce
- Soup (daikon and meatballs); you can tell it’s my mom who made the soup because its base is a tasty pork broth whereas my variant is a cheapskate version with kombu stock
Wine
Wine? I wasn’t asked to (my father said he was overloaded with bottles) but unexpectedly wound up suppying the wine in a roundabout sort-of way: it was a 2007 Oak Bay Pinot Noir (gold medal winner at 29th All-Canadian Wine Championships) that I had brought over for my father earlier.
I would have actually brought a Grüner Veltliner or a softer neutral white, but the Pinot paired surprisingly well with the meal as its earthy tones complemented the umami in the meal (note to self: be a bit more avant-garde with pairings).
Photos
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