A Chinese New Year at My House!!!

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Well we don’t go full-out but we do eat some yummy food and spend time together and bring good luck for the year. So this year we decided to make some really good dumplings and a great beef main course.

What went into the dumplings - chicken, cabbage, cilantro, lemongrass, chives, finer, garlic, and egg

Then we put the mixture into some wonton wrappers.

Wonton Wrappers

 
The we had some dumplings. 🙂

Our completed dumplings - ready to be cooked

Our main meal was Sichuan Beef with Citrus Peel which the family unanimously give a 5 out of 5.

Beef strips were marinading

There was also tangerines, and tangerine peels in it.

Peeled and prepared tangerines

And you may be asking yourself, what was my cat doing during all of this (no your probably weren’t, but I just had to share a photo of my cat since I haven’t in a while). Well here he is.

My little Merlin sleeping through all the action 🙂

Of course he slept through the entire thing…being a cat and all.

So now I am going to share the recipes with you.

Lemongrass Chicken Dumplings

Knead 1 pound ground chicken with 1 cup finely shredded napa cabbage, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 2 tablespoons finely grated lemongrass, 2 tablespoons snipped chives, 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 beaten egg and 1 teaspoon kosher salt.

Put 1 teaspoon of the mixture in the center of 1 wonton wrapper (directions on closing wrapper on package usually). If it does not say how to close it, you put water around all the edges, more is better, Then you pinch it closed in any way you can to seal the edges.

In a nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil. Arrange half of the dumplings in the skillet, pleated edge up. Cook over high heat until the bottoms are lightly browned, 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water, cover and cook until the filling is cooked through, 5 minutes (watch this step because the bottoms blacken easily)(watch dumplings all the time). Uncover and cook until the bottoms are well browned, 1 minute; transfer to a place. Cook the remaining dumplings and serve.

You can make these dumplings ahead and freeze then.

Freeze the uncooked dumplings on a floured baking sheet. Store in a place bag for up to one month. Cook from frozen.

– From Food & Wine – May 2010 edition  – pg 48

Sichuan Beef with Citrus Peel

Marinade

1 1/2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch

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12 ounces flank steak, thinly sliced diagonally

Sauce

3 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon chile garlic sauce

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2 tablespoons cooking oil
4 small dried red chiles
4 green onions, cut diagonally into 2-inc lengths
orange segments

Soak the tangerine peel in warm water to cover until softened, about 15 minutes. Reserve the tangerine peel soaking liquid. Scrape and discard the white pith from the back of the peel. Cut the peel into thin strips.

In a bowl, combine the marinade ingredients and 2 tablespoons of the reserved tangerine peel soaking liquid. Add the beep and stir to coat. Let stand for 30 minutes. Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl.

Place a wok or wide frying pan over high heat until hot. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil, swirling to coat the sides. Add the chiles and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add the beef and stir-fry until barely pink, about 2 minutes. Remove the beef and chiles from the wok.

Add the remaining oil to the wok, swirling to coat the sides. Add the tangerine peel and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the green onions and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the sauce and cook, stirring, until the sauce boils and thickens. Return the beef and chiles to the wok; mix well. Place on serving patter and garnish with the orange segments.

– From Martin Yan’s Invitation to Chinese Cooking Cookbook

We finished off the evening with some Coconut Ice Cream and boohoo, no Fortune Cookies (thanks Whole Foods for not selling them) 🙁

But the food was great and we kicked off the Year of the Dragon with great style.

How did you bring in the Chinese New Year????????