Happy Chinese Niu Year!

Chinese dumplings
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

Tonight there are celebrations for the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Ox. An ox is called 'niu' in Chinese, so you can wish everyone a happy niu-year! Don't believe it when you read somewhere the Chinese are celebrating the year 4753 or whatever figure you might be reading - traditionally, the Chinese really don't count that way.

Chinese count the years of the reign of the emperor. So your year might be something like "12th year of emperor Kangxi (K'ang-hsi) of the Qing (Ch'ing) dynasty". As an emperor dies, the counting starts all over again. And if a new dynasty arrives, the dynasty name changes too. Of course your sense of history has to be in a firm place to figure out what year they are talking about! However, after 1911 this way of keeping calenders was discontinued when they adopted the system of the Western calendar. What remains in China is the most important festival of the year, the Chinese new year, which is also called 'Spring Festival'. Everyone has to travel back to celebrate it with their family.

In China everyone knows which animal of the Chinese zodiac is in turn: the ox. The coming year will be a year of hard-working, sturdy perseverance. What if it is 'your' year, if you were born in the same sign ? Your year will be special, but not always in a good sense, you have to be careful. Some Chinese wear a red ribbon around their waist for a full year. Only if you are 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72 or 84 (..count up) this year!

Happy Niu Year to everyone, have some Chinese dumplings (in Dutch), and let's make it a good one!

lotus buns

lotus buns before steaming
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

These 'lotus leaf buns' (heye jia or 'lotus buns') have been on my to-make-list forever. At least, since I rediscovered them on my trip to China last May, where we had them several times in both Beijing and Shanghai. These lotus buns are a Chinese steamed bread-variety, made from the same dough as baozi, mantou or other steamed goodies. But their fun lies in the fact that they open up so you can stuff them with things and eat them.. like a bun. I had them with wonderfully crisp pork slices, spring onions and cucumber strips.

Of course there is no way I could surpass the beautifully shaped buns I had in a Shanghai restaurant (click here to see the picture) - really I would love to know how they become so prettily puffed up and with curves in all the right places. I searched the web for some photo instruction, but didn't find any - only for the most basic of shapes. Finally I found the recipe in good old Pei Mei (volume 1, p. 365). Not that she helps out with the shape much...

For the dough, you will need: (makes about 20 small buns)
1.5 cups of flour
0.5 cup of water
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of lard (if you want, otherwise omit or substitute little oil)
a pinch of salt
2 teaspoons of baking powder
sesame oil

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, lard and water until it forms a dough. Knead well, then roll in snake-shape and cut or pinch into 20 pieces. Flatten the pieces out with your hand or small rolling pin until round in shape. Brush the top half of the circle with a little sesame oil and fold over.

Now is the time to be creative and try to shape it in a beautiful form, like a shell or lotus leaf. Use a blunt knife to make a criss-cross pattern on top (of the folded over half-circle), or imitate the pattern of a lotus leaf. Then use the back of the knife to dent the lotus bun from the folded open side to make it more like a leaf. Study the picture above to see what I've tried, but be creative here! I am open to new shapes or to an explanation on how to make the beautiful buns I had in China.

Steam over high heat in a bamboo steamer for 10 minutes. Enjoy with pork strips, charsiu meat, red-cooked pork belly or whatever you like.. you'll love it!

Sniffy nose noodles

HAPPY NEW YEAR
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

To start the beginning of this new year, I am going to share one of my favorite recipes with you: Chinese noodles, also known as "one-spoon noodles" or "sniffy nose noodles" because it takes a spoonful of all kinds of Chinese ingredients to give these noodles their wonderful kick - and a sniffy nose while eating them! The strands of noodles are darkened by a yummy soy, sesame, garlic & chili sauce, covered by a dark sauce with minced meat, have some nice greens on the side, and are beautifully sprinkled with spring onions and crushed peanuts on top. Because you mix the ingredients of the sesame sauce in each bowl, it is very easy to adjust this recipe to everyone's taste: some like chili oil, some don't eat meat sauce, some love extra sesame paste.. whatever.

I thought I blogged about these noodles ages ago, but found I really didn't - I guess it is one of these recipes you have made for years now and thought everyone knew about. These Chinese one-spoon noodles are a huge hit with all friends and family members, who beg for either these noodles or home made dumplings when they come over for dinner at my place.

This dish can be made easily for a large group of people. Just count the number of bowls and buy ingredients accordingly. The recipe includes 1. the uncooked sauce-in-the-bowl, 2. the meat sauce; 3. the noodles; 4. some nice greens; and 5. some chopped peanuts.

Ingredients: for each bowl, you will need:
* Noodles: 50-70 grams of noodles (uncooked weight). I prefer udon noodles now because they really take on the flavors well without losing their bite, but you could use any kind of Chinese noodles or Italian egg noodles or tagliatelle.
* Meat sauce: about 50-70 grams of minced beef (for every person) / or mixture of pork and beef; soy sauce, sichuan pepper, dried chillies, sugar, ginger, Pixian chili broad bean paste, sweet bean paste.
* Noodle bowl sauce: 1 tablespoon each of: sesame paste, sesame oil, soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, white sugar, chopped Sichuan preserved vegetables, chopped spring onions, sweet bean paste (I really like this, but you can leave it out if you want), chili oil (look here if you want to make chili oil yourself), and 1/4 to 1/2 of a clove of crushed garlic.
Of course you can add more or less of all of the ingredients, or leave out ingredients if you don't like them. It is really all up to you. I like to add as much chili oil as I can handle, because these noodles need to be eaten with sweat on your brow and a sniffy nose.

How to prepare:
1. start by making the meat sauce. Put a little oil in a wok, add 4 slices of ginger, 4 or 5 Sichuan peppercorns and 2 to 3 dry chilies if you like it spicy. Fry about 400 grams of meat until brown, then add a splash of Shaoxing rice wine, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, a spoon of sugar, 2 spoonfuls of Pixian chili broad bean sauce (substitute for sweet bean paste if you don't like chili heat) and add some water to make a sauce. Simmer for rougly 20 minutes.
2. Fry up a handful of uncooked peanuts in some oil in a wok, careful not to burn them, then take out, drain on some kitchen paper, let cool and chop coarsely with pestle and mortar or just with your knife. Put aside.
3. Then start your preparations for cooking the noodles. Put on a large pot for boiling water and have a colander ready for draining the noodles. In the time you are working on the noodles, take out your Chinese noodle bowls and get out all the ingredients.
4. Put a spoonful of everything described above in the bowl and stir to combine, add a little hot water if it is too stiff (you might use the pasta water for this). Add extra chili oil if you like.
5. Chop a cucumber into thin julienne to serve on top of your noodles later, or blanch some bok choy or spinach. A little green touch is very appealing! I even added some vegetable stir-fry on the picture here, and some green fried Spanish peppers.
6. When your noodles are cooked, drain them and divide into the bowls. Toss the noodles immediately with the sauce, add a little hot water if it is too stiff. You can even let your guests do their own tossing.
7. Add a large spoonful of minced meat sauce and the juice on top.
8. Put some veggies to the side, then sprinkle with chopped spring onions and crushed peanuts! ENJOY!

Have napkins close by - your nose will sniff all the way! But boy, it will be good!