Fancy making some of your own Chinese cuisine to celebrate Lunar New Year? Check out the simple BBC recipes below for Steamed Sea Bass and Pak Choi and Dumplings and find out why they are a key part of celebrations for many.

Why Fish?

A whole fish is a tradition for New Year celebrations in China, and is intended to welcome prosperity for the entire upcoming year. It is a tradition to serve the fish on New Year's Eve, with both the head and tail intact. Only the middle is eaten because of another expression: 有头有尾 (yǒutóuyǒuwěi), which literally means “to have both a head and a tail.” This means to be disciplined and finish everything that one starts. The rest of the fish should be eaten the next day (New Years Day) to symbolise that surplus will overflow into the future. It is also believed that the fish should be placed on the table to face guests or elders as a sign of respect.

Why Dumplings?

Dumplings are believed to represent wealth because of their close appearance to Chinese gold ingots. Inglots were oval, boat-shaped hunks of gold used as currency in imperial China. 

 

 

Steamed Seabass and Pok Choi

Ingredients: 

  • small piece of ginger , peeled and sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves , finely sliced
  • 3 spring onions , finely sliced
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • splash of sherry (optional)
  • 2 x fillets sea bass
  • 2 heads pak choi , quartered

 

  1. Mix together all of the ingredients, minus the fish and pak choi to create your soy mixture.
  2. Prepare a bamboo steamer by loosely lining the tier with foil.
  3. Lay the fish, skin side up, on the foil and spoon over the soy mix.
  4. Place the fish filled tier over simmering water and cover with a lid. 
  5. Add the pak choi to the fish layer after 2 mins of cooking.
  6. Leave everything to steam for 6-8 mins until you can see that the pak choi has wilted and the fish is cooked.
  7. Divide the greens between two plates, then carefully lift out the fish and place them on top of the plated greens.
  8. Lift the foil up and drizzle the tasty juices back over the fish and pak choi so you don't lose any flavour. 

 

Dumplings

  Making the Dough:

  • 300 g all-purpose flour
  • 2 g salt
  • 155 ml water (room temperature or hot boiling)

 

  1. Mix the salt with flour, then stir the water in.
  2. Once a dough is formed, knead the dough for 8-10 minutes with a stand mixer/by hand until the dough is almost smooth. Cover it and rest it for 15 minutes.
  3. Then re-knead the dough for 2-3 minutes so you can have a very smooth dough. Cover  it again and continue resting, this time for 1 hour.
  4. When the dough becomes smooth, split it into chunks and shape the chunks in logs around 3cm in diameter.
  5. Divide the long log into equal small dumpling dough pieces. Dust each of them so they will not stick together.
  6. Take each dumpling piece just before you want to fill it and roll it into a circular wrapper.

 

Making the Filling:

  • 400 g Ground pork
  • 200 g Chive
  • 1 tsp.salt
  • 1 tbsp. cooking wine
  • 1/2 tsp. white pepper
  • 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp. minced ginger
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 tbsp. sesame oil
  • 1/3 cup chopped scallion
  • 2 tbsp. hot oil

 Make the Filling

  1. In a bowl, take your ground pork, a small pinch of salt, egg, light soy sauce, white pepper, oyster sauce grated ginger and salt. Then place the green onion on top and drizzle hot oil on green onions. This helps to improve the aroma of the green onion.
  2. Stir the filling for around 2-3 minutes until getting a paste texture and becomes quite sticky. Set aside for 1 hour or cover with plastic wrapper and leave overnight if pre-preparing.
  3. Finely chop your chives and mix these with 2 tablespoons of sesame oil.
  4. Combine your pork mixture and chive mixtures together. Your filling is now ready to be spooned into your wrappers and made into dumplings. 

Cook the Dumplings

  1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add a small pinch of salt.
  2. Take one of your rolled wrappers and place a spoonful of filling into the centre.
  3. Wetting your finger, rub the edges of the wrapper and bring together both sides, encapsulating the filling.
  4. Being pinching the sides together, giving each pinch a slight twist to create a pattern (you can do this anyway you like but make sure the Dumpling is completely sealed)
  5. Place your formed dumpling into your boiling water
  6. When the dumplings appear to be transparent and have slightly expanded, remove them from the water and drain any excess from them. Serve with a soy sauce and white wine vinegar dipping sauce.

 

 

Last updated 1 year ago Read time 4 mins