On Feb. 3, we welcome the year of the rabbit as a new Chinese year dawns. It's predicted to be a quieter year, and I for one am looking forward to it. There are many traditions for Chinese New Year, including eating fish and long noodles to signify longevity, as well as giving money in red envelopes for good luck. Many people dine out at large banquets to mark the holiday, making it hard to get into restaurants. Why not celebrate at home instead with some easy-to-make classic dishes. If you are preparing all three dishes, you can make the lemon sauce and spareribs, and also cook the noodles and the bok choy, ahead of time. Have everything else measured out and ready to go. Serve this dinner with steamed rice.
MUSSELS WITH BLACK BEAN SAUCE AND NOODLES
This easy and attractive dish serves four as part of a Chinese menu or two alone with noodles or rice. Clams or shrimp make excellent substitutes for the mussels. If you can't find fermented dry black beans, you can substitute an equal amount of Asian black bean sauce, though the dry beans have a better flavour. This makes a lot of mussels; you can serve them without the noodles if you prefer.
Ingredients
Noodles:
8 ounces Chinese egg noodles
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Mussels:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger
2 tablespoons fermented dry black beans, rinsed
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons white wine
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 pounds mussels, rinsed
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
Method
Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add noodles and boil until just tender. Drain and season with soy sauce and sesame oil. Set aside.
Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Add garlic, ginger and black beans. Stir-fry for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add soy sauce, wine, sugar, chicken stock and rice vinegar and bring to boil. Add mussels, cover wok and steam for 3 minutes or until they open. Remove mussels to a bowl.
Add cornstarch mixture and sesame oil to sauce and bring to boil, stirring until sauce has thickened. Toss with mussels and garnish with coriander. Serve over noodles.
Serves 4
LEMON CHICKEN
This is my brother David's favourite Chinese dish - he loves the lemony punch with the crisp chicken.
Ingredients
Chicken:
1 egg white
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Sauce:
1 tablespoon slivered garlic
1 tablespoon slivered ginger
3/4 cup chicken stock
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Garnish:
4 steamed baby bok choy, quartered
Method
Beat egg white in a large bowl with a fork. Stir in cornstarch and salt to make a very thick batter. Add chicken and toss to coat. Let stand for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Working in batches, add chicken and fry for 2 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Remove chicken from wok and place in a strainer to drain.
Carefully drain all but 1 tablespoon of oil from wok. Return wok to high heat, add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then add stock, lemon juice, sugar, soy sauce and lemon rind. Bring to boil, add cornstarch mixture and sesame oil and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and toss with chicken. Serve with steamed baby bok choy.
Serves 2, or 4 as part of a larger menu.
HONEY GARLIC SPARERIBS
I like to use spareribs because they are meatier than side ribs. The honey garlic sauce is quite sticky and adds a real spark of flavour to the ribs. (You can add more hot sauce if you like.) If you are serving this alone, accompany it with rice and stir-fried greens. This is an old-school recipe, originally made for the less sophisticated Canadian palate, but it's still a favourite today.
Ingredients
2 pounds spareribs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons sherry
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon Asian chili sauce
1/2 cup low-sodium or homemade chicken stock or water
Method
Trim and cut spareribs into racks of three ribs. Place in a roasting pan and season with salt and pepper. Combine honey, sherry, rice wine vinegar, garlic, ginger, sugar, hoisin, soy and chili sauces and pour over ribs. Marinate for 1 hour at room temperature or up to 8 hours in the refrigerator, turning occasionally.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Stir stock into marinade. Cover roasting pan tightly with foil and bake ribs for 45 minutes. Uncover, turn ribs and bake 30 minutes more, or until ribs are tender and glazed with sauce. If marinade in pan becomes too dry, add more stock or water. The sauce should be thick but spoonable. Place ribs on a platter and pour sauce over them.
Serves 4.
Beppi's wine matches
If you make all three dishes and prefer to keep beverage options simple, go for a dry or off-dry riesling or a pinot gris. By the latter, I do stress pinot gris and not its Italian alter ego, pinot grigio - same grape, but pinot gris, especially from Alsace or British Columbia, tends to be richer in texture than lean, crisp pinot grigio.
For variety's sake, assuming there's room on the table and in the budget for more than one selection, consider the following. Mussels: riesling or a rich beer, such as a nut-brown ale or Leffe Blond. Chicken: New Zealand sauvignon blanc, lager or pilsener. Spareribs: California zinfandel, medium-dry Vouvray, amber ale or hard cider.
Beppi Crosariol