Chinese New Year was never a big deal in my family. Perhaps it’s because we live 8281 kilometres from my hometown of Chengdu or maybe it’s because of my father’s dislike of bright decorations and loud music. Either way, I grew up envying the families who’d host elaborate dinners and watch dragon dances to ring in the new year. Chinese New Year didn’t go entirely unmarked in my family, but it was a quiet night of my mother’s signature special-occasion dishes: whole steamed fish, tomato stir-fried tiger prawns, four-hour stewed beef and radish.
Since leaving my family home, I’ve adopted my own way of celebrating. The Chinese New Year celebration I host may not be the most traditional, but new rituals are as important as old ones. Here’s how I host a low-key and fuss-free Chinese New Year supper party. Gong xi fa cai!
The rules of Chinese New Year
There are a couple of superstitious rules to follow that promise prosperity or good health for the year. You should be serving 12 dishes (to symbolise good fortune for every month in the year), but if that sounds like way too much, you can dial it back to 10 or eight – just make sure you land on an even number, otherwise it’s bad luck.
For the sake of balance, you should be serving both hot and cold dishes. In my experience, hot dishes are always more of a hit, so try and make sure two thirds of your dishes are hot. For a Chinese New Year dinner, hot dishes include soups, stews, steamed fish and dessert, while cold dishes are raw foods or dishes you don’t have to reheat – salads and roast meats.
If you’re coming as a guest, just wear your best reds, don’t show up empty-handed and you’ll be good to go.
The spread: what to cook
When you look at your CNY spread, you should see three things: abundance, variety and colour. Though this may be daunting, there are plenty of shortcuts that can alleviate pre-hosting scaries. Instead of roasting a duck or pork belly yourself, head to your favourite Chinese roastery (I live in Brisbane so my go-to is Burlington BBQ in Sunnybank). I’ll also pick up prawns and a whole fish, but remember to have the fishmonger gut and scale it for you. In lots of households, fish is CNY must (in Chinese, the word for fish, yu, is a homophone for abundance and prosperity). Snapper, grouper or sea bream are best for steaming with ginger and shallots.
Stick to dishes that can be prepared ahead of time. Master stock braised pork knuckle is a good one and makes for a grandiose centrepiece. You can also braise brisket, tripe or chicken feet in master stock and serve them sliced on a platter for sharing. Stews and soups can also be made in advance – like my mother’s beef and radish stew (recipe below) or a more traditional chicken and yam soup. Cold dishes like salads are also perfect for early prep, including my sesame and soy dressed spinach and glass noodle salad (recipe below).
This year, I’m making Mimi Wong’s banana nian gao, a rich, sticky rice cake. Other desserts that won’t have you in a flour frenzy include store-bought tangyuan (glutinous rice balls filled with sesame or red bean) and fresh pomelos or tangerines.
Drinks, decor and rituals
If you’re looking for something to sip, four CNY go-tos are: baijiu (a white grain spirit), red wine, beer and tea. Baijiu has a high ABV, which means it’s perfect mixed in a fruity cocktail. Consider a snack (dumplings, prawn toast, drunken chicken) and cocktail session before the main dinner as a slick icebreaker to get your guests chatting.
For optimal aesthetics, I like to decorate the house and table with CNY ornaments and what I’ve already got – candlesticks, a tablecloth, my ceramic fish chopstick holders. I like hanging tiny lanterns to bring happiness, protection and unity into the house, and zodiac animal motifs (depending what animal it is this year – I can do without rat decorations). After dinner, end with drinking games and, of course, red envelopes.
Mum’s beef and radish stew
Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 2.5 hours
Ingredients
500g beef brisket, chuck roast or rump, diced in 4cm chunks
2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
3 pieces of ginger, sliced thick
10g rock sugar
2 stalks scallions, quartered
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 cups beef broth
1 white radish (500g), peeled and cut into chunks
Salt to taste
Method
Blanch the beef with just enough water to cover it, 1 tablespoon of cooking wine and 2 slices of ginger. Boil until foam rises to the surface, then skim off the foam. Rinse the beef with warm water and drain well.
Heat a small amount of oil in a pan, add the rock sugar and stir over low heat until it melts and turns amber. Add the beef chunks and stir to coat evenly in the caramelised sugar.
Add scallion sections, ginger slices, star anise and cinnamon stick to the pan. Pour in the rest of the cooking wine, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce and stir well. Add beef broth.
Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce to low, cover and simmer for 2 hours until the beef is tender.
After 2 hours, add radish and continue simmering for another 20–30 minutes, or until the radish is soft.
Lastly, add salt to taste. Stir well, then serve in a large pot, garnished with coriander leaves or chopped scallions.
Glass noodle and spinach salad
Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
200g glass noodles (thin)
2 bunches full grown spinach, washed well and quartered
100g bean sprouts
½ bunch coriander, finely chopped
1 stalk scallion, finely chopped
2 tbsp Chinese soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp chilli oil or chilli crisp
½ tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp white sesame seeds, toasted
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp salt
Method
Cook the glass noodles according to the directions on the packaging. When there’s two minutes left on the noodles, add the spinach and bean sprouts to blanch. Strain and add to a large bowl. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, chilli oil, rice vinegar, sugar and salt and toss to combine. Taste and adjust, then garnish with toasted sesame seeds, coriander and scallions.
Keep up with Becca over on @supper.partying