As we all know, food and festivals go hand in hand. For most people from Northern China, the must-have food to celebrate Chinese New Year, which starts today, is water dumpling, or Shui Jiao (水饺) in Mandarin.
You cannot find a better way to start the New Year than getting the entire [...]
Congee, or Chinese rice porridge, is the ultimate comfort food for many Chinese people and Chinese food aficionados.
Soft, smooth, creamy, and warming, congee shares the same traits as many other comfort foods around the world, such as polenta, mac and cheese, grits, oatmeal, and chileatole. We love them because they bring [...]
Chinese rice cake, or nian gao in Mandarin, literally means “year cake” or “New Year’s cake”. That makes it a perfect food to ring in the New Year.
Many varieties of nian gao exist in China, and can be used for both savory and sweet dishes.
One of my favorite types of [...]
Many ingredients and dishes in Chinese cuisine hold symbolic meanings, and are featured during special occasions and celebrations. A case in point is fish.
Presenting whole fish at New Year Eve’s dinner expresses good wishes for the years to come.
Fish, pronounced yu in Mandarin, is a homophone for the word 余 [...]
Among all nuts, chestnuts are special in many ways.
To begin with, they are a cold-weather icon, and a big celebrity during the holiday season because of their appearance in a popular Christmas song.
If you compare the nutritional composition of chestnuts with those of other nuts, you’ll notice that [...]
Following the footsteps of bok choy and gai lan, tatsoi has started to gain the attention of mainstream America.
It certainly has the look to seduce you. Its dark green spoon-shaped leaves and light green stalks form an attractive flattened rosette. Because of its unique look, it is also called rosette bok [...]
It’s stew season. No one could resist a comforting and warming stew on a cold night.
When I saw the gorgeous lamb shoulder meat at the charming Ottomanelli & Sons Meat Market in West Village, I knew immediately that I would be making lamb stew for dinner.
There are three versions of [...]
Cod has been a food staple in many cultures. It’s a mild and versatile fish that can be prepared in many different ways.
One of my favorite ways of cooking cod is braising. During braising, its dense and lean flesh becomes moist and flaky, and readily absorbs the flavors of other ingredients [...]
