Kung Hei Fat Choy

I felt a bit sad on Thursday – for the first time in years I didn’t have a class of children to celebrate with for the Chinese New Year. 

Then I received a card from a lovely 5 year old and his parents – thanking me for his Christmas present – and saying how he missed me [I’d embroidered a facecloth for each child in the class with their names – they loved them!]

I was quite weepy and nostalgic for a bit, then decided that even if I had no children around, Bob and I could at least have a Chinese meal

I had borrowed this book from Ferndown library last week, and wondered if Jamie had anything suitable for the festival.

Chicken Dim Sum seemed a good choice. I tweaked his recipe a bit – I had all the ingredients to hand except tenderstem broccoli – but used savoy cabbage instead. And I skipped the ‘Ginger Pickles’ [isn’t that from Beatrix Potter?] and the chopped chillies. [JO loves them, I hate them] I got out all the ingredients and put the kettle on. Then I decorated the dining room with stuff from the box in the loft labelled CNY – a banner, some fabric, a fan, and a Chinese doll – plus a lantern hung from the lampshade. Romantic lighting with candles [the Wolf Hall effect] and then I set about cooking.

I have to report that it took twenty minutes to get the room ready, and only seventeen to cook the meal! We thought the flavours were good, but decided we could have done with a bit more moisture, so added extra soy sauce at the end. The kitchen looked like a bombsite afterwards – it took another 20 minutes to clear up!

The coconut dumplings are very easy to make in the steamer – I think Jamie’s bamboo steamer must be much larger than mine. I was using half quantities as there are just two of us, but the two baskets were still full. Kung Hei Fat Choy – or Gong Xi Fa Cai depending on which bit of China you are from!

So far since we got to Ferndown, we have enjoyed

• a romantic Valentine’s meal [Moules et Frites from Lidl – very economical but still tasty]
• a Pancake Party
• and a Chinese New Year Feast

I don’t think I canmaintain this level of celebration of the culinary calendar! What would be next in season? I suppose I could do something for Purim in March [Hamentaschen, Chollah and Kreplach?] And no, I am not making a big deal out of National Chip Week!