Every year for Chinese New Year, I cook a feast for my family and whatever friends we get to join us because I can't make less food and we need help eating. It's a fun family holiday and I get to relive China for just one day.
This year's spread consisted of:
Hot & Sour Soup
Dumplings (frozen, from Costco)
Homemade egg rolls
Yakisoba (yes, it's Japanese, but I didn't wanna look up lo mein)
I want to eat this food again just thinking about it. I can still taste the egg rolls! Here are the recipes:
Egg Rolls, from Gluesticks
1 lb ground meat (beef, pork, turkey, or go tofu!)
2 packs coleslaw
1 bag bean sprouts (might say 'mung bean')
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup oyster sauce
2 packs egg roll wrappers, 20 ct (found in the produce section by tofu)
Oil, if frying
Olive oil and cooking spray, if baking
Brown the meat in a large pan. I use my deep-dish skillet. When the meat is cooked, add coleslaw and sprouts, cook for 2 minutes. Add the sauces, then get ready for the rest.
I bake my egg rolls, so this is when I preheat the oven to 400. Then I get my rolling station set up. You'll want a cutting board, the wrappers, the filling, and a bowl of warm water. If you're baking, spray a baking sheet and have that at your station as well. If you're frying, maybe use a plate to set your egg rolls on. Having helpers is fantastic!
Standard amount of filling is 2-3 tablespoons, but I pile in more and find that everyone enjoys the ratio better. I probably put in 1/4-1/3 cup.
Then fold up the bottom corner and wet the other three corners.
Fold in the side corners and press them to seal.
Roll tightly, and seal the last corner.
I usually fill 2 baking sheets, but if you make them smaller, you'd need more baking sheets. Brush oil on top and bake for 12 minutes. For the frying directions, click the link above. I haven't tried that because I love that I can bake 30-ish egg rolls in just 12 minutes. Japanese Yum Yum Sauce made for excellent dipping:
Japanese Yum Yum Sauce, from Gluesticks
1 1/4 c mayonnaise
1/4 water
1 tsp tomato paste (I froze the rest of the can in an ice tray!)
1 T melted butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp paprika
Mix it all up. Boom. Gluesticks says to refrigerate at least 8 hours, but I made mine on the spot while the egg rolls were baking. Still good!
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Now the yakisoba. Which has no claims of being authentic, but is freaking delicious! I have a hard time not just snacking on it constantly once it's ready.
Yakisoba, adapted slightly from Budget Bytes
1/2 green cabbage, cut thinly
1 medium onion, cut thinly
2 carrots, cut thinly
1 small broccoli, cut small
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp minced garlic (or 1 clove)
1 large chicken breast, cut in thin slices
2 T cooking oil
2 packs Ramen (trash the seasoning)
1 tsp sesame oil, optional
1/4 c soy sauce
1/4 c worcestershire sauce
2 T ketchup
up to 1 T sriracha
1. Begin boiling a medium pot full of water for the noodles. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the ginger and garlic, saute for about 30 seconds to one minute (its okay if it sticks to the pan but don’t let it burn). Add the chicken strips and cook until they are no longer pink (about five minutes).
2. Once the chicken is cooked through, add all of the vegetables. Stir and cook until wilted (about 5-10 minutes). Meanwhile, once the water boils, add the noodles and cook just until tender (2-3 minutes). Drain, return to the pot (with the heat turned off) and toss with the sesame oil to keep from sticking.
3. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and sriracha. Use only 1/2 tsp of sriracha if you don’t want it spicy, use up to 1 Tbsp if you like it hot. Stir until the ketchup is dissolved. Pour the sauce into the skillet with the chicken and vegetables with the heat still on medium high. Add the noodles, stir to coat everything in the sauce, and heat through (just a few minutes).
It really helps if all the prep work is done before you start cooking. Otherwise I end up with veggies and noodles getting overcooked. Still good, just not as good.
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Last recipe, which is actually the first one I put together when I'm managing my time with all of these recipes:
Hot & Sour Soup, adapted from Thrifty Fun
Ingredients:
1/4-1/3 c fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp. of oil
1 inch piece fresh ginger, grated
1 carrot, grated
1 can bamboo shoots, drained, rinsed, sliced in matchsticks
1 Tbsp. red chile paste or hot sauce (sriracha)
1/4 pound of any meat or tofu
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp. salt
2 quarts chicken, beef, or veggie stock
1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
2. Add the ginger, chili paste (or hot sauce), mushrooms, carrots, bamboo shoots, and meat/tofu; cook and stir for 1 minute to infuse the flavor.
3. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, and salt into the pot and stir together.
4. Pour in the stock, bring the soup to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.
So when I cook all this food, I start with the soup, then the egg rolls, and the yakisoba once the egg rolls are in the oven. It's a lot to manage, but so worth it. And the dumplings were microwaveable trays, so that was easy to do when I was ready for them. Think I'm bout to schedule another Asian feast night next month...I love this food!
