Chinese New Year 2021

I love Chinese New Year! I love the colors, the history and most of all the food! We always celebrate Chinese New Year at our favorite place, Foxwoods Casino in CT, but the virus has forced me to get creative and make our own party. This Friday, Feb. 12th begins the sixteen-day celebration of Chinese New Year - the year of the Ox. We would celebrate for the weekend, but one day, we're going to party all sixteen days! I probably would be the one with the red lampshade on my head singing!

The Ox is the second of all zodiac animals. According to one myth, the Jade Emperor said the order would be decided by the order in which they arrived at his party. The Ox was about to be the first to arrive, but the Rat tricked the Ox into giving him a ride. Then, just as they arrived, the Rat jumped down and landed ahead of Ox. Thus, the Ox became the second animal.

I like to compare myself to the Oxen, they are the hard workers in the background, intelligent and reliable, but never demanding praise.

The detailed directions on this blog will help you make an amazing New Year Celebration. We'll make homemade egg rolls and General Tso Chicken.

Let's get cooking you'll need:

Egg Rolls

1 package egg roll wrappers (near the tofu in a food store)

1/2 package Mann's Power Blend Shredded Veggies

1 lb ground pork

3 cups vegetable oil for frying

1/2 tsp fresh ginger

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp fresh garlic (chopped)

1 tsp oyster sauce

General Tso Chicken

1 lb chicken breast - cubed

4 tbsp corn starch

Vegetable oil (same oil as egg rolls)

1 tbsp minced ginger

1 clove garlic - minced

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp Hoisin sauce

2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp corn starch

3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp Oyster Sauce

3 tbsp brown sugar

1tsp red pepper flakes

Let's make General Tso Chicken first so you can put it in the oven to stay warm. Take the cubed chicken and toss it in the corn starch. I use a plastic bag and shake, like the old fashion "shake and bake". Separate the coated chicken and set aside. This will allow the corn starch to set up and make a crispy crust once fried.

Add the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, low sodium soy sauce, brown sugar, 2 tbsp corn starch, and water in a small bowl. Wisk until all the ingredients come together.

Fry the chicken in a pot (deep) with vegetable oil. DO NOT CROWD THE PAN, the chicken will not get crispy.

If you have to, fry in batches and place on a paper towel to absorb the access oil. In a shallow pan, add one tablespoon of vegetable oil (from the pot you fried the chicken in), ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes, Cook just until you smell the aroma of the spices come together. Remove from the heat and pour over the fried chicken pieces and toss. Taste to make sure the spices came together and you don't need to add additional sauce or heat. Put in a shallow dish and put in a warm oven (225 degrees) to keep hot. Before serving sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. This is delicious over white or brown rice. For presentation, slice one egg roll wrapper into strips and fry - add to the top of the serving dish.

Let's make the egg rolls - these are my favorite! I made these for Suzie Q, who said that they were as good as any Chinese restaurant. That my friends is a compliment!!

Brown the ground pork in a pan with a little vegetable oil, garlic, ginger (ground and fresh). Drain and put in a bowl and drizzle the oyster sauce over the top of the ground pork and toss. Add the shredded Mann's vegetable mix (if you can't find that one, use any coleslaw mix) and stir well. We're ready to start making egg rolls, it's that easy!

Heat the vegetable oil - BE CAREFUL - I use a spider or slotted spoon to drop the egg rolls into the oil.

Lay the egg roll wrapper on a cutting board in front of you, with one of the endpoints towards you and the other away from you. Put about 1 tablespoon of pork filling mix on the lower center of the wrapper.

For those of you who are parents, you're going to roll the egg roll like you did when your baby was a newborn. It's a tight swaddle to make sure the filling doesn't come out during frying. That may have been a poor analogy, but you all got a visual picture in your mind of what I meant.

I like to roll all my egg rolls and get them lined up and ready to fry. The edges of the egg roll wrapper need a little water to seal them. You can use a small pastry brush or your finger dipped in water. Don't make it too wet, but just enough to seal them.

Make sure that you tuck the edges into the end into the center and continue to roll tightly. You'll be able to see the filing thru the wrapper and that's perfect. If you make a hole in the wrapper by accident, no biggie, use a second wrapper over the first. Just keep in mind you'll need to fry that egg roll a little longer than the others.

Now it's time to fry! This is fun and dangerous at the same time. Make sure you have a large container of table salt next to you when frying. If something should go wrong and a flame occurs, pure the salt on the fire and it will go out immediately. DO NOT PUT WATER ON HOT OIL.

Ready to get your fry on? In the saucepan of hot oil, gently drop two egg rolls allowing them room to rolls and frying on all sides. You may have to gently roll them over with a slotted spoon. Stay next to the pot when it's frying, it goes fast and they only take 5 minutes to cook.

Place cooked egg rolls on paper towels to drain and continue to cook all the egg rolls. Place on a dish with chopped sticks and a dipping sauce of hoisin sauce and low sodium soy. You can also use hot chili oil or a sweet-n-sour sauce if preferred.

We like our egg rolls super crispy and I allow them to cook a little beyond "blonde" to a crispy brown. This is a personal call and you can cook them how your family likes them.

"Chinese New Year Greetings for Happiness, Health & Peace 恭贺新禧 (gōng hè xīn xǐ) – Good luck in the year ahead. 心想事成 (xīn xiǎng shì chéng) – May all your wishes come true. 万事如意 (wàn shì rú yì) – May everything go well for you. 笑口常开 (xiào kǒu cháng kāi) – May your year be filled with an abundance of smiles and laughter."

Enjoy