Posts from — February 2011

The first time I had green tea ice cream was the first time I had green-tea-flavored anything, and I loved it! Subtle in sweetness, and a natural eye-pleaser with its color, I would order it for dessert every time I went out for Japanese. Then, I later came across green tea macaroons at Cha-an; and that’s when it actually occurred to me–you can green tea-ify anything! The secret is getting your hands on matcha green tea powder.  I get it from my local Asian grocery store. It’s now a staple ingredient in my house.  You can add it to cake batter, bread dough, cookie dough, and even eggs and ham! Experiment with it.
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A week before arriving in Michigan for Christmas my oldest sister, Sonia, emailed me with the Hawaiian Oxtail Soup blog post from Elise on Simply Recipes, with a note, “Let’s make this while you’re home!” I enthusiastically agreed, as I had independently booked marked that exact post. Before my pickup at the airport, she had already stopped by the market to grab the fattiest package of oxtail she can lay hands on.

We used dried citrus peel as oppose to fresh, as it’s readily available in our household and commonly used for soups. In Cantonese soups, a handful of nuts, beans, as well as a fruit element (goji berry and dates, fresh fruit, or dried citrus peel) are often added for nutritional value and flavor. These ingredients are not the foreground of the soup, but an element of the broth.
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I am actually not the restaurant baby – I am the second of four daughters (Sonia, Madeline, Allison, and Kimberly). You may have noticed a few guest posts from my youngest sister Kimberly. Kimberly has been the brain child behind Restaurant Baby and my biggest fan. With enthusiasm, please welcome Kimberly on board the Restaurant Baby team!

Check out the new “About” section with our fancy bios:
Writing a bio can be difficult. Here are some great tips from my friend Ariane Hunter

This week Kimberly hopped on a jet plane bounded for Shanghai. She will be in Shanghai for 6 full months of language and culture immersion. Though a world apart, she will be bringing you recipes from the kitchen of family and friends in Shanghai, and I in the Chinese America of New York and Michigan.

The four restaurant babies with our grandma. From left to right: Madeline, Allison, Kimberly, and Sonia.

Squash soups are often made savory, but why not sweet? Over Chinese New Year weekend I had tea with good friends at the Guangzhou Restaurant, where we tried a pumpkin corn porridge. It was delicious and simple enough to recreate at home. The porridge is flexible – it can be an indulgent dessert with a heavy hand in coconut milk and sugar, or daily breakfast porridge.

The recreation made with Japanese Kobocha pumpkin.

When planning a dinner with a savory squash dish, consider making this unique soup for dessert – it’s a great way to use an ingredient two ways.

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Please welcome guest blogger Kimberly, my youngest sister and fellow restaurant baby, who shares with our mother’s lo han jai recipe. ~Madeline

Happy Chinese New Year! Traditionally, the first meal of the new year is vegetarian to counteract the excessive feasting from the night before and to cleanse the body. Growing up, my mom would prepare lo han jai on new year’s eve, and each member of the family will have it for breakfast the following day. While there are so many rich and succulent foods served during the new year, this dish–subtle in its flavors, but bursting with textures–is one of my favorites. If you are not too familiar with Chinese foods, some ingredients here may appear foreign, but they should be available at your nearest Chinese grocery store.

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Please welcome guest blogger Kimberly, my youngest sister and fellow restaurant baby, who shares with us her ideas on home decorating for the Chinese New Year. ~Madeline

Last weekend I had a blast hosting a Chinese new year dinner party for my friends. It was my way of welcoming the new year. 2011 is the year of the rabbit, which just so happens to be my zodiac. For my fellow year-of-the-rabbit friends, this is not necessarily good news. I have been warned by my grandma that when it is the year of your sign, it is supposed to be a personally challenging year.

I don’t consider myself superstitious, but there is nonetheless good reason for me to proceed into the year with caution, and to anticipate challenges.

If 2011 is going to be a tough year, then it is all the more important that I keep my friends close. During difficult and testing moments, I have heavily relied on my friends’ unfailing love and support. So, whatever 2011 brings me–good or bad–I am confident that I will be okay because I will not be going into it alone. This new year I wanted to express my gratitude to my friends with the simple gesture of inviting them into my home, feeding them a good meal, and sending them off satisfied and in good spirits.

Hosting a dinner party is not just about prepping food, but prepping your home–making sure that it is clean, warm and inviting. So, in this post, I wanted to share a few things I did with the house before my guests arrived. I hope this inspires you to think about what you can do to your home to better facilitate positive energy for the new year.

1. All winter and Christmas decorations must go. I had taken down the Christmas tree a month ago, but I had been procrastinating on the wreath and the mistletoe.  Who isn’t a sucker for Christmas decorations? But if they are still out by the Chinese New Year, you are on your final deadline.

2. Clean the house. Mop, sweep, vacuum, dust, organize, or  do as much as your schedule permits because come the week of new year day (February 3rd) you should not be doing any cleaning; the rationale being that you do not want to sweep or wash away the good luck that the new year brings. I want to stress that cleaning and de-cluttering your home ought to be on the top of the to-do list, ahead of acquiring any new decor, furniture or stuff. A clean house is inviting and refreshing in itself. So, if that’s all you have time for, then that’s already good enough.

3. Put out the snack and candy trays. Chinese new year is a time for visiting and hosting friends and families. It is customary to be ready for visitors with a tray of goodies–usually nuts, preserved fruits and candy. The tray is supposed to be circular or octagonal to symbolize harmony. I kept it simple, and took out a candy dish that I already have, and filled it up with a childhood favorite, Chinese candy, white rabbit candy–appropriate since it is the year of the rabbit.  This candy is commonly sold at Chinese grocery stores.

4. Put out fresh flowers. This, I take from my mother. She makes a point to put out fresh flowers in shades of pink and red for the new year.

Your Boston shaker can double as a flower vase.

5. Use teapots as your centerpiece. I am going to say that centerpieces are a more of a White people thing. Chinese people simply put food and drink at the center of the table to be shared. I have acquired an assortment of teapots as gifts from friends. And I think that when placed at the center of the table, teapots make for simple, good-looking and functional centerpieces.

6. Tangerines are lucky. There are a number of foods deemed “lucky”, and good to eat for the Chinese New Year. How do you decide on which to eat and serve? I just listen to my taste buds.

7. Get other people involved with helping. There are certain tasks much better done with an extra person or group. I cannot take full credit for throwing together last weekend’s party. The cooking and cleaning I did with my sister Sonia. And over one hundred dumplings were folded all thanks to my friends who came over the night before to help me fold dumplings over glasses of wine.

8. A final note on the color red, and taking liberties with traditions. My only word of advice is not to stick with the rules. Do what works best for you. Being Chinese American, I have led my life picking and choosing what traditions to follow, and what to leave behind. While red and gold are the colors customarily associated with the Chinese New Year, I did not care to drape my house in a sea of red and gold. Instead, I took a more flexible interpretation: so long as the colors are bright, they are festive.

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you a blessed year of the rabbit. May you always find time for the important people in your life.