Xin Nian Kuai Le

Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Happy (lunar) New Year!

[For some reason, I never really gave much thought to the fact that it's not just Chinese New Year, there are other countries that also celebrate the lunar new year.  Thanks to a new friend for making me more aware of that!  Obviously we've celebrated it as Chinese New Year with out 2 Chinese princesses, but I am always glad to learn more about the asian culture.]

But I digress..

We celebrated the new year yesterday.  The girls wore their Chinese outfits: 

atleast until Grace got sick all over her's before I could get a picture.  She ended up napping ALL day until about 2.. (no wonder she was up at 3:30 this morning, sigh.)

eating a popsicle...the first thing she kept down all day

The kids decorated the table with red paper lanterns, panda bears, chopsticks and all!  

I cooked one of the kids favorites--pork fried rice.  I thought I'd show you our recipe.   I think they liked it---they asked me if I could cook it every night!  (recipe is at the bottom of this post)

Rice is obviously an important ingredient in fried rice.  Did you know it comes out better when you cook the rice the day before?  It's true.

Some of the other ingredients--

It really helps to have everything ready to go because the cooking stage moves rather quickly

Grace decided she was ready to eat.  Here she is in outfit number 2.

Here's the finished product.  We also had potstickers and pork buns.  (BTW, the pork buns were not yummy.  We bought them at our local oriental market--don't think we'll be buying them again.  We loved the ones in China...)

 And our grand finale..........................Chocolate Wontons                                                                                                                                  (from The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook)

These are so easy and SO yummy!
All you need is one egg and a tbs of water mixed together, wonton wrappers, 12 pieces of chocolate (like Hershey's nuggets), oil, and powdered sugar.

Lay out the wrappers, place a piece of chocolate on each one (more on one half than the other), use your finger (or pastry brush) to put the egg mixture around the outside of the wonton, fold it in half and press to seal.  Heat about 2" of oil.   Slide a few of these in at a time.  Cook about 1 1/2 minutes per side until golden brown.  Remove and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Ta da!  The kids LOVE these!

Pork Fried Rice Recipe:

2 cups long grain white rice

1/4 cup oyster sauce

2 tbs soy sauce

3 eggs, beaten until just blended

2 tbs peanut or vegetable oil

1 cup frozen baby peas, thawed

3 scallions thinly sliced including some of the tops (about 1/3-1/2 a cup)

1 cup mung bean sprouts

2 cups cooked pork (or chicken or shrimp...)

Sesame oil

Break up any clumps of cold rice.  In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce and the oyster sauce.

Coat a wok (or large skillet) with nonstick spray and heat over medium-high heat.  When it's hot, add the eggs, swirling them around to make sure they coat the pan.  Cook without stirring (I just continue to swirl around) until the eggs are firm and cooked but not browning then slide onto a plate for cutting.  

Add the oil and return the wok to high heat.  When the oil is hot, add the peas and scallions and cook, stirring constantly, until the scallions are limp (a minute or 2).  I then stir in the meat and bean sprouts and stir and heat a moment before adding the rice, sauce mixture, and eggs.  Continue to cook until the rice is heated through.  Drizzle with sesame oil to taste (it doesn't take much!)