The Snow Delayed Chinese New Year Eve Meal | Washington

Chinese New Year eve we got stuck with snow, not just any snow, but the snow of a century kind of a snow. It’s the most snow in February since 1923 kind of a snow. So everything is close and we are stuck at home, not able to go out to buy grocery for cooking the new year eve meal. And since we just came back from a road trip to Richmond, Canada, we do not have much at home food-wise, the fridge is almost empty, lol~ So we find whatever we can and still manage to cook a very simple meal and call that the Chinese New Year Eve meal. It was probably the simplest and most basic Chinese New Year Eve meal I have ever recall in reason memory. Well, unless you count my years in college. Even then, I think I still cook a more complete meal than what we have this time.

The amount of snow was unbelievable, I have never seen so much snow in this area before, this is crazy, everything is white, it truly is a winter wonderland! Aside from being stuck at home and not able to buy things to cook for the Chinese New Year Eve meal, it’s actually quite enjoyable. Thank god the snow temporarily stop at night so we were able to go out the next day to go do some grocery shopping.

Here it is finally, our make up Chinese new year eve meal. Nothing fancy, nothing too complicated, just homey and warm.

For those of you who don’t know, the meal on the eve of Chinese New Year is kind of a very big deal for the Chinese (my heritage), it’s probably the most celebrated meal in the culture, its the meal that brings everybody together and the meal that starts the year right. Well, the snow will surely be memorable for this year’s meal, its one for the memory.

So keeping up with tradition, our new year eve meal was represented by the sky, the land, and the ocean. We have fish and crab for the sea, chicken for the sky (hey, it’s a bird right?), and pork for the land. We also have all the flavor cover as well, including hot and spicy, and the soup that brings everything together.

White chop chicken (白斩鸡 – bai zhan ji), it’s one of the must have Chinese new year eve items, at least in my family, it’s our tradition. The chicken is boil in soup, which also makes the chicken soup in the process, then it is cooled, and chop.

The secret is in the timing, it must be cooked just right. That’s why we don’t mind the red, the red is only around the bones, and it is a sign that the chicken is cook just right, cooking it any further (no red showing) simply means it’s overcooked and the meat has become tough and old. Dip it in my family secret sauce, which is basically onion and soy sauce, one mouthful, oh, it is so soft, tender and so super yummy.

And since my heritage is close to the sea, seafood is a must, and now that I am living in the Pacific Northwest, the Dungeness crab became the obvious choice. I simply steam it, which is my preferred way to eat shrimp and crab. For me, steaming is the best way to preserve the full flavor of the crab, and the best way to enjoy crab in its full awesomeness flavor without any distraction. This crab we got here is fresh, big, fat and juicy, so amazingly tasty!

Here comes the hot and spicy, this is the Sichuan style steam fish, which is really not that much different from regular steam fish, except for the super spicy and aromatic toppings that go on the fish. I use trout as the fish, and it is so salivatingly flavorful when pair with the numbingly hot and spicy Sichuan toppings.

And well, this is veggie. I mean, we must have veggie, we must have some sort of green, if not, a meal would not be considered complete. So here you have it, a plate of stir fry veggie. So you guys can probably guess that I am a meat eater by now, I mean I like my veggie, but it won’t make me happy, lol~

Well, here it is, our all-important Chinese new year eve meal, it signals the start of a new year and signifies a blessed year to come. Although it is a day late, but the important thing is, it brings togetherness and hope. With this, I wish everybody a good new year.

-Lumaca-