What to Cook Tonight #42
Vibrant flavours for Lunar New Year — a Dragon Noodle Salad for good luck and longevity, knockout Whole Steamed Fish with Ginger & Chilli, plus a zippy Smashed Cucumber Salad with Sesame & Garlic.
Good morning and happy Lunar New Year to all who celebrate! In honour of the spring festival, we wanted to take this opportunity to share three delicious recipes inspired by some of our favourite Chinese dishes.
Celebrated by numerous communities throughout the world, Lunar New Year is the beginning of the new year based on the lunar calendar or lunisolar calendar. In different countries throughout Asia, New Year celebrations have their own special foods and rituals associated with them. In China, New Year is the grandest ancient festival — with parades and processions, gifts, and family celebrations.
Our first recipe is for a vibrant Dragon Noodle Salad, inspired by Cantonese yee sang. As 2024 is the year of the wood dragon, this fabulous noodle salad feels like the perfect thing to eat right now. Fun fact — people born in the year of the dragon are said to embody a host of desirable traits, including being charismatic, energetic, and strong leaders. It’s the most auspicious year in the 12-year Chinese cycle, and therefore usually sees the highest number of births.
Made with rice noodles, crunchy vegetables, sashimi, and a zippy soy and sesame dressing, this gorgeous salad is so fresh and flavourful. In keeping with Chinese tradition, eating noodles at the new year is regarded to be good for longevity — the longer the noodles, the longer you will live.
Serve the salad on one large sharing platter, gather around the plate, and use your chopsticks to joyfully toss the salad upwards. Chinese tradition holds that a higher toss signifies better prospects for the year ahead!
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