New Happy New Year

Overall I had a pretty good holiday season involving friends, family, Brooklyn, Broadway, Momofuko pork buns, movies, latkes, cookies, lights, and trees — all culminating with a cork in my eye at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve (we decided it was good luck). But in the midst of these festivities, I had the whole upcoming arraignment thing in the back of my mind (see previous post entitled The Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Me), along with an imaginary brain tumor that lasted a solid week. I even went to the doctor, which is unheard of, who didn't quite laugh at me, but almost.

Once the arraignment had come and gone without too much fanfare, and my imagination allowed the tumor to shrink, I decided I needed yet another fresh start. What better way than Chinese New Year? I looked it up and found the first day of the Year of the Tiger fell on January 30 (apparently incorrectly; I'm looking it up now, and Google very clearly states that it's not until February 14). In any case I sent out some emails to make sure I'd have a critical mass, and started to obsess about what to cook. I received a couple of books for Christmas that I already owned and exchanged them at Brookline Booksmith for a beautiful cookbook entitled Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo (a slightly derivative but fairly accurate title).


A show on NPR listed it as one of the top 10 cookbooks of the year. I couldn't agree more. I can see how someone could be put off by several of the recipes that call for shrimp roe, 85 Thai chiles (no fewer, no more), stocks that cook for days, or the Marcella-like instructions (see chile note) that at times sound as though if you can't find the proper brand of mung-bean paste, you might as well not even bother. But I have to tell you, the multiple recipes that I've made have all been straightforward and unbelievably delicious. And for those of us hankering for some Asian food who live in eastern Massachusetts, there's no better place to start than H-Mart in Burlington.

It's brand new, sparkling clean, and you can buy anything from a Hello Kitty backpack to a flat screened TV to pork belly and a lifetime supply of rice. There's an entire room dedicated to kim chee. And, if you ever need a trotter not connected to a pig, H-Mart is your destination.

I stocked up on Shaoxing wine, double dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, peanut and sesame oils, ginger, 4 different kinds of bok choy, eggplant, rice wine vinegar, and multiple pork products — everything I needed to make an authentic lunar year banquet. The rest of this post will just be photos and recipes. Why waste more space? You'll have them just in time for the real Chinese New Year!

Here was my menu (2 of the yummiest and shortest recipes follow):

Clams in Black Bean Sauce


Dan's Tea Eggs
(So beautiful and v tasty w the clams. I don't have the recipe, though. Maybe Dan will comment w the details.)


Potstickers
(Miraculously made by S herself)


Long-Cooked Pork Shoulder


Eggplant with Garlic Sauce

I also made stir fried bok choy and my friend Valerie brought tofu and noodles (for a long life), For some reason I don't have pix of those, but they were good too!

The Recipes

Clams Stir-Fried with Black Beans
Adapted (but almost verbatim) from Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, as are all the other recipes. Who am I to tinker? But I have not included her recipes for chicken stock and other incredibly time consuming things that you can buy at the store. And I'm not as specific as she is with my cleaver techniques. In fact I've left them out altogether.

For the clams
2 quarts water
30 medium-size clams
3 T peanut oil
2 T peeled and shredded ginger
2 T garlic
3 T fermented black beans, rinsed twice and well drained (or black bean paste).
1 T thinly sliced cilantro
1 T thinly sliced scallions

Sauce
2/3 c chicken broth
1 1/2 T oyster sauce
1 1/2 t dark soy sauce
1 t sesame oil
1 tablespoon mung bean starch (I actually used cornstarch. H-Mart is great but overwhelming and I had to leave after an hour. The brain tumor was returning)
1 t sugar
pinch of white pepper (I did invest $6.99 in white pepper, but I don't think it's necessary)

1. Pour the water into a wok and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the clams and allow the water to return to a boil. As the clams open, remove them to a waiting dish, to prevent them from becoming tough. Continue until all of the clams have opened (discard any that do not). Set the clams aside. Discard the water and wash and dry the wok and reserve.

2. Make the sauce — in a small bowl, mix together all of the ingredients and reserve.

3. Heat the wok over high heat for 40 seconds (under no circumstances should you heat for 37 seconds; if that happens, cool the wok and start again. Joking). Add the peanut oil and using a spatula, coat the wok with the oil. When a wisp of white smoke appears, add the ginger, garlic, and black beans and stir to mix well for about 1 minute, or until the garlic and black beans release their fragrance. Add the clams and stir to mix for 2 minutes. Make a well in the center of the clams, stir the sauce, and pour it into the well. Stir constantly for about 2 minutes or until the sauce thickens and the clams are thoroughly coated with the sauce.

4. Sprinkle with the cilantro and scallion and serve.

Eggplant with Garlic Sauce

Sauce
1T double dark soy sauce
2 t oyster sauce
1 t white rice vinegar
1/2 t Shaoxing wine
1/2 t hot pepper flakes
2 t sugar
1/2 t cornstarch mixed w 2 t chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 t salt

Eggplant
4 cups peanut oil
1 lb Asian eggplants sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch wide and 3 inch long strips
2 t minced garlic

1. Make the sauce — in a small bowl, mix together all of the ingredients and reserve.

2. Heat a wok over high heat for 45 seconds. Add the peanut oil and heat to 350F on a deep frying thermometer. Carefully lower the eggplant into the oil. Cook the strips for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they soften. Using a slotted spoon, lift out the strips and allow the eggplant to drain over a bowl.

3. Pour off all but 1 1/2 T of the peanut oil from the wok and heat over high heat for 30 seconds. When a wisp of smoke appears, add the garlic and stir for 35 seconds, or until it releases its fragrance. Return the eggplant to the wok and stir-fry for 1 1/2 minutes, or until it is well-mixed with the garlic. Make a well in the center of the mixture, stir the sauce, and pour it into the well. Stir to mix well for about 2 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.

4. Turn off the heat and serve.