Chinese Food: Ham or Pork For New Year's Day

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Ham or Pork For New Year's Day Jan 1st 2012, 09:40 Looking for something simple yet tasty to serve for dinner on New Year's Day? In this recipe for Baked Pork, hoisin sauce adds its own distinct flavor to a marinade for pork leg. In Honey Ham with Asian Pears, thin slices of ham are sprinkled with brown sugar before steaming, then paired with sweet Asian pears in a simple sauce made with soy sauce and honey. A spring onion garnish adds the final touch.

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Chinese Culture: Most Popular Articles: Chinese Zodiac Sign: Find Your Chinese Zodiac Sign

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Chinese Zodiac Sign: Find Your Chinese Zodiac Sign Jan 1st 2012, 11:17 The Chinese mark each year with a corresponding animal. There are 12 animals in the . 2012 is the year of the dragon. The order of the animals is based on the following legend. There are several versions of the story of the origin of the Chinese Zodiac. One is that the often forgot his age so to make it easier to calculate his age, he decided to select 12 animals to represent each year. He invited all the animals of the world to gather at a certain place, some say a banquet, at a certain time. The first 12 to arrive were to be rewarded with a year named after each one. The night before the meeting, the cat and the rat agreed to wake each other up to begin the journey together. However, the rat didn’t keep his promise and the cat overslept. By the time the cat arrived, the meeting was already over. The other animals took their time making it to the venue except the ox. The ox knew he was a much slower walker so he began the journey the night before. The ox walked all night but he was unaware that the rat had been riding on his head the entire journey. Just before the ox arrived, the rat jumped over him and took the first spot in the zodiac. Some versions of the story have the rat climbing on the ox just before crossing a river and then jumping to the finish line. The rest of the animals arrived in the following order: tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. In the beginning, the Chinese Zodiac was used as a convenient way to count the years and keep track of one’s age. During the , the 12 animals were linked to the year of a person’s birth. When a Chinese baby is born, his or her animal sign is said to reveal his or her character. A person's Chinese Zodiac sign is also used to figure out one’s fortune. Marriage partners' compatibility is also determined by their animal signs. To find your Chinese Zodiac sign, look for your date of birth. The corresponding animal is your Chinese Zodiac sign. If You Were Born During These Dates Then Your Chinese Zodiac Sign Is 02/20/1920 â€" 02/07/1921 Monkey 02/08/1921 â€" 01/27/1922 Rooster 01/28/1922 â€" 02/15/1923 Dog 02/16/1923 â€" 02/04/1924 Pig 02/05/1924 â€" 01/23/1925 Rat 01/24/1925 â€" 02/12/1926 Ox 02/13/1926 â€" 02/01/1927 Tiger 02/02/1927 â€" 01/22/1928 Rabbit 01/23/1928 â€" 02/09/1929 Dragon 02/10/1929 â€" 01/29/1930 Snake 01/30/1930 â€" 02/16/1931 Horse 02/17/1931 â€" 02/05/1932 Goat 02/06/1932 â€" 01/25/1933 Monkey 01/26/1933 â€" 02/13/1934 Rooster 02/14/1934 â€" 02/03/1935 Dog 02/04/1935 â€" 01/23/1936 Pig 01/24/1936 â€" 02/10/1937 Rat 02/11/1937 â€" 01/30/1938 Ox 01/31/1938 â€" 02/18/1939 Tiger 02/19/1939 â€" 02/07/1940 Rabbit 02/08/1940 â€" 01/26/1941 Dragon 01/27/1941 â€" 02/14/1942 Snake 02/15/1942 â€" 02/04/1943 Horse 02/05/1943 â€" 01/24/1944 Goat 01/25/1944 â€" 02/12/1945 Monkey 02/13/1945 â€" 02/01/1946 Rooster 02/02/1946 â€" 01/21/1947 Dog 01/22/1947 â€" 02/09/1948 Pig 02/10/1948 â€" 01/28/1949 Rat 01/29/1949 â€" 02/16/1950 Ox 02/17/1950 â€" 02/05/1951 Tiger 02/06/1951 â€" 01/26/1952 Rabbit 01/27/1952 â€" 02/13/1953 Dragon 02/14/1953 â€" 02/02/1954 Snake 02/03/1954 = 01/23/1955 Horse 01/24/1955 â€" 02/11/1956 Goat 02/12/1956 â€" 01/30/1957 Monkey 01/31/1957 â€" 02/17/1958 Rooster 02/18/1958 â€" 02/07/1959 Dog 02/08/1959 â€" 01/27/1960 Pig 01/28/1960 â€" 02/14/1961 Rat 02/15/1961 â€" 02/04/1962 Ox 02/05/1962 â€" 01/24/1963 Tiger 01/25/1963 â€" 02/12/1964 Rabbit 02/13/1964 â€" 02/01/1965 Dragon 02/02/1965 â€" 01/20/1966 Snake 01/21/1966 â€" 02/08/1967 Horse 02/09/1967 â€" 01/29/1968 Goat 01/30/1968 â€" 02/16/1969 Monkey 02/17/1969 â€" 02/05/1970 Rooster 02/06/1970 â€" 01/26/1971 Dog 01/27/1971 â€" 02/14/1972 Pig 02/15/1972 â€" 02/02/1973 Rat 02/03/1973 â€" 01/22/1974 Ox 01/23/1974 â€" 02/10/1975 Tiger 02/11/1975 â€" 01/30/1976 Rabbit 01/31/1976 â€" 02/17/1977 Dragon 02/18/1977 â€" 02/06/1978 Snake 02/07/1978 â€" 01/27/1979 Horse 01/28/1979 â€" 02/15/1980 Goat 02/16/1980 â€" 02/04/1981 Monkey 02/05/1981 â€" 01/24/1982 Rooster 01/25/1982 â€" 02/12/1983 Dog 02/13/1983 â€" 02/01/1984 Pig 02/02/1984 â€" 02/19/1985 Rat 02/20/1985 â€" 02/08/1986 Ox 02/09/1986 â€" 01/28/1987 Tiger 01/29/1987 â€" 02/16/1988 Rabbit 02/17/1988 â€" 02/05/1989 Dragon 02/06/1989 â€" 01/26/1990 Snake 01/27/1990 â€" 02/14/1991 Horse 02/15/1991 â€" 02/03/1992 Goat 02/04/1992 â€" 01/22/1993 Monkey 01/23/1993 â€" 02/09/1994 Rooster 02/10/1994 â€" 01/30/1995 Dog 01/31/1995 â€" 02/18/1996 Pig 02/19/1996 â€" 02/06/1997 Rat 02/07/1997 â€" 01/27/1998 Ox 01/28/1998 â€" 02/15/1999 Tiger 02/16/1999 â€" 02/04/2000 Rabbit 02/05/2000 â€" 01/23/2001 Dragon 01/24/2001 â€" 02/11/2002 Snake 02/12/2002 â€" 01/31/2003 Horse 02/01/2003 â€" 01/21/2004 Goat 01/22/2004 â€" 02/08/2005 Monkey 02/09/2005 â€" 01/28/2006 Rooster 01/29/2006 â€" 02/17/2007 Dog 02/18/2007 â€" 02/06/2008 Pig 02/07/2008 â€" 01/25/2009 Rat 01/26/2009 â€" 02/13/2010 Ox 02/14/2010 â€" 02/02/2011 Tiger 02/03/2011 â€" 01/22/2012 Rabbit 01/23/2012 - Dragon

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Chinese Culture: What's Hot Now: Chinese Proverbs

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Chinese Proverbs Jan 1st 2012, 11:02 A - D E - G H - I J - L M - O P - S T - V W - Z Confucius Tea Quote Stories Links The palest ink is better than the best memory. Paper can't wrap up a fire. Pick up a sesame seed but lose sight of a watermelon. Play a harp before a cow. Regular feet can't be affected by irregular shoes. Reshape one's foot to try to fit into a new shoe. The saving man becomes the free man. Shed no tears until seeing the coffin. A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study. A sly rabbit will have three openings to its den. A smile will gain you ten more years of life. Some prefer carrot while others like cabbage. Sow much, reap much; sow little, reap little. Steal a bell with one's ears covered.

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Chinese Culture: What's Hot Now: Chinese New Year: What to Do Before Chinese New Year

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Chinese New Year: What to Do Before Chinese New Year Jan 1st 2012, 11:02 Chinese New Year is the longest and most important Chinese holiday. In the weeks leading up to the two-week holiday, several traditional activities are necessary to do in order to properly prepare for Chinese New Year. Have a Thank You Dinner to Kitchen God: Lunar Dec. 24 (Jan. 27, 2011) A special dinner is held for the Kitchen God in which Chinese families gather to eat a meal of glutinous rice or sticky rice balls served in sugary syrup. An extra bowl of food is placed in front of a picture of the Kitchen God. After dinner, the picture is burned and the Kitchen God goes back to heaven. During Chinese New Year festivities, a new picture of the Kitchen God will replace the old one. Go to the Flower Market: Lunar Dec. 26 (Jan. 29, 2011) Visiting traditional flower markets is a must in the week prior to Chinese New Year. Flowers, traditional Chinese New Year snacks, decorations like chun lian and other items are for sale. These markets are where Chinese stock up on flowers, orange trees, snacks, and decorations for Chinese New Year. In Hong Kong, children who are doing poorly in school are taken to walk around the flower market. Through the practice of Mai Lan, it is believed the children will no longer be lazy and work harder in the New Year. Flowers are bought to not only decorate the home but to help unmarried people find lovers or welcome prosperity in the New Year. Dried snacks, including those used to make a tray of togetherness, are on sale with vendors offering free samples of dried meats, peanuts, dried fruits and tea. As Chinese New Year gets closer, the bustling markets get more crowded and rowdy. Sweep the House: Lunar Dec. 28 (Jan. 31, 2011) Before Chinese New Year comes, each family will thoroughly clean their home. Every nook and cranny will be scrubbed, old furniture thrown out, and the floor will be swept. It is important that the floor is swept toward the door as this is symbolic of sweeping away all misfortune. Some families also prepare their home by following Chinese New Year feng shui practices. After a thorough cleaning, the house will not be cleaned during the beginning of Chinese New Year as this might cause good fortune to be swept away. New Chinese New Year decorations, or chun lian, are placed along the sides and top of the front door.

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Chinese Food: What's Hot Now: Hawaiian Appetizers

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Hawaiian Appetizers Jan 1st 2012, 11:02 The author writes: "While mainstream American chefs are discovering Asian ingredients, it is also happening the other way around. American born Chinese chefs like Ken Hom, who had grown up in a family-owned Chinese restaurant, went on to be trained in the art of French cuisine and has been artfully combining these two great world cuisines ever since." Main Chinese Recipes Index  Ingredients: 1/3 pound chicken livers 10 sprigs cilantro 1 shallot, minced 2 teaspoons ginger, minced fine 1 large garlic clove, minced 1/3 stick butter, softened 2 teaspoons oyster sauce 1 teaspoon dry hot mustard 3/4 teaspoon dried orange peel 1/3 pound cream cheese, softened Preparation: Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop in the livers. Turn the heat down and simmer. Meanwhile, set aside several sprigs of cilantro for garnishing and mince the rest.  Saute the shallot, ginger, and garlic. Remove and allow to cool.  Toss all the ingredients into a food processor (a mixer should work too, although I would suggest chopping the livers into smaller pieces first).  Do not overprocess or you will end up with liver soup!  Pour into a generously greased 9 x 5 x 2 inch loaf pan.  Cover with a clean dish towel and refrigerate until firm. To remove, use a knife to cleanly separate the paté from the side of the pan. Turn it out onto your serving platter. Smooth any unevenness in the surface with a knife and garnish with fresh sprigs of cilantro. I actually take sprigs of three leaves each and lay them flat in the paté.  Reader Rating: 5 out of 5 stars Reader Review: I served this pate as an appetizer before Peking duck and everyone just loved it. Even though cream cheese is a strange ingredient for Chinese food, it surely is perfect for this pate. The spices are exquisite. I had to forward the recipe to all my guests. From Renate This recipe is reprinted with permission from "Remembering Diamond Head, Remembering Hawai'i: A Cookbook Memoir of Hawai'i and Its Foods", by Shirley Tong Parola and Lisa Parola Gaynier. (Diamond Head Press; 1999; $19.95/trade paperback) More Appetizer Recipes

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Chinese Food: What's Hot Now: Food and Feng Shui

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Food and Feng Shui Jan 1st 2012, 11:02 If you think about it, Food and Feng Shui go hand in hand. You can achieve improved energy by optimizing the Feng Shui of your food and by using food related items to your advantage. Elemental balance, Yin/Yang balance, Aromatherapy, and opportunities to increase prosperity and abundance are all important parts of Feng Shui and food. Elemental balance in food can be achieved through use of colors. A plate full of monochromatic food can look pretty bland and probably wouldn't get a seal of approval from a dietitian either (they usually advise a plate full of many different colors.) So a stir-fry made with yellow bell peppers, green bell peppers, orange bell peppers, red tomatoes, Chinese purple eggplant, and some pink shrimp would be a much better Feng Shui choice. Fruits and vegetables come in an array of colors; use them to your Feng Shui advantage. You don't have to eat every color in the rainbow at every meal, but more colors in your diet will go a long way towards optimizing your Feng Shui. The concept of Yin and Yang can also apply to your food. With food, Yin would be the milder flavors while Yang would be the bolder flavors. Chinese recipes already take advantage of this type of Feng Shui balance. Sweet and sour, hot and sour, and strong flavored dishes paired with plain rice are all examples of Yin/Yang balanced foods. When preparing these dishes the cook is always careful to balance the opposing flavors. Sweet and Sour Shrimp that is all sweet or overly sour wouldn’t be very pleasing to the palate and wouldn’t be good Feng Shui. And pairing a spicy dish with other spicy dishes would overtax the taste buds. Yin and Yang can also be used to explain the appeal of dishes featuring a mixture of soft or delicate foods with crunchy or crisp foods. Tofu dishes with chopped nuts or diced water chestnuts always balance these textural differences. A plate full of crunchy food could tire the mouth, while a plate full of soft food might not seem very fulfilling. Balance is very important in food and Feng Shui. Aromatherapy is very important in Feng Shui because all senses need to be accommodated. Nothing is more pleasing to the nose than delicious smelling foods. Think about the scents when cooking Chinese food. Everyone in the house knows you’re cooking when the house is filled with the scent of toasting Szechuan peppercorns. And what a joy it is to smell a grinder filled with ground Szechuan peppercorns (toasted or un-toasted.) Aromatic seasonings like garlic, scallions, chilies and ginger often go into the wok near the beginning of the cooking process so they can lend their scents and lightly stir-fried flavors to the main ingredients. Plus, they are a treat for the cook to smell and they fill the home with a wonderful aroma. These wonderful scents rid the home of negative energy and fill them, and you, with positive energy. In my Feng Shui practice I've found that prosperity and abundance are extremely common Feng Shui goals. There are many ways to increase your prosperity and abundance through food and food related items. One common Feng Shui recommendation is to use your stove (this is not about your oven or microwave, just your stove or cook-top) often. This is because your stove, and its burners, represents wealth. More burners would be better than less (so having a stove with five burners would represent extra wealth luck while one with only two burners would symbolize diminished wealth luck.) You need to have any broken burners repaired as soon as possible, because they would represent economic troubles. Using all of your burners evenly is much better than using one or two ‘favorite’ burners every day while ignoring the rest. Stimulating your wealth energy by using your stove often (hopefully by cooking meals using most or all of your burners throughout the day) can even be done by just turning on your burners every day for a few minutes. Gas stoves are better Feng Shui than electric stoves, though I would never recommend changing stoves or cook-tops for that reason alone. Wasting money is never good Feng Shui! The dishes you serve your food in can also increase your prosperity and abundance. Ornate or expensive looking dishes carry wealth luck. Chinese or Asian dishes with fish designs or other wealth related designs also improve your wealth energy. Crystal glasses also improve the energy of your dining room table. The best way to serve up a meal that symbolizes prosperity and abundance is to set up your dining room table with your favorite fancy setting and crystal or crystal-like glassware, fill your table with an abundance of wonderful food (more food, more money), and double the food (thereby doubling your wealth) by hanging a mirror that reflects your dining table. Written by Feng Shui Consultant Leslie Jacobson

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Chinese Food: Buddha's Delight (Jai) For New Year's Day

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Buddha's Delight (Jai) For New Year's Day Jan 1st 2012, 04:00 This vegetarian dish is traditionally served on the first day of the Chinese New Year, both to cleanse out the body and to honor a Buddhist tradition that nothing living should be killed on the first day of the New Year. Traditionally, Buddha's Delight is made with eighteen ingredients, as the Chinese believe eighteen is a lucky number. This recipe is simpler, but you'll still want to head over to a Chinese/Asian market for the dried lily buds, Chinese mushrooms and a few other special ingredients. This recipe has been reader-rated at 5 out of 5 stars.

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