Erica Chu-s Her Food: Happy Chinese New Year

Erica Chu-s Her Food is a column mostly about Asian food.

Dear readers. I apologize for the delay in the debut of my first post. I have been busy celebrating my favorite holiday of the year, Chinese New Year. Just kidding! I was drowning in work like a typical Penn student. Since it is my first Chinese New Year away from home, I tried to get a little festive with my friends. Instead of ordering take-out or just cabbing to Chinatown, we decided to make our own Nian Ye Fan, which means the annual reunion dinner. The three of us made Luroufan, or minced pork rice, fried napa cabbage, oyako-don, or chicken and egg over rice, and sesame tang yuan, or rice balls, for dessert. Below are the simple recipes for anyone who wants to try them out.

Luroufan

This is probably the easiest dish to make. I brought a convenient pack of minced pork sauce from Taiwan, so we only had to heat it up for 2~3 minutes. However, it seems like we won’t be able to buy this on Amazon (how is this possible). So, I have acquired the recipe from Jen Che’s “Tiny Urban Kitchen”.

Oyakodon

Ingredients:

3 strips of chicken thigh

4~5 stocks of scallion

4 eggs

1~2 tablespoons of soy sauce

1/2 tablespoon of oyster sauce

1 teaspoon of sugar

Olive oil

 

Directions:

Dice the chicken thigh and put into the pan.

When it is half cooked, sprinkle in the scallions and add 1~2 tablespoons of soy sauce.  If it looks dry, add some water to the pan.

When the chicken is almost cooked, beat the eggs and pour them onto the pan.

Fry the chicken, scallions, and eggs together and add in 1/2 tablespoon of oyster sauce and 2 teaspoons sugar and water.

Since everyone has different tastes, I would suggest you try it after adding in any seasoning to make sure you like it.

Keep flipping the chicken until it is cooked through and tender.

 

Stir Fried Napa Cabbage

Ingredients:

1/2 head of napa cabbage

3 cloves of garlic

Olive oil

 

Directions:

Wash the napa cabbage and cut the it into small squares.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the garlic once hot. Sautée the garlic until it becomes golden, then add in the cabbage.

Fry the cabbage until it is tender.

 

Sesame Tang Yuan

Ingredients:

Sesame tang yuan (you can get a pack for less than 2 dollars in Chinatown)

Syrup (Optional)

 

Directions:

Boil hot water in a pot and add in the tang yuan.

Boil until the tang yuan is soft and chewy.

 

Cheers,

Erica Chu