On the Chinese calendar, Feb. 7 marks the beginning of the Year of the Rat. No, I don't have any rodent recipes to share, but I did interview my parents for their take on little-known food traditions of the holiday. Here are a few superstitions my Cantonese mom rattled off as imperative for any New Year's meal:
• Always prepare a noodle dish. The strands of the noodles signify long life, so don't cut them before serving.
• Serve a whole chicken (head and all) simply steamed for good health, along with a whole steamed fish (eyeballs and all) for abundance. The Chinese word for fish is yu, which, according to my mom, sounds similar to the Chinese word for "every year our family has something left over, and we always have enough." The Chinese are very efficient in the language department.
• Fix crispy egg rolls and handmade dumplings to symbolize gold bars and ingots for prosperity. My mom's family would hide a gold coin in one of the hundreds of dumplings they would make, and the lucky bastard who bit into it was to receive prosperity throughout the year — following a hefty dental bill, I'm sure.
• Display tangerines for luck, and nien goh (steamed rice cakes) signify "every year you reach a higher level of life," according to Mom.
• Whatever you do, don't serve squid, called yow yu. In the olden days, workers would travel far for a job, bringing personal belongings rolled up in a blanket. When a worker was fired, he was ordered to yow, or roll-up his blanket. Serving squid symbolizes being fired in the coming year. If your co-workers surprise you with a dish of succulent squid on Feb. 7, be very suspicious.
My father, from the Ling Po province of China near Shanghai, is a simple man. Here are his words:
"In our kitchen, we would hang a portrait of the Kitchen God. The Kitchen God watches over you all year; on Chinese New Year, he goes back to the heavens and reports to the other gods of prosperity, fortune and health on what you've been doing and how well you've behaved. Before the end of the year, my family would create an elaborate banquet just for the Kitchen God and display the plates of noodles, dumplings, fish, candies, cakes and meats right in front of his portrait. Basically, we bribed the Kitchen God to say nice things about us."
Whether you choose to serve your friends and family a wonderful Chinese meal to usher in the Year of the Rat or merely want to bribe the Kitchen God, here's a fried noodle dish that will help bring you and yours long life.
Gong hay fat choy!
FRIED NOODLES WITH GARLIC SHRIMP
(Serves 4)
1/2 lb shrimp
1 tsp sesame oil
3 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup thin celery sticks
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 lb dried Asian noodles
Shrimp Marinade
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp cooking wine
Marinate shrimp. Cook noodles according to directions on package. When cooked, rinse with cold water and drain well.
Heat 1 tbsp cooking oil in a wok or large pan on high heat. When oil is hot but not smoking, add shrimp. Fry until just done, remove and set aside. Add a little more oil to wok, and when the oil is hot, add scallions and garlic. Fry 15 seconds. Add carrots; fry 30 seconds. Add celery, and fry vegetables until carrots are slightly softened. Add soy, vinegar, sugar and salt. Stir well. Add shrimp back into wok. Cook until shrimp are cooked through, about 30 seconds.
Add noodles, mix well, and when noodles are heated through, it's ready.
Jaden Hair blogs at steamykitchen.com.
This article appears in Feb 6-12, 2008.