Happy Chinese Lunar New Year

Chinese New Year is our favorite non-Gregorian calender new year celebration. Our resident Chinese advises on the crucial customs:

1. THE CHINA CENTRAL TELEVISION NEW YEAR'S GALA. This is such an important element of the festivities that my parents used to import a DVD of this six hour variety show (before they invested in satellite TV). If you remember the 2008 Olympic opening ceremony, you will know that having a population of 1.3 billion people means that the Chinese can afford to give the word pompous a whole new meaning.



It brings laughter to billions of people, creates many popular words and produces lots of TV phenomena meriting attention. (From the CCTV website)

2. JIAOZI (a.k.a. dumplings). Making and eating dumplings is a session of bonding that is vital to the dynamics of the Chinese family; without dumplings, the core of the family is disrupted and we will be reduced to awkward strangers waving to each other from across the hallway.

Here's how:




Make the filling by mixing together mince pork and some sort of vegetable. Celery will do.



Add soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine. The latter is interchangeable with dry sherry. Don't drink it straight, it tastes rank.



Wrap the dough around the filling until you get this:



Throw them into a bot of boiling water, or saute them in a frying pan. Here we opted for the frying pan option.

3. RECEIVE MONEY FROM YOUR ELDERS. If you're a Chinese kid, this is where your annual budget comes from. The more elderly relatives you visit, the more red packets filled with money money cash dough you receive, the richer you are.

4. SET OFF FIRECRACKERS. Unfortunately, these are banned in the UK.