There’s something so refreshing and consuming about staying at home on a hot summer day. Losing sense of time yet drowning in it. Cut off from your usual Starbucks refresher, here’s a soothing beverage so the only cool and tall thing that’s sweating is your glass. Suan mei tang 酸梅汤, which directly translates to sourContinue reading “Hibiscus Plum Drink or Suan Mei Tang 酸梅汤”
Author Archives: holidaysallyearround
Green Dumplings (Qingming Buns)
One of Qingming Festival’s most prized culinary traditions is that of cold foods, requiring households to eat only foods prepared before the festive period…and forcing pastry chefs to become innovative in their desserts. Because the texture and taste of the dessert had to sustain through temperature changes, chefs turned to buns. Though cleverly designed, bunsContinue reading “Green Dumplings (Qingming Buns)”
Qingming Soft Wraps & Filling: Remembering those who have Passed due to COVID-19
I hope you all have been well during this strange, vulnerable crisis. During our darkest hours, we turn to food as a source of comfort, order, and distraction. Unfortunately, Chinese holidays – structured get-togethers studded throughout the year – have barely sustained 2019 due to the global pandemic. After all, unification and intimacy are fundamentalContinue reading “Qingming Soft Wraps & Filling: Remembering those who have Passed due to COVID-19”
Why I Started the #CelebrateTogether Movement
Are you scared? Have you been awoken by the sirens, or the silence that seems to be even more threatening? I fear a lot, and I feel guilty that I fear. It’s a privilege for us to be worrying about boredom, to sit at home inactively, to read the headlines without thought of what’s toContinue reading “Why I Started the #CelebrateTogether Movement”
Yuan Xiao 元宵 & the Heat of the Lantern Festival
Yuan Xiao, balls of fermented glutinous rice, are the convivial heart of the holiday. Yuan Xiao bounce chubbily in boiling pots of water, its warmth sending rays of ardor. While the cool temperature of the ball typifies readiness, teeth sink into a scorching peanut paste. Heat, the primary source to its delectability, is also aContinue reading “Yuan Xiao 元宵 & the Heat of the Lantern Festival”
China’s Most Elaborate Meal: The New Year’s Eve Fish and Duck
New Year’s Eve Meal 年夜饭, also known as nian ye fan or Reunion Dinner, gathers the whole family in front of the table for the satiation of the hearts and stomachs. As the central focus of the holiday is gathering, food not only communicates love and devotion to one’s family but lures everyone together throughContinue reading “China’s Most Elaborate Meal: The New Year’s Eve Fish and Duck”
Red Packets: The Story of the Little Demon Sneaky
Passed from the wrinkly fingers of elders to the smooth youthful palms of children, lucky money bribes generational connection and fortune. Laid under the child’s pillow or directly to the eager hands, packets are given after the New Year Eve dinner. According to legend, lucky money defends young children from the little demon called “祟”,Continue reading “Red Packets: The Story of the Little Demon Sneaky”
The Auspicious Eight Treasures
Bā bǎo rúyì cài 八宝如意菜, or the auspicious eight treasures, are a must-have dish during Chinese New Year. Passed down through generations of Tang cooking, the recipe I’m publishing today has perfected through lines of ancestral mothers laboring at their wood-fired stoves. And while the dish is best served at its birthplace, an electric stoveContinue reading “The Auspicious Eight Treasures”
The Sticky Situation of Nian Gao
Nian gao, rice cake or New Year cake, is one of the many staple Chinese New Year snacks. The Chinese word for rice cake, or nian gao, correlates to the phrase “nian nian gao sheng,” meaning “elevating year after year” or “promotion year after year”. Some Chinese parents tell their children that eating this will helpContinue reading “The Sticky Situation of Nian Gao”
the Multivariation of Chinese Dumplings
You can find Nai Nai wrapping dumpling skin on the floured counter during almost every Chinese holiday, or bagged dumps in the freezer as a go-to weekend lunch. What’s special about Jiao Zi isn’t just the various flavors, from pork and scallion to egg and chive, but the multitude of holidays in which they span.Continue reading “the Multivariation of Chinese Dumplings”
Holidays All Year Round 