Celebrating Chinese New Year

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

More than a billion people celebrate Chinese New Year and this year, so did I.

This 15-day celebration is a big deal in Vancouver, where, rumour has it, 43% of our population is of Asian heritage. It is the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar. When my friend Lily invited me to, literally, get a taste of it I jumped at the chance.

What I knew about Chinese New Year would have fit on a postage stamp - or a tweet. It’s a time to be with family. Children receive lucky envelopes of money. Red is an important lucky colour in the celebration. There's a big parade in Chinatown with a dragon dance and fireworks. And Purdy's wraps their chocolate in red and gold.

What I didn’t know before Lily told me, was that houses are cleaned before new year’s day.  And since traditionally, after a woman marries she becomes part of her husband’s family, the second day of the Chinese New Year is  reserved for married women to visit their own parents and family.

The Chinese zodiac cycles over 12 years, and 2015 is  the year of the sheep (or goat or ram). It turns out Chinese people are not as bothered as English-speakers by the distinction between these animals. “Yang” in Mandarin can be goats or sheep or other members of the Caprinae subfamily. In fact without qualifiers, yang might mean any hoofed animal that eats grass and bleats. Whichever interpretation you choose, people born in the Year of the Sheep are thought to be loyal, good-natured and kind. I am a Pig - independent, short tempered, non-compromising, unselfish and sensitive. Hmm.

Although in this city, I am surrounded by Asian culture, I know very little about what my neighbours are up to because we are separated from each other by language and culture. And as a born-and-bred Canadian I fall into the "overly polite" category, so even though Lily was open about all things Chinese, I felt shy about asking her too many questions. What I learned from Lily firsthand, about growing up during the Cultural Revolution, was both fascinating and troubling. Maybe I'll invite her over for perogies or pemmican and find out more!

But this is a blog about food, so I want to share the culinary delights I discovered at Lily’s. Here’s what we ate (as near as I can figure):

Haw Flakes
What on earth is a haw? I asked Uncle Google when I got home. Answer: the berries of the hawthorn tree. Aha. It's  a member of the rose family, so this confection has a tart, rose-hip-like flavour. The consistency of the wafers is sort of like a fruit rollup. Apparently  it’s good for aiding digestion. (BTW, why do photos look in focus on my phone, and then sadly out of focus when I get home? Aaargh.)

  

Chrysanthemum tea
The way the petals open up in the water with the cheery yellow centres is absolutely gorgeous. It’s refreshing with a dash of sweetness.

 
 

Date Soup
I don't know what the official name is, but served cold, this soup is a culinary delight. Red dates and goji berries add the lucky red element. Lily made little rice balls out of rice powder. I had no idea that was even a thing. Kind of like delicate dumplings. The broth is thick and opaque from, I imagine, the rice gluten. The flavours of each element both blend together and burst out individually. A-mazing.

 

Red bean and rice cake
Again, no idea what this actually is. With a jelly-like consistency, the red beans give a subtle flavour. It may have had coconut milk in it. Honestly, it was a bit bland for my taste.

  

Delicious sesame snacks that look like lumps of tar
These are just like those yummy Sesame Snaps you get at Safeway. Except they are not covered in honey so without that sticky sweetness that sticks to my expensive dental work. They remind me of halvah. I tried tracking them down at T&T Market but they were sold out. I’m not giving up. These were my hands-down favourite. And the soup. The soup was also really good.

  

Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don't.
These beans and peas have had something done to them. Dried? Fried? I don’t know, but peas and broad beans have never tasted so good. The other item in this triad tasted like a honey-roasted nut.

  

Fortune cookie-ish bites
This Asian take on pinwheel cooked tasted like fortune cookies. ‘Nuff said.

More stuff I'm not 100% sure about 
But I think those are red dates. And then there's more individually wrapped haw and those awesome sesame thingies.