Kitchen Concoctions

on a mission to help people gain confidence in the kitchen





  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Featured Work
    • Work With Me
    • Contact
    • FAQ
    • Classes
    • Privacy Policy and Disclosures
  • Recipe Index
  • Crafty Concoctions
    • Crafty Concoctions
    • Party Planning & Entertaining
    • DIY Beauty Treatments
    • Gifts/Gift Baskets
    • Kids Crafty Concoctions
  • Holiday
    • New Year’s
    • Valentine’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • 4th Of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
  • Fit Kitchen
    • Fit Kitchen
    • Fitness
    • Healthy Eats
  • Kitchen Adventures
    • Travel
    • Austin, Texas
    • Texas
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • Foodie Field Trip
    • Date Night
  • Dishin’ It Up
    • Dishin’ It Up
    • Kickin’ the Bucket
    • Bites with Bloggers

Celebrate the Chinese New Year with Asian Cooking

January 23, 2012

Happy New Year! Today, January 23, is the Chinese New Year and year of the Dragon! Will you be doing anything fun or educational today? Well you can do both! Below is an article I wrote from meal planning/recipe site Food on the Table a few weeks ago about celebrating the Chinese New Year and learning a little about popular ingredients found in Chinese cooking. Hopefully I can help educate you some today and help clarify a few things regarding to Chinese food. Also be sure and check below for some recipes to make Chinese food at home, making a great alternative to pricey take-out!

(photo credit)

Chinese New Year is just weeks away and is the most important of traditional Chinese holidays. It is known as the ‘Spring Festival’ and marks the end of the winter season. Celebrating other cultures’ traditions is a great way to learn more about their beliefs, history, and of course food!
To learn more about some common ingredients found in Asian cooking, continue reading!

  • A Wok is commonly used to prepare Chinese foods. Due to its large size, high sloping sides, and ability to handle high temperatures, a wok is a great tool used to stir-fry, deep-fry, braise, roast, steam, and simmer. The kind of oil used to cook in a wok is crucial. Oil that may be heated to a high temperature without smoking is essential; peanut oil and corn oil both work well. Due to the intensity of the heat used for wok cooking, a gas range with instant heat control is most efficient.
  • Hoisin sauce is a popular condiment in Chinese cooking and is sometimes referred to as Chinese barbecue sauce. Hoisin sauce is a reddish-brown sauce that is salty, sweet, and spicy. Hoisin can easily be found in most grocery stores, but if unavailable, a mixture of equal parts molasses and ketchup can be substituted.
  • Sesame seeds are common in all Asian cuisines and typically used as a garnish. White sesame seeds have a strong nutty flavor, which is enhanced when toasted. Black sesame seeds are less flavorful and are used mainly for color.
  • Chinese Rice vinegar is typically milder and less acidic than regular vinegar. Three common types of rice vinegar include black, red and white. White rice vinegar is most common and is similar in flavor to regular vinegar. Red vinegar is sweet and tart in taste. While black rice vinegar is similar to balsamic vinegar. These vinegars are used in dipping sauces, soups and noodle dishes. If rice vinegar is unavailable dry sherry or white wine vinegar may be substituted.

The recipes below are a great way to celebrate the year of the dragon and use several of the ingredients described above.

Stir-Fried Chicken (Kitchen Concoctions)
General Tso’s Chicken (Taste and Tell Blog)
Kung Pao Style Ramen Noodles (Kitchen Concoctions)
Homemade Fortune Cookies (Our Best Bites)
Chicken Lettuce Wraps (Kitchen Concoctions)
Sesame-Crusted Salmon (Annie’s Eats)

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook

Related

1 Comment
Filed Under: Food on the Table, FYI, Holiday- New Year, Tips/Tutorials, Uncategorized

« Week Of: Oatmeal
Giveaway: General Mills Cereal »

Comments

  1. Deborah says

    January 24, 2012 at 6:41 am

    I have come to really love homemade Chinese food lately. It's so simple and fast – and delicious, too!! Thanks for linking up my post!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


Hi Y'all, welcome to Kitchen Concoctions!

We are on a mission to help people gain confidence in the kitchen and inspire others to cook, craft and create life long memories with friends and family around the dinner table!

Here you will find family friendly recipes inspired by rich southern flavors and Texas grown ingredients.
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Never miss a post!

Subscribe via email!

Blog Archives

©2009-2025. Kitchen Concoctions. All rights reserved. All photography and content are copyright protected. Material may not be duplicated or republished. Please do not use my images without prior written permission. If you would like to share a recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and provide appropriate credit with a direct link back to the original recipe on Kitchen Concoctions. Or simply link to the full recipe on Kitchen Concoctions. Thank you!

Site Design By designer blogs