Chinese New Year

To eliminate any confusion, we aren't chinese. We're filipino. Half.  But my sister lives in Shanghai, so this year we got to celebrate Chinese New Year with her.  Chinese New Year is probably the most important of the traditional holidays in China, so my sister got to take some time off of work and come home for a while.  To celebrate, and to show my family some of her favorite Sichuan dishes, my sister planned a Chinese New Year Feast!

It was awesome.  My mom and I were sous chefs for the night.  Mostly a lot of chopping, cornstarch slurries, and mise en place.  It was pretty crazy making five different things in my Grandma's small kitchen to feed 9 of our family members, but it was a success.

The front runners:

宫保鸡丁 gōng bǎo jī dīng kung pao chicken

干煸四季豆 gan bian sijidou dry-fried green beans

鱼香茄子 yu xiang qiezi fish-fragrant eggplant

番茄炒蛋 fanqie chaodan tomato w/ fried egg

麻婆豆腐 mápó dòufu "Pockmarked-Face Lady's Tofu"

My family was impressed and my grandma loved it.  She likes trying new asian dishes and having someone cook other than herself.  The kung pao, eggplant, and tofu were my favorite and they all tasted just like what they do in China.  It was the first time any of us had made most of these things, so my sister really pulled off a delicious authentic chinese feast!

Gōng xǐ fā cái!