Chinese New Year Sweet Rice Recipes

CHINESE NEW YEAR SWEET RICE CAKE (NIAN GAO)

Steps:

• Prepare two 8-inch round baking pans by brushing the insides with vegetable oil.
• Add 2 cups of water and the ginger to a medium-sized pot, bring it a boil, then let it simmer for 10 minutes over low to medium heat with the lid covered. Turn off the heat, and stir in the brown sugar and allspice until the sugar is dissolved completely. Remove the ginger slices. Now add 1 1/2 cups of cold water to cool down the mixture so its warm, not hot.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix the two kinds of flours together and then slowly add in the sugar water mixture. Stir thoroughly until the batter is smooth (without any lumps). Now stir in the vanilla extract, molasses, orange zest, and 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil until thoroughly combined. The resulting batter should have a consistency similar to condensed milk. If the batter is too thick, add a bit more water a couple tablespoons at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
• Pour the batter evenly into two foil pans. Gently tap the pans against your countertop to get rid of air bubbles. Top each pan with three decorative dates in the center, if using. Put both pans in a double-decker bamboo steamer and steam for about 1 hour on high heat (the water should be boiling, but should NOT be bubbling high enough to touch the foil pans). You might need to add water into the steamer midway to avoid having the water dry up and burn your bamboo steamers.
• After 1 hour, poke a toothpick into the rice cake. It's done if the toothpick comes out clean--just like a regular cake! Regarding steaming techniques, for this recipe and in general, it doesn't matter what type of vessel you use. The core goal here is to use steam to cook the food, which means it's important that the steam doesn't escape.
• For example, if you use bamboo steamer, you will also need a pot that fits the bamboo steamer perfectly so there is no visible steam escaping. If you don't have a pot that fits the bamboo steamer, you will need to put the bamboo steamer inside a much larger pot with a lid and set the bamboo steamer on a rack above the water. Whatever you decide to use, with the correct set up, you should not see steam escaping!

PINEAPPLE BAKED RICE (MAIN COURSE FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR)

Steps:

• Rinse jasmine rice and place in a rice cooker with water. Cook rice according to manufacturer's instructions, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• Cut pineapple in half lengthwise. Cut out flesh, leaving a thin layer on the skin. Chop 1/2 cup of the flesh; place in a bowl. Reserve remaining flesh for another use. Place pineapple 'bowls' on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven.
• Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour in beaten eggs; cook until set, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and cut into small pieces. Use a paddle to fluff the cooked rice.
• Cook and stir Chinese sausage in a separate, dry skillet until fat renders, about 5 minutes. Transfer sausage to a bowl, reserving fat in the skillet.
• Stir remaining 2 tablespoons oil into the skillet used to cook the sausage. Heat it until you can feel the heat above the skillet. Stir in carrot for 1 minute. Add onion, peas, and corn; stir-fry until onion softens, 3 to 5 minutes. Add 1/2 of the rice; stir well to combine. Mix in remaining rice. Add egg pieces and sausage slices. Mix in pineapple cubes evenly.
• Transfer fried rice to the pineapple bowls. Cover with aluminum foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven until heated through, about 15 minutes.

CHINESE NEW YEAR SWEET RICE

Steps:

• Place the jasmine rice and water in a medium saucepan. Cover and let stand at least 1 hour, until the water has been absorbed. Transfer to a steamer basket and fluff with a fork. Steam 20 minutes, or until tender.
• Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl with enough hot water to cover. Soak 30 minutes or until tender. Drain, remove stems, and slice.
• In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, soy sauce, cornstarch, salt, sugar, and red wine. Place mushrooms in the bowl, and marinate at least 15 minutes.
• In the steamer basket, steam the mushrooms and Chinese-style sausage 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and chop.
• Heat the sesame oil in a large wok over high heat. Toss in the shrimp and cook 1 to 2 minutes, until nearly opaque. Stir in the mushrooms, Chinese-style sausage, pork sausage, green onion, and water chestnuts. Cook and stir about 2 minutes. Mix in the rice and remaining oyster sauce. Cook another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and toss in the peas. Serve when the peas are heated through.

CHINESE NEW YEAR RICE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat.
• Add chicken.
• Cook and stir until lightly browned.
• Add remaining ingredients.
• Cook and stir about 10 minutes.
• Serve.

CHINESE NEW YEAR RICE

Steps:

• Marinate chicken in a drizzle of soy sauce and sprinkle with lemon pepper and garlic salt.
• Heat oil in a wok and cook chicken until lightly browned. Remove from wok.
• Stir fry broccoli in oil, garlic, and a drizzle of soy sauce. Remove from wok.
• Stir fry carrots in oil, garlic, and a drizzle of soy sauce.
• Return chicken and broccoli to wok and add rice.
• Add 3 tbsp of soy sauce and pepper and mix until rice is thoroughly coated and is a light brown.
• Add additional soy sauce to taste.