Silencing the Kitchen God
By Jody Stump
Did you ever watch a dragon dance? Hidden in the wide skirts of my mother’s winter coat, I did. Or, have you slurped a fat rice noodle that was so long your cheeks hurt to suck but you didn’t dare bite the dough or someone might die? I did that, too – celebrating a new year. Both the noodle and the dragon are critical elements in the festival that got underway this Wednesday night, Day One of the Year 4701: Year of the Green Monkey.
Chinese New Year gives everyone who didn’t quite get it right on the first of January a new chance to start the year with fresh resolutions and a happy outlook. It starts, literally, with a bang in China-millions of firecrackers light the skies and resound through open doors and windows for it is inauspicious to shut in an old year scrambling to get away. A legend tells us that the old year takes with it the Kitchen God, a morose and strictly moralistic demon who leaves the house to report on the comportment of its residents to the other gods. A bad report could spoil the whole year so Chinese families send him off with a bribe, Neen Gow, or New Year’s Cake (below). Not a cake in Western terms, it is more a sticky candy, round and cohesive as a happy clan. And, some wits say, it is not a bribe at all, but “glue” to keep the Kitchen God’s mouth shut when he gets to Heaven.
Noodles are symbolic of long life, but keep in mind the Chinese belief that cutting anything on the first days of the New Year is tantamount to snipping away good fortune. Put away those knives and scissors at least on Thursday. After all, you have 15 days from the old year’s sunset to establish yourself in the new.
And what is this New Year likely to bring? If you were born a monkey-that is, in some year divisible by 12 from 2004- 1980, 1968, 1956, 1944 etc. – it is a year to lie low. For everybody else, it is the Chinese curse, an “interesting time.” Monkey is the Riverboat Gambler of Chinese astrology, an animal known for charm and guile, so expect a year filled with politicians sidestepping problems and great ideas fizzling out. For the world at large, expect revolutions and ruses with international cooperation born only out of necessity. Monkey years are always times of natural turmoil, and a green, wooden year portends earthquakes, so watch out! Those December quakes were under the chi of the New Year. Green monkeys are good for business, especially real estate and stocks, and especially in spring. When fall comes, there may be a tremor. For individuals, 4701 will be rich in the unexpected, a year to give full rein to your imagination. Laugh much and often. Kung Hei Fat Choy!
Note: Check out www.chinatownla.com for details of this year’s Dragon parade and other Saturday festivities.
Ants on Trees
Adapted from “The Essential Wok Cookbook”
Eat this any time during the next two weeks. It contains the essential ingredients for a long and happy life – health, wealth, a dash of passion and a hint of sweetness. Its name is a visual metaphor. Apparently, ants in Northern China are pale as sautéed pork and their twigs, thin as noodles. Be sure to have plenty of green and red showing when you serve the dish. They are the holiday’s symbolic colors.
Serves 4
1 tsp. soy or rice flour
2 tbs. soy sauce
4 tbs. rice wine
1 tbs. sesame oil
3/4 pound ground pork
1/4 package cellophane
noodles
2 tbs. peanut oil
6 scallions, whites chopped an
greens shredded
2 cloves garlic
2 tbs. minced ginger
2 tsp. chili bean sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp. honey
Whisk 1 tablespoon each of soy sauce and wine with flour. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil and mix with the pork, using your fingers to break up clumps. Marinate 15 minutes.
Pour boiling water over noodles and soak 4 minutes. Drain.
Heat a wok over high heat and add peanut oil. Cook the onion whites and part of the greens (reserve some for garnish). Add garlic, ginger, chili sauce and stir. Add pork and cook 2 minutes. Stir in the stock, honey, 1/2 teaspoon salt and remaining liquids.
Add noodles and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid is absorbed. Garnish with scallion greens.
Neen-Gow
There are thousands of variations of this simple dish. I found several on the Internet and played, keeping in mind that the balls must be made with sticky rice. This version is lighter than most, but save some to feed the Kitchen God when he returns on Feb. 6.
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1+ cup glutinous rice flour
1/3 cup milk
1 cup pitted dates
1 piece crystallized ginger,
minced
1/2 cup minced walnuts
Grease a loaf pan.
Beat whites till stiff. Cream sugar, butter and yolks until pale. Add half the flour and stir, then add milk and more flour until blended. Stir in fruit and nuts; fold in the whites.
Steam covered for an hour. Cool and slice thin.