My Chinese New Year Feast
What a way to begin The Year of the Snake 🐍
Welcome back and Happy CNY of the Snake 🐍 🎇
Over in this part of the globe Chinese New Year (CNY) is a big deal.
On mainland China businesses close upwards of 1 week and people return to their hometowns to spend time with family.
On HK the official CNY holiday is much shorter, approx 3 days. From a restaurant perspective this makes logistics a bit challenging since all vendors shut down operations for 3+ days, which means your ordering needs to be done in advance.
Last year I spent CNY in the North part of China for year of the Dragon and was taught how to make some delicious northern style dumplings which you can read about below
This year I was invited by some friends to a family feast. The host is a retired artist who splits time between HK and Japan now. He bought a plot of land decades ago in the northern part of HK and built out a Japanese style compound that is surrounded by adjoining family living quarters with a network of ponds that contain coi fish and turtles, in the center of the property is a long dining room for entertaining.
It was a very impressive design with intentionality for people to be able to take quiet times but also congregate for large family meals.
Outside the living areas are sections where the property manager raises quail and goats. It was a fascinating and beautiful property that is hidden away… a real gem.
When we arrived I found out there would be 22 guests total and since Chinese cuisine is so centered around family-style dining I was excited to see how the meal would unfold.
The property has a standalone kitchen that is just across from the main dining room at the center. There was a variety of woks, steamers, stoves and fryers that were all in full use with about 4 kitchen staff furiously working away.
I was told the host spent years training his staff and getting help from other chinese cooks to get his preffered recipes dialed in. The host was from northern China so most of the recipes we had for the meal were Beijing or Northern derived recipes.
A quick snapshot while people were still arriving
Disclaimer: I wasn’t able to capture shots of all the dishes that came out of the kitchen. Some of this was due to sheer volume and eating… that led to a food coma 😂
The first dish that came out was a soy-enriched soup of chicken leg with fork tender pork belly skin and a quail egg.
A cucumber salad with white fungus mushroom and sesame was crisp and refreshing.
Woodear mushroom (one of my faves) with tofu had a very savory dressing and pockets of tofu skin with a filling that were then fried (very tasty).
A quinoa salad that reminded me of tabbouleh was not traditional but refreshing and had nice acid.
As the host began ladling another soup broth more bites came out.
Spring rolls so crisp and light they shattered at the first bite and a green salad with avocado and tomato which I think was definitely not traditional but had a tasty sesame dressing.
This was followed by a gigantic Norwegian King Crab that looked so good 🤤
The crab was simply steamed. nothing else. The cooks nailed the steaming of the crab it was like butter.
Felt slightly embarrassed that the host insisted on serving me first on most of these dishes and was a great honor. He gave me the cavity of the crab containing all of the roe and juices from the crab steaming. I ate it simply with a spoon and I have to say this is some of the best King Crab I can ever remember having, stacking up to some **-*** Michelin places.
There was a sauce served on the side but I didn’t even touch it. This crab was cooked perfectly and the ocean water it was harvested from provided all the natural seasoning necessary.
Really fantastic.
Following was a delicious simple fried chicken that I only got a blurry photo of because it was getting swiped up so quickly 😂
More chicken came, in the form of the legendary Hainese style chicken. This chicken was lightly poached in aromatics and served with the 3 traditional dipping sauces: sweet chili, ginger scallion, and a reduced soy sauce.
The rice served alongside was cooked with the juices and poaching liquid from the chicken.
Another top notch offering. I’ve had this dish many times. many people say the rice is more important than the chicken as a judge of a cooks skills. Both were exemplary.
At this point I was getting full. Upon hearing me tell my friend this, the host told me “oh we’re only 40% of the way through”
“wuuut?” 😂
Abalone and shiitake mushroom followed. I loved the traditional presentation with the broccoli and carrot “hearts”. Abalone is expensive and can be hard to find in the US. Since relocating to HK I’ve been able to eat this delicacy fairly frequently which I’m not upset about.
The glaze and mushrooms were well seasoned. I found the abalone a bit on the firm side but overall it was a nice dish. The texture may have been a preference of the host and I wasn’t about to ask.
Next we got more tableside fire action.
A Beijing style lamb dry pot. The host was very proud of serving this dish up. Northern chinese cuisine has a very different taste than traditional Cantonese cuisine you find in the southern Guangdong region (incl HK).
I couldn’t even tell all the ingredients present, there were some crunchy green vegetables, what appeared to be mushroom and the thinly sliced lamb which I think was marinated in a very savory seasoning blend.
The lamb tasted almost sweet (I was later told the lamb was processed and butchered that morning) and the seasonings and preparation were new for me to try. I was grateful and delighted to try.
Served alongside was a vegetable I was told you can’t get in HK, “water celery” if I remember correctly. They had these brought in from Mainland specifically to enjoy with the CNY feast. The texture on these was great, I like crunch, a little sweet and salty with hint of green vegetal flavor.
As it was CNY people brought some fine wines to enjoy with their meal. Snapped a picture of a few. Most of the elderly family members were drinking either Baijou (the high proof rice “wine” that’s more like nail polish on steriods 😂 ), or plum wine.
The host and wine enthusiasts brought some nice selections shown below and also an Armagnac from 1965.
Please remember that I was completely full by this point and the food just kept coming.
2 more varities of steamed fish with sauces and aromatics topping that were simply fantastic. The host has a specific contact at the local wet market and the seafood quality all night was top notch.
This reminded me of how much I love steamed fish and think this a very under appreciated yet simple technique that people could use at home more in the West.
Guess what?
More lamb!
This time the lamb was braised until tender then flash fried until crackling crispy on the outside. The fat rendered beautifully and thankfully there was a black vinegar based seasoning sauce to drizzle over to balance the richness.
After the lamb was served, then the remaining bones from the carcass had been deep fried and sent out. Think of these as lamb lollipops with a crisp outside and buttery interior that you dunk in that vinegary sauce.
After that, a hollowed bread preparation came out that was served with a melange of sweet and sour wok-fried vegetables.
This was one of the most interesting dishes of the night. The bread is specific to Northern china. It’s like a phyllo dough in the center but the outside is like a sesame hoagie roll. I really loved this and when I asked, it was confirmed the host spent lots of time training the staff to make this bread to his standards and memories.
I could have eaten 8 of these, but alas only stuffed down a few bites.
Nope, not finished.
They saved the most “special” fish for the end. The Shad fish is respected and revered in the home region of the host. The fish was fried until the exterior skin made a literal crackling crust (think chicharron). This fish is notorious for having millions of tiny pin bones in it so some people really practice to get as much flesh out from the bones as possible; others just don’t bother and skip it 😂
The flesh was delicious (albeit hard work isolating away the millions of bones) and the skin was like glass. Another dipping sauce served.
There was still more food coming out… next was a giant steamed lobster that was served over linguine noodles in a white sauce that is very popular at the HK seafood markets.
It was delicious. I had a few bites. I wanted to have more but my humane limitations didn’t allow.
Then came out all the fruits: Strawberries, Tangerines, Cherries, Japanese Grapes… it didnt stop.
Alas… I was beyond taking pictures at this point 😂
The evening finished with all the married couples and elders handing out the treasured red envelopes 🧧 “Lai See” that promises good fortune and an auspicious year ahead.
While there are a few cuisines that come to mind which are based around sharing dishes and lengthy meals, I think that Chinese culture and cuisine capture this spirit in a very singular way.
There was a lot of Cantonese being spoken but you didn’t need to understand everything being said between the family members. The atmosphere was full of love and respect for all at the table.
Towards the end of the meal one of the uncles after many glasses of red wine and Baijou launched into a comedic and entertaining diatribe about the differences between men and women, and what women look for in men. The translations I got generated many chuckles from myself.
Following dinner the big screen TV which had been hidden in the dining room turned into a full karaoke screen with a DJ booth and people started singing their hearts out.
I conveyed to my friends how I honored I was and what an incredibly meaningful time it was for me personally to be able to share in the festivities. I was treated so kindly, respectfully and honorably by people who for all intents and purposes were complete strangers.
Happy Chinese New Year of the Snake to you and yours!
Stay tuned for some Hong Kong comfort food recipes and restaurant reviews from where I’m eating around now.
Looks like an amazing time. Just curious, do you bring anything as a guest, like American culture? If yes, what do/did you bring?
Sounds like food and sensory overload. What an honor to be invited.