How to Cook a Healthy Chinese New Year Dinner
The Chinese New Year celebration lasts for a few days, and cooking is an important part of the festivities. It is a time of renewal and starting over for the coming year. Much of the time is spent visiting the homes of family members, friends and colleagues to renew old friendships or forge new relationships. Banquets and elaborate dinners are prepared in advance to welcome in one of the most important periods in the Chinese lunar calendar.
Here I will offer some advice for preparing healthy Chinese New Year dishes.
Things You'll Need
- Olive oil
- Ginger and garlic
- Bok choy
- Snow peas
- Long beans
- Chinese cabbage
- Steamed chicken
- Salmon
- Lobster
- Crab
- Shrimp
- Wok
Instructions
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Include a healthy vegetable dish consisting of a variety of vegetables such as snow peas, Chinese cabbage, long beans and bok choy in your Chinese New Year dinner. Stir fry the ingredients in a wok using a little olive oil and adding slices of ginger or garlic for additional flavoring.
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Present a meat dish as part of your Chinese New Year menu. Try to avoid oily or greasy meats, for example, duck or pork. It is better to have lean white meat dishes to help reduce cholesterol intake, and thus heart disease risk. A popular chinese meat dish is steamed chicken served with crushed ginger and onion sauce. Chinese cooks will usually slow cook the whole chicken in a steamer pot and chop the cooked meat into small, bite-size portions. To make the ginger and onion sauce, finely chop, then mix several large onions, cloves of garlic and spring onions in a bowl. Add several tablespoons of fine quality olive oil and leave it to stand overnight before serving.
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Include seafood dishes as part of your New Year dinner or banquet. Chinese cooks prefer to pick their own fresh seafood at the local Chinese supermarkets on the day they plan to celebrate. The local Asian markets have a large variety of assorted seafood available, including shrimp and crab, which are favorite New Year dishes. It is healthiest to steam or stir fry the dishes. Tomato king prawns and steamed crab with ginger are perennial Chinese New Year favorites. Steamed or baked fish are healthy, low calorie choices to also include in the menu.
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Serve fruits alongside the main dishes, as decorative pieces and as desserts. Oranges are served at the end of a Chinese meal. It is easy to put together a Chinese fresh fruit salad and serve as a healthy dessert. Use popular Asian fruits such as lychees, mangoes and Myrica rubras.
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Tips & Warnings
Serve healthy, low calorie Chinese fruit drinks or herbal Chinese tea along with the dinner.
Don't forget to give laicee ("lucky money") packets to single members of the dinner party. It is part of the Chinese New Year tradition and signifies luck in finding a spouse.
This article is for entertainment purposes only.
