Many years ago, I met some students from China who told me about the tradition of making dumplings for Chinese New Year. It’s a whole day affair when family members reunite to make the dumplings and to catch up.
When we were thinking of what to do for our pre-Chinese New Year gathering with friends this year, I suggested making dumplings. I found a recipe online for steamed dumplings and Jo found one for boiled dumplings. We decided to go for boiled dumplings, because it would take longer to steam a large quantity of dumplings.
I would say that most people would think that it’s a crazy idea to make dumplings from scratch, when you can get them ready-made in the supermarkets. But then Chinese New Year is all about tradition and details. I joined the crowds to get new notes for ang pows, I went looking for gold ingot decorative pieces, I braved the queues in the supermarkets, I went to choose Mandarin oranges…
Suzie planned ahead and made a fruit jelly with a snake made from peach slices. Suzie is very talented and is an artist at heart. We had to have snakes because we are welcoming the year of the snake. Kathleen is another very talented person. She made the snake themed yusheng for the lohei. Mariah dyed some radish red, because we only had green radish.
I made the dumpling filling early to avoid the crowd in the kitchen. The main ingredients were: minced pork, garlic, kai lan, ginger and chives. The seasonings were: soya sauce and sesame oil. The ingredients for the dipping sauce were: rice vinegar, soya sauce and chili oil. The dumpling skins were made of water and flour.
Dumpling-making requires good planning and teamwork. Jo and Henika did an excellent job with the dumpling skins. Therese helped with the wrapping. This is a labour intensive dish!
Boiling the dumplings was a good idea because the dumplings cooked fast. We started dinner preparations at 3pm and dinner was ready by 7.45pm.
Kate, who is a Korean student who joined us for dinner, was happy with the dumplings, because dumplings are also common in Korea. The Lunar New Year is also celebrated in Korea, but the traditional food is rice cake soup. The coin-shaped rice cakes in broth symbolise long life and wealth.
Wishing you a Happy Lunar New Year.
By Chayo, HomSkil Editor 1, 27 January 2025
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