I would love to be cooking Chinese tonight but I'm doing Italian for Valentine's Day. Shrimp Scampi to start, Veal Parmesan, homemade pasta with a tomato caper sauce and Prosseco in the hot tub for desert ; )

I'll do Chinese later this week.

What's everyone else having for dinner?

Gung hay fat choi!

We're having whatever we pick up at Costco, no big special day for us, we're boring....but I hope its a special day for everyone else who cares.

Chicken Spedini for lunch, home-made pizza for dinner. Orange Layer Cake for dessert, but only the smallest piece! Later on in the week, I'm trying Pork Stuffed Egg Dumplings.

Happiest of Holidays to you all!

oooh claire...tell me more about the Pork Stuffed Egg Dumplings.

Chase, I got it wrong. It's Egg Wrapped Chicken Dumplings. I saw them do it on an episode of Ruth Reichl's Gourmet Adventures with Ruth. They made it look so easy, I thought I'd like to try it.

Egg Wrapped Chicken Dumplings
Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth: Season One: Yangshuo Cooking School, Yangshuo China
Makes12 small dumplings
Active time:20 min
Start to finish:20 min

 3 oz ground chicken
 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
 1 small (1- to 2-inch) pickled red chile, finely chopped, including seeds
 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
 1/4 teaspoon salt
 2 duck eggs or 2 jumbo chicken eggs
 2 tablespoons peanut oil
 Stir together chicken, mint, chile, oyster sauce, and salt in a small bowl. Divide into 12 portions (about 2 teaspoons each) and form each into a lozenge shape.
 Beat eggs with chopsticks or a fork in another small bowl until uniform in color.
 Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over medium heat until it shimmers. Spoon a scant tablespoon egg into middle of oil and when edges begin to set, 5 to 10 seconds, put about one portion of chicken filling in middle. Immediately fold egg over filling to form a half-moon and push dumpling up a side of wok above oil to brown on both sides, turning over once, about 1 minute. Transfer to a plate (filling will not be fully cooked). Make more dumplings in same manner adding more oil as necessary.
 Once all dumplings are made, put dumplings back in wok. Add ¼ cup water, then cover wok and steam dumplings, turning them over every minute, until chicken filling is cooked through and water has evaporated, about 3 minutes total.

Oh yum! I'd do it with pork though so that was a good slip on your part.

I love Chinese dumplings and those sound good. Mind you I have no idea where to find pickled red chiles.....but the resident wuss would't be happy with that anyway.

Happy Valentines and New Year to all!

Dinner was at home this evening, and after a very busy day I roasted a standing, bakes some salted coated potatoes, and asparagus. Some creamy horseradish sauce, topping for the potaotes, went along. And while the meat roasted I used up some leftover rice and made a baked rice pudding. I am stuffed.

I'm here alone and Elery had already tried the Valentine's Dinner That Failed on Wednesday. Well, it didn't fail but it got interrupted/eaten by Ashley and Company, LOL.

So, he's at his place, I'm at mine, he worked 12 hours. Cooper is happy with a rawhide chewy, I'm having Diet Coke and hummus with celery for dinner right now.

I don't celebrate Chinese New Year either!

Annie

Thank you! And right back at you Al: Happy New Year and Happy Valentines!! :o)

Since the New Year is our major holiday, I've been concentrating on that only. Then,... The night before, I started feeling cold and yucky. Got a bad cold with running tears and nose. Sigh... couldn't go to my family gatherings and had to stay at home alone.

What a bad way to start the year... so I thought. This morning, I got a call from a couple of friends. They brought over some noodle soup (pho) for my cold. They continued their visit for several hours and had lunch with me. It sure cheered me up.

And then, after they left, my American neighbors brought over some home bbq briskets and wished me a Happy Valentine's day. Wow... what a nice and sweet surprise day after all. It turned out to be a great New Year Day. I'm a happy gal!

In joining Al, I'd like to share with you what I made for our New Year. Traditionally, there are certain food that are just about a must to have: the rice cake, watermelon and citrus fruits. And here's the one I made, it's sweet rice fills with tropical type bananas wrapped in banana leaves. Unlike the type of bananas at the regular US supermarkets, these bananas will turn red when cooked.

Ntt, glad to hear it's a good day for you after all.

Holycow, did you make all that? For someone who's sick you sure can work! What do you call these banana dumplings? You didn't mean to celebrate Valentine's Day but the banana treats you made look as Valentines as they could be, so pink and beautiful. A banana that turns red when cooked, how fun is that?!

I have dried bamboo and lotus leafs but not banana leafs. I have seen frozen banana leafs at the Asian market but I never know what to do with them.

Al

"Posted by ntt_hou ------ Thank you! And right back at you Al: Happy New Year and Happy Valentines!! :o) ----"

Happy New year and Valentine's Day to you and to all!

Those rice/bannana wraps will last you a loooooonnnng time!
I assume you used sticky rice, which is very filling.

dcarch

Al, actually, I made those a few weeks ago before I got sick. Like Dcarch mentioned, those lasts a loooong time!

Back during the prehistoric time when refrigerators weren't around yet, many of our New Year food were made in a way that it wouldn't spoil and lasted as long as they could. The rice cakes, when done right, would lasted for weeks without refrigerating. Many New Year food were made a week or 2 in advance. This way, food were always ready for unexpected visits of family and friends during this busiest time of the year.

My family has lots of memories making rice cakes. Because of its looong period of cooking (6-8 hrs.), when we were little, we would all begging my mom to let us stay up at night to keep on the watch for the fire. When we made rice cake back in Vietnam, we didn't just made a few. We would make at least 40-50 to give out as gifts. A gigantic pot was a must in order to boil that many rice cakes. That means, an outside camp fire was needed to accomodate this gigantic pot. Someone would have to stay up to keep the fire going. It was like sitting around a camp fire and chit chatting, telling ghost stories and having a good laugh.

In case you were wondering why we didn't cook them during the day, that was because it took all day to prepare and wrap those rice cakes. By the time they were all done, evening approached.

What I love about our New Year vs. Christmas is the gifts. Our New Year gifts are mostly consisted of food, fruits and flowers/plants. LOL.... It's hard to disappoint anyone with these gifts, don't you agree?

Al, when fresh banana leaves are not available, we would use frozen banana leaves as you've seen in the market. Banana leaves are used to wrap food for steaming and other methods of cooking. Especially on rice flour and sweet rice, when wrapped with banana leaves, a wonderful scent and flavor from the leaves are soaked into the food. The leaves also give out a beatiful light green color. On my rice cakes above, the color was pale because the leaves were kept frozen before using.

Next time, when you make Lo Mai Gai, try to wrap them in banana leaves instead of lotus leaves. Don't forget to wash the banana leaves prior of using them. Also, they can be fragile and you may need to use 2-3 layer of leaves. Cut or tear them at about the same size as the lotus leaves. When you stack them up, stack the leaf in opposite direction as the previous leaf to prevent from breakage.

Let us know which leaf you'd like better.

Ntt, thanks for sharing your experience and wonderful childhood memories. It must be great to be able to spend special time with friends and families watch over open fire all night long.

I would like to try banana leafs. Do they need to be frozen all the time? How do I thaw them out? Once thawed, do I have to use them immediately or can I keep them in the fridge for future use?

Al

ntt, those red bananas are beautiful and I agree on the gifts, I'd far rather get food gifts from friends and family than another bottle of hand loation or whatever.

Annie

Wow, ntt, those look delicious. I love that red color. I've been home with a sick kid for what feels like forever, so nothing special for us. I'd love to try those dumplings though! What a great gift.

AM

Thanks everyone.

Al, you can thaw the banana leaves in the fridge. If you need them quicker, just soak them in cool water and the leaves will come apart. Yes, you can refrigerate or refreeze unused leaves.

I would thaw them all with a good soak, wash them thoroughly in cool water, then refreeze usused leaves.

Thank ntt! I will pick some up when I go to the Asian store next time. Hubby will be very happy if I am willing to make some more Lo Mai Gai. :-) Al