Lunar New Year Edition

Welcome to the Lunar New Year edition of Kiki’s! 

This edition features a few of my family’s most treasured recipes. While these are not traditionally made to celebrate Lunar New Year, they are recipes my family has made to celebrate nearly every holiday and family gathering since before I was born. They come from my wonderfully talented grandparents who immigrated to the United States from China in 1953 and 1955  - and are two of the very best cooks I know. I hope you enjoy! 

Mantou (Chinese Steamed Buns)

Ingredients

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your hands to form a shaggy ball 

   

2. Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth (Papa says to knead “a couple hundred times”)

3. Return dough ball to mixing bowl and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Place in a warm place for at least 4 hours (or until at least doubles in size)

4. Form balls by ripping off pieces of dough - slightly larger than a golf ball 

5. Flatten the small dough ball with the palm of your hand then roll it between your palms until it forms a ball again. Repeat this a few times with each ball 

   

6. Cover dough balls with damp kitchen towel and allow to rise again for 20 minutes

7. When done with second rise, steam for 15-20 minutes 

   

8. Serve warm! We typically eat these sliced in half in sandwich form with Popo’s pulled pork but enjoy as you would any bun. They’re great the next morning with peanut butter :) 

9. These freeze wonderfully, too!

Cong you bing (scallion pancakes) – or “bing” in the Chen family

Ingredients

• 4 cups all purpose flour (plus more for dusting your work surface)

• 1 ⅔ cups water 

• Two bunches of green onions 

• Salt 

• Sesame oil (get this one if you can)

• Neutral oil for frying 

1. Microwave 1 and ⅔ cup water in a pyrex for three minutes (or until boiling)

2. Spoon and level four cups of flour in a food processor. With food processor running, pour hot water into flour and let run until dough forms 

   

3. Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth (~100 kneads). Cover dough with a wet kitchen towel while you prep green onions. 

   

4. Wash, dry and thinly slice green onions (both white and green parts) and set aside in a bowl 

5. Divide dough into 9 roughly equal balls and cover all but one with a wet kitchen towel (to keep dough from drying out while you’re working)

   

6. Roll dough ball out with a rolling pin as thin as you can (while still being able to pick dough up without it sticking/ripping)

   

7. Sprinkle ½ tsp salt and gently pat/rub into dough with your hands to evenly disperse 

   

8. Drizzle 1 scant tsp sesame oil over top and spread/distribute evenly with your fingers 

   

9. Grab a small handful of green onions and sprinkle evenly overtop 

   

10. Starting at one end, roll into a single log 

    

11. Fold ends over each other, forming a pretzel shape

    

12. Flatten pretzel with the palm of your hand and then roll out thin (but again make sure you can still pick it up without ripping) - flouring as needed 

    

13. Cover the bottom of a fry pan with oil and heat on medium-high heat until shimmering 

    

14. Dip one side of the pancake into the oil to completely cover one side, and then flip over and place into pan 

    

15. Cook until golden brown on both sides 

    

16. Remove from heat and place on a cooling rack or paper towel lined plate to cool

    

17. When cool enough to handle, slice and enjoy warm!  

18. One of my favorite restaurants in Brooklyn, Win Son, serves breakfast sandwiches on scallion pancakes! 

This is my favorite edition to date, and I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

Please let me know if you liked this kind of content. There is a lot more I would love to share (Popo’s pulled pork and dad’s fried rice to name a few)!

It means so much to me to hear about recipes you’re trying at home. Thank you so much for being here! 

Happy Lunar New Year! 

Christina