Dumplings in celebration of Chinese New Year.
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Clay pot rice 
is always one of things I miss the most from my HK visits, and I’ve never found any of the Chinese restaurants near me able to replicate this same taste. I need to try this at home too!
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Mmmmm, yes I even love walking by these restaurants because you can smell the charcoal stoves and the rice cooking outside. 
. The only “bad” part is waiting for it to finish and get that nice chatted rice at the bottom. 
More flower rolls 'cause these are just so much fun to make! This time, for lunch with hot ginger/scallion spiked chicken broth.
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And they are so pretty too.
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I made Sour and Spicy Sweet-Potato Noodles (Suan La Fen) last night. It was delicious! My only changes were no fried egg and I didn’t have Sichuan green pepper oil – but it was PLENTY spicy without it. I got out my ingredients, prepped my baby bok choy and washed my cilantro during a short break from work during the afternoon. Then I built my sauce in my bowl, did a mise of toppings (cilantro, chopped yacai and roasted soy nuts) and put the broth on to simmer while I had a much-needed TGIF cocktail. When I was ready, dinner came together in 10 minutes. I used more of the broth than the recipe called for so you can’t really see the toppings very well. Will do again with slightly less noodles and more bok choy. Yu choy would be ideal but it’s not available around here, at least in the winter. If you like this type of thing it is well worth acquiring the ingredients!
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My first ever attempt at a nian gao (年糕), a traditional steamed ‘cake’ for Chinese New Year. I haven’t eaten it yet, so not sure if it tastes as expected. It’s made from sweet rice/glutinous rice flour, so it has a chewy sticky texture, and is usually flavored with brown sugar. To eat, you cut the cake into small, thin pieces that are pan fried with a light egg coating. Will find out tomorrow morning if it’s good. 
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Yum that looks good! I love any type of spicy noodle soup. Thank you for the link to the recipe; I really want to give this a try. That looks like an impressive about of chili oil in that bowl 
Do you think the peanuts/soy nuts add much? I don’t know what I think yet about the tendency to add these fried peanuts and soy nuts in the various regional noodle soup dishes (river snail noodles, ‘crossing the bridge’ noodles, etc). I appreciate trying to add the textural layers, but I find them hit or miss.
I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about the soy nuts but I really liked them when they were crunchy. They got soggy halfway through and then I was just OK with them. For me the 3T of chili oil was perfect but I somewhat overdid the ground Sichuan peppercorns. My lips and mouth were tingling a long time!!!
That looks great! Thanks for the recipe link.
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Tried a new-to-me recipe from Land of Plenty tonight - rabbit with peanuts in hot bean sauce (hua ren ban tu ding). I didn’t have rabbit, so I subbed pork shoulder cubes, braised until tender in some pork stock I had in the freezer. The recipe is quite simple - you just toss cooked rabbit, scallions and roasted peanuts in a sauce of sautéed chili bean paste, fermented black beans, peanut oil, sesame oil, soy sauce and a pinch of sugar. Optional add ins are chili oil and Sichuan peppercorns.
As I was making the sauce it seemed too dry to really coat the meat, so I added some of the stock from the pork braise and allowed it to reduce a bit. It was delicious but VERY salty - might have been the stock, or the fact that you’re supposed to eat it with rice and we didn’t. Still, I’d make it again, but would make sure any stock I added had NO salt! Served with sautéed cabbage with ginger, garlic, scallions and cilantro.
BTW, I didn’t add the optional chili oil and it wasn’t spicy at all. However, I did garnish my serving with some freshly ground Sichuan peppercorns from Mala market and DAMN were they potent. Excellent supplier. Thanks @GretchenS for the tip!
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Oh no, Wok with Yan was Canadian TV-chef, Stephen Yan - he’s not related to Yan Can Cook’s Martin Yan, who’s American.
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Dried bamboo shoots I sent back from China many years ago! Still have a very strong smell. They need to be rehydrated before braising.
Belly pork is a popular cut of meat for this dish. Not sure what seasoning and spices are used in this particular braise. I used some tamari and my home-made chilli sauce.
This is the sauce
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Oh! I only am familiar with Stephen Yan! Thanks for clearing that up!
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For new year, made Lok Ba Ko, turnip cake. Tried several times in the past from various recipes, the result this time is the best. Good equilibrium between Chinese turnip and other ingredients.
Turnip was grated and cooked in medium heat 10 minutes with a cup of water in a wok. Collect the water if any left at the end of cooking, added it with a cup of water to mix with the rice flour, corn starch, salt, pepper and sugar. Stir fried the diced dried shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimps, Chinese sausages for a few minutes, added scallions at the end of cooking.
Integrated the stir-fried ingredients into the turnip mixture and poured into a deep dish and steamed for 50 minutes. Let the dish cooled down for at least 30 minutes or longer before slicing them up for pan fried both side before serving. Next time will use the pound cake mold to make larger slice.
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naf, that turnip cake looks divine! I love those I buy at my neighborhood dim sum places. I have, in fact, used them as a base for dinner party starter with mesclun, prawns or boudin, and vinaigrette. Wrong, I understand, but delicious and always enjoyed.
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Thanks. Interesting as a starter base, haven’t thought of that! Lucky you can buy them easily.
