THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 5, 1997 TAG: 9702040026
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANN WRIGHT, SPECIAL TO FLAVOR
LENGTH: 115 lines
THE PAGEANTRY of lion dances, the bang of firecrackers, and cuisine designed to bring health, happiness and prosperity will usher in the Year of the Ox on Friday.
The Chinese New Year, a celebration so ancient that its traditions precede written history, is a time to honor ancestors, visit family and friends friends, settle debts and clear up misunderstandings. And celebratory dinners are its essence.
``The women cleaned house and cooked for days in preparation for the celebration,'' says Peter Chang, a sociology teacher retired from Norfolk State University who grew up in northern China.
Unlike Thanksgiving, where turkey is the star, Chinese New Year dinners include an astonishing array of dishes that reflect regional differences and family preferences. Duck, chicken, roast pork and seafood arrive in delightful succession. There is usually a vegetarian dish in the Buddhist tradition of ``no life taken.''
Double Happiness Fried Rice and Long Life Noodles are common accompaniments to the multi-course meal. Fish, whose homonym is ``abundance,'' is often the main event. Fresh sea bass served with head and tail intact symbolizes the end and the beginning. It is seasoned with ginger and scallions, steamed, and then fried crispy in peanut oil. Fruits and sweets conclude the feast.
Climates in China range from frigid to semi-tropical, so traditional food differs considerably from province to province. Seasonings vary from the hot and spicy of Szechuan and Hunan to the subtle flavors of Canton.
Freshwater fish are available in some inland areas and saltwater fish and shellfish are native to coastal regions. Wheat and cool-weather vegetables such as cabbage are important elements of the northern diet. Wheat is used in making noodles, pancakes and dumplings. Southeastern China, where rice is the staple, has a long growing season and a tremendous variety of fruits and vegetables.
Chang remembers being struck with the differences in diet. ``The foods are simpler and heartier in the north. I was surprised to see so many different foods the first time I visited the south.''
Grace Wong, a Newport News resident who was born in Macao, remembers leaving a portion of the New Year's Eve fish for the next day so something was always carried over from last year.
For Wong, whose grandmother was a strict Buddhist, New Year's Day was vegetarian. Sweet cakes, made with rice flour, were sliced and steamed or fried for a tasty but sticky treat.
``You can also cook the slices in the microwave with a wet paper towel,'' says Wong. ``The consistency is close to Gummi Bears.''
Communist regimes and the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s dampened the holiday in mainland China, but the tradition is still vibrant in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. Wherever there is a substantial Chinese population or historical Chinese influence, Chinese New Year is observed.
Chinatowns in New York City and San Francisco are packed with visitors for the festivities. Japan and Korea, as well as Viet Nam (where the holiday is known as Tet) and other countries of southeast Asia, celebrate the holiday with their own variations. The festivities last two or three days in most areas before starting to wind down but Hong Kong enjoys a whopping two-week celebration.
Though Christian, Mira Browning's Korean family celebrates the New Year as a traditional holiday, omitting Buddhist references. Beef is a special treat for New Year's because of its dreadful expense in Korea, where agriculture is intensive and little land is available for grazing cattle.
``We would always have fish and beef,'' says Browning, who now owns the Szechuan Garden restaurant at Lynnhaven in Virginia Beach. ``Everyone would dress in bright clothes. Oranges, big oranges, were always associated with the holiday.''
Shewling Wong (no relation to Grace) moved with her family from Hong Kong to Hampton Roads when she was a teen-ager. Her childhood memories of New Year are of careful preparations by the adults and utter joy for the children.
``I remember being somewhat frightened but really excited by the dragon dance and firecrackers in the nighttime,'' says the Virginia Beach resident, who often takes time off from her accounting career to talk to school groups about Chinese culture.
``Since no bad things could be said on New Year's, Chinese children, who normally had to be quiet and well-behaved, could act a little bit mischievous and no one would fuss at them,'' Shewling Wong says.
After the big meal on New Year's Eve (Thursday this year), the food on New Year's Day is more of the nibble variety. Dim Sum, the Chinese equivalent of appetizers, can be sweet or savory and served hot or cold. There are more than 2,000 types of Dim Sum, which roughly translates to ``touches the heart.''
These southeastern China specialties are prepared ahead of time except for final cooking because wielding a knife on New Year's is an invitation to misfortune. Knives could ``cut the luck'' on this auspicious day.
Another tradition is to keep a plaque bearing the name or image of the kitchen god near the stove. This god is privy to the family's activities throughout the year, and at New Year's he flies up to the Jade King and gives an annual report, which the family hopes will be favorable. MEMO: RECIPES, PLUS RESTAURANTS WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE LION DANCE: F4 ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
TAMARA VONINSKI
The Virginian-Pilot
Food styling Kim Wadsworth of Wadsworth Style
Aba Nguygen, the Vietnamese chef at Szechuan Garden at Lynnhaven,
prepared this spread of Whole Fish Szechuan/Hunan Style; Happiness
Noodles with vegetables, jumbo shrimp, scallops and sea legs (upper
right); and Chines Roast Beef with Broccoli.
Fruit and candy and flowers are offerings placed at feet of the
Happy Buddha. The red envelopes contain lucky money.
MORE TRADITIONS
Giving candy and lucky money is another New Year tradition.
Lucky money is cash presented in special red envelopes to children,
single people and employees by parents, married people and bosses.
Candied lotus root and seeds, ginger, coconut and winter melon
are served with tea to friends and family who come to visit on New
Year's Day.
Red envelopes for lucky money, banners, candy and other symbols
of good luck are available at Asian markets in Hampton Roads.
- Ann Wright