Our Spring Festival celebration has gotten off to a fabulous start! We spent Friday with our dear friends dressing up in our Chinese silks and makings lots and lots of jiaozi! I mixed up chicken, turkey, and beef fillings. The turkey was definitely the favorite - it was mixed with Chinese cabbage and hen hao chi (literally meaning " very good eat"). If you are looking for some amazing jiaozi recipes, I highly recommend the cookbook, Asian Dumplings. You won't be disappointed! We did attempt to make our own dumpling wrappers but I gotta say, it's not my favorite thing. Sweetie was able to do something with the dough when she came home from school, but we ended up with wrappers that were a bit too thick. I think I'm sticking with the pre-made ones from the Asian market from now on, ha!
For dinner on Saturday night, I made my most favorite Chinese dish, Kung Pao Chicken. I had never made it before, but I am thrilled with how it turned out! I followed the recipe from RasaMalaysia exactly, except for adding thinly sliced carrots. Even Sweetie had only good things to say, she loved it! I also picked up a couple pork and salted egg-stuffed zong zi (a traditional dish served during Dragon Boat Festival, but available all year). Yum.
I'm really loving your posts on all things Chinese Heritage!
ReplyDeleteThanks Meg, I am so glad!! I still have more to come! It's been really fun delving into Chinese culture more, I'm just loving it!
DeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteI found your blog from Ni hao Yall and have really enjoyed reading over it. I am the sister of four, two bio and two adopted from DR Congo in 2012. Id love for you to follow my blog! It's http://brittanysworld-adopt.blogspot.com/.
Blessings!
Brittany
Brittany, thank you so much for your sweet comment! Heading over to your blog now. Blessings to you!
DeleteOh my - all that looks so delicious. Thanks for the cookbook recommendation we have been experimenting and need some help ;)
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed reading back through all your blog posts celebrating China. I have done new ideas for our family , thanks do much for sharing.
Ally
Some new ideas - not done new ideas ... Auto correct .. Can't live with it ... Can't live without it !!
DeleteThanks! It was absolutely delicious!! So yummy! And definitely go for that dumpling book. It gives a lot of explanations too ... maybe I'll try making my own dough again but for now, the store-bought wrappers will do just fine :)
DeleteThe Kung Po Chicken look amazing! Looks like you had a lot of fun celebrating. Happy Chinese New Year!
ReplyDeleteI'm really just starting to get into Chinese cooking, but based on our exchange student's reaction, I'd say the Kung Pao was a hit! I've made a few other dishes that were too sweet, but she loved this one for sure. It was easily the most favorite Chinese dish I've experimented with, but quite spicy (depending on how many chiles you add in). Let me know if you make it!!
DeleteThanks for the cookbook recommendation. You provide a wealth of information for us soon to be adoptive mom!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your sweet message Chrystal! I'm glad to be of some help! It's been a lot of fun incorporating our daughter's Chinese heritage into our family traditions. All of the kids love it too! They have been singing Chinese songs and eating dumplings like they're going out of style. How far along are you in your adoption process?
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