Chinese New Year 2024 : 8 recipes from the 8 regional cuisines of China

Food performs a significant position in Chinese New Year celebrations, with most dishes symbolising luck, prosperity and new beginnings.

With the Year of the Dragon simply round the nook, ensure that there’s one thing for everybody at your dinner desk with these recipes from celeb chef Jeremy Pang and scientist-turned-cook Philippa Middlehurst, AKA Pippy Eats.

In collaboration with Chinese sauce model Lee Kum Kee, the recipes take you on a journey throughout the eight regional cuisines of China, from Zhejiang (match for an emperor) to Cantonese (common at native meals stalls), all from the consolation of your individual kitchen.

Four-joy veggie meatballs (Shangdong delicacies)

The authentic recipe for four-joy meatballs is one of the oldest in the world, with meatballs symbolising luck, fortune, prosperity and happiness.

This vegan model is finest served with Lee Kum Kee’s Oriental Sesame Soy Sauce – a mix of gentle soy sauce, aged vinegar, garlic, chilli and sesame oil, making a wealthy savoury, fragrant, tangy dressing paired completely with rice. It’s a real testomony to Shandong delicacies – the first in China – which represents the traditions of historic northern China and was a necessary half of imperial banquets.

Ingredients:

For the veggie balls:

460g five-spice tofu

100g water chestnuts (1 tin), finely diced

1 pack tenderstem broccoli

2 spring onions

6 tbsp panko breadcrumbs

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Light Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Char Siu Sauce

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Sesame Wok Oil

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp cornflour

Sauce combine:

2 tbsp gentle brown sugar

2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Light Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Mushroom Vegetarian Stir-Fry sauce

1 tbsp water

200ml water

1 tbsp grated ginger

Slurry:

1 tbsp water

1 tsp cornflour

Method:

1. Add the tofu, ginger, spring onion, Light Soy Sauce and Char Siu Sauce to a blender and whizz as much as type a thick paste. Add to a mixing bowl and fold by way of the finely diced water chestnuts. Add the panko breadcrumbs and cornflour. Stir properly to mix.

2. With moist fingers, type the combination into eight massive balls and set on a greaseproof lined sheet. Place in the fridge for not less than an hour to agency up.

3. Oven bake on a greaseproof lined baking tray at 200C for half-hour, turning often.

4. Steam the broccoli for 5 minutes till al dente however nonetheless inexperienced. Strain in a colander and put aside.

5. In a non-stick frying pan, warmth a tablespoon of Sesame Wok Oil. Add the ginger and fry for 30 seconds till aromatic. Add sauce combine and stir properly to mix. Add 200ml water and convey to a gentle simmer.

6. Mix the cornflour with a tablespoon of water and stir to dissolve. Add the slurry to the sauce till thicken.

7. Add the meatballs to the sauce and gently flip till the meatballs are simply warmed by way of.

8. Plate broccoli round a serving plate and place meatballs in the center, then serve with Oriental Sesame Soy Sauce.

Vegan Fujian fried rice (Fujian delicacies)

This particular rice dish is cooked with Lee Kum Kee’s Mushroom Vegetarian Stir Fry Sauce, a veggie various to its oyster sauce, reaching an identical texture and look. Its gravy-like texture works properly in Fujian delicacies, which regularly options soups and dishes wealthy in sauces, with simmering and stewing being the the most celebrated cooking strategies.

Ingredients:

250g pre-cooked rice or ready-to-use microwave rice from pouch

3 dried shiitake mushrooms

2 spring onions, julienned

1 courgette, diced into cubes

1 lengthy aubergine, or common aubergine, minimize into 2cm x 1cm rounds

½ celeriac, minimize into ½cm by 2cm strips

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Sesame Wok Oil

1 tsp grated ginger

1 clove garlic, grated

Sauce combine:

2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Mushroom Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Light Soy Sauce

1 tsp gentle brown sugar

120ml water

Garnish:

Served with dollop of Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Chilli Oil

1 spring onion, finely sliced

Method:

1. Cross hatch the high and backside of aubergine rounds, to resemble scallops. Cut the celeriac to resemble squid. Slice the rehydrated shiitake mushrooms. Dice the courgette.

2. Heat the sesame wok oil in a heavy primarily based frying pan over a medium excessive, warmth and fry the garlic and ginger for one minute till aromatic.

3. Add the aubergine rounds and fry the cross hatched high for 1-2 minutes till golden, then flip and fry the different aspect. Remove and put aside.

4. Add the celeriac and fry till golden. Remove and put aside.

5. Add sauce combine and convey to a delicate simmer. Put the aubergine and celeriac again into the sauce and toss to coat. Add the courgette and cook dinner for an extra minute. Set apart.

6. In a separate non-stick frying pan, warmth two tablespoons sesame wok oil over a medium excessive warmth. Add the rice and break aside any clumps. Add the sliced shiitake and courgette and hold shifting the rice for 2-3 minutes till the courgette is cooked by way of. Season with a pinch of salt.

7. Top the rice with the braised aubergine and celeriac sauce. Top with finely sliced spring onion and a dollop of chiu chow chilli oil.

Mala beef (Sichuan delicacies)

Sichuan is notoriously humid in the winter and scorching in the summer season. To counteract soggy climate, the Sichuanese traditionally spiked their food regimen with warming meals like ginger and Sichuan pepper. This dish options Lee Kum Kee’s Sichuan Style Hot and Spicy Stir-fry Sauce, which is described as “everything in Sichuan in a jar”, with its distinct aroma and style that creates a delicate mouth-numbing expertise. The finish result’s a wealthy beef sure to be the centre of any celebratory unfold.

Ingredients:

180g flank steak/skirt steak, sliced into strips

½ carrot, julienned

½ white onion, thinly sliced

2 spring onions, julienned

2 cloves garlic, sliced

Thumb-size piece of ginger, julienned

1 tsp Lee Kum Kee Sesame Wok Oil

1 tsp freshly floor Sichuan peppercorn

Sauce combine:

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Sichuan Style Hot and Spicy Stir-Fry Sauce

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Hot Chilli Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Pure Sesame Oil

2 tsp gentle brown sugar

Garnish:

2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Substitute: No steak? Vegetarian? Try soya chunks as an alternative.

Method:

1. Heat a wok over a excessive warmth and add Sesame Wok Oil. Add beef strips and brown for 2-3 minutes. Remove the beef and put aside.

2. Add the ginger and garlic to the wok and fry for one minute. Add sauce combine. Add the white onion and carrot. Cook for 1-2 minutes.

3. Add the beef again into the sauce and add the spring onions. Add sesame wok oil and floor Sichuan peppercorn. Cook for an extra 30 seconds then take away from the warmth and serve. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.

Sweet and bitter “squirrel squid” (Jiangsu delicacies)

Jiangsu delicacies boasts strictly chosen substances, beautiful workmanship, and wealthy tradition, with contemporary seafood being one of the principal options.

The Lee Kum Kee Seasoned Rice Vinegar – made from genuine Zhenjiang vinegar (Zhenjiang being a metropolis in Jiangsu Province) – creates a barely bitter flavour paired with a mix of candy, tangy and smoky notes. This dish references one of the well-known dishes in Jiangsu delicacies – squirrel Mandarin fish – however comes now with a twist.

Ingredients:

250g ready complete squid

2 spring onions, julienned

½ purple onion, sliced

½ yellow pepper, julienned

½ purple pepper, julienned

1 clove garlic

2 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Pinch salt

Sauce combine:

4 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Seasoned Rice Vinegar

4 tbsp hen inventory (or water)

2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Light Soy Sauce

2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Chilli Garlic Sauce

2 tbsp gentle brown sugar

1 tbsp ketchup

1 tsp cornflour

Substitute: No squid? Vegetarian? Try oyster mushroom as an alternative.

Method:

1. Prepare the squid by scoring in a 1cm cross hatch – ensure to not go all the method by way of. Once minimize, minimize every fillet into six items.

2. Combine sauce combine in a jug. Set apart.

3. Add cornflour and salt in a shallow bowl. Add the squid items and gently toss to coat.

4. Fill a heavy primarily based frying pan/pot with round 2cm deep of vegetable oil and warmth to 180C.

5. Shallow fry the squid in the scorching oil. Once turn into golden brown (after a minute or so), flip every bit to fry the different aspect. The squid items ought to curl up barely. Drain on kitchen paper and put aside.

6. Heat one tablespoon vegetable oil in a heavy primarily based frying pan. Add the sliced garlic and fry for 30 seconds till aromatic. Add the vegetable to stir fry for 2 minutes then add in the sauce combine and simmer till lowered.

7. Add the crispy squid to the sauce, toss gently to coat then serve instantly.

Looking for a solution to please your Chinese New Year friends at the dinner desk? Well, look no additional as a result of with the assist of Hong Kong-based sauce model Lee Kum Kee, celeb chef Jeremy Pang has 4 extra recipes from 4 distinct Chinese delicacies traditions that may certainly delight your style buds.

Emperor lotus roasted hen (Zhejiang delicacies)

Zhejiang Cuisine is well known for that includes “southern ingredients cooked the northern way”, utilizing culinary expertise introduced from the north throughout The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. This particular hen dish – served to the area’s Emperor by the native folks and finally added to his imperial menu – makes use of the clay-wrapped methodology of sluggish cooking, which dates again hundreds of years. Here, it’s marinated with Lee Kum Kee’s Premium Light Soy Sauce for a definite wealthy flavour and Premium Dark Soy Sauce for a touch of sweetness.

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 complete free-range corn-fed hen

2 lotus leaves, soaked in scorching water for 1 hour (various: baking/greaseproof parchment paper)

Whole spices:

10 bay leaves

6 star anise

2 massive cinnamon sticks

2 handfuls dragonwell tea, steeped in scorching water for 3 minutes

For the dough:

600g plain flour

350-400ml water

Marinade:

4 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Light Soy Sauce

4 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Dark Soy Sauce

2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Yellow Bean Sauce

2 tbsp sugar

50ml rice wine

Method:

1. Cut any arduous, pointy ends off the soaked lotus leaves in order that they don’t poke by way of the dough.

2. Mix the marinade.

3. Place complete spices into the hen cavity. Massage marinade throughout the cavities of the chickens. Place in a big seal meals bag, pour extra marinade into the cavity of the hen, seal and refrigerate in a single day or marinate for not less than an hour.

4. Mix dough substances and knead properly for 5 minutes till easy. 

5. Roll the dough out roughly 3-4mm thick, guaranteeing there may be sufficient dough to wrap round the complete hen.

6. Lay two lotus leaves on high of the rolled-out dough. Place the hen in the center of the leaves.

7. Wrap the leaves after which the dough tightly round the hen, to not pierce the dough. Use slightly water to seal the dough.

8. Place the complete wrapped hen onto a flour dusted roasting tray right into a preheated oven at 200C for 2-2.5 hours.

9. Cut round the centre of the cooked dough and take away the lid of dough to disclose the hen.

Hunan spicy fish (Hunan delicacies)

For a few years, the native Hunan folks have tailored to consuming scorching and spicy meals to assist eradicate moisture from the physique, constructed up from residing on this notoriously humid area. This spicy fish dish is drenched in an opulent sauce made with Lee Kum Kee’s spicy Chilli Bean Sauce – a fancy mix of salted chilli peppers, soybean and broad beans pastes.

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

350g white fish fillet (cod/haddock)

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Light Soy Sauce

1 tbsp vegetable oil

½ thumb-sized piece ginger, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 spring onions, finely chopped

Topping:

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Sesame Wok Oil

4 massive purple chillies, finely chopped

2 ready-roasted purple peppers, high quality chopped

Sauce combine:

2 tsp Lee Kum Kee Chilli Bean Sauce

½ tbsp Lee Kum Kee Double Deluxe Soy Sauce

¼ tsp sugar

Substitute: No fish? Vegetarian? Try tofu as an alternative

Method:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon Sesame Wok Oil with a medium-low warmth wok and add the purple chillies and roasted purple pepper, and fry for 8-10 minutes, stir properly till softened. Pour sauce combine into the wok in the final minute of cooking.

2. Pour topping onto a big heatproof plate that matches into a big steamer or steam basket. Place the fish fillet on high and put the plate into the steamer.

3. Place the steamer or steam basket onto wok stuffed midway up with scorching water. Bring to a vigorous boil and steam for 8-10 minutes (will depend on the thickness of the fish).

4. Remove the fish from the steam.

5. Heat one tablespoon vegetable oil to a smoking level and pour over the high of the ginger, garlic, and spring onions. Spread the oil over the fish and pour the Light Soy Sauce over the high.

Wonton braised noodles with tobiko and salmon roe (Cantonese delicacies)

Oyster Sauce – a longtime all-purpose staple in Chinese cooking – brings out the umami in any ingredient it touches, whether or not it’s used for marinating, stewing or simply dipping. Lee Kum Kee’s Premium Oyster Sauce, used on this dish, is a balanced mix of chillies, garlic and spices ready from an genuine recipe from Chiu Chow in China, and works completely in Cantonese cooking, in addition to Western dishes. The phrase “wonton” additionally interprets to “clouds” in Cantonese, much like what the wontons seem like floating in the broth!

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

200g contemporary wonton noodles

25 pcs contemporary wonton pastries

Topping (elective):

2 tsp tobiko/salmon roe

For the inventory:

400ml hen inventory

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce

½ tbsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Light Soy Sauce

For the filling:

300g uncooked prawns, peeled and de-veined (finely chop half and roughly chopped the relaxation in larger chunks)

1 spring onion, finely chopped

½ thumb sized piece of ginger, finely chopped

Small handful coriander

Handful contemporary shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped

For the marinade:

1 tsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce

½ tsp Lee Kum Kee Pure Sesame Oil

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

½ tbsp cornflour

For the garnish:

Spring onion, finely sliced in ring

For the dipping sauce (elective):

2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Chilli Oil

Substitute: No wontons? Vegetarian? Use veggie dumplings (Chinese chives, shiitake mushrooms, carrots) as an alternative.

Method:

1. Place spring onion, ginger, and mushrooms in a mixing bowl.

2. Mix marinade with filling.

3. Boil inventory on a medium warmth for quarter-hour.

4. Fill a saucepan ¾ full of scorching water and convey to boil. Once boiling, add noodles and blanch for 1½ minutes and fish them with tongs and drain.

5. Boil the wontons (often 5-6 wontons per serving) in the identical water for 3-4 minutes on a medium warmth. Remove the wontons after which convey the water or soup again to the boil.

6. Before serving, dunk the noodles into the inventory for 30 seconds, then serve in a bowl.

7. Place the scorching wontons on high of the noodles, spoon one ladle of inventory over the noodles and wontons.

8. Scatter two teaspoons of tobiko or salmon roe over the wontons and add garnish.

Tips to fold the wonton:

1. Place the pastry diagonal to you and add one teaspoon filling into the centre.

2. Dip your fingertip flippantly right into a bowl of water and run the tip round the edges of the pastry.

3. Overlap the edges to type a triangle after which choose the pasty up and collect the sides collectively to type a fan-like, cash bag form.

4. Repeat till all the pastry or filling has been used.

Braised egg dumplings in chilli broth (vegetarian) (Anhui delicacies)

Anhui delicacies is understood for that includes native substances (particularly wild herbs), with braising – the cooking methodology used for this dish – used as one of the commonest methods. These dumplings, utilizing egg as an alternative of conventional dumpling skins, dip completely in Lee Kum Kee’s Sweet Soy Sauce, which is specifically brewed from premium soybeans and has a treacly texture that leaves a wealthy complicated flavour on the palate.

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

4 eggs

2 pak choi stems, minimize lengthways in quarters

3 tsp cornflour paste (2 tsp cornflour and a pair of tsp water combined properly)

½ tsp Lee Kum Kee Pure Sesame Oil

¼ tsp salt

For th filling:

200g chives, finely chopped

100g watercress, finely chopped

100g leek, finely chopped

100g agency contemporary tofu, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 spring onion, finely chopped

1 tsp Lee Kum Kee Pure Sesame Oil

½ tsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pinch black pepper

For the broth:

300ml vegetable inventory

1½ tbsp Lee Kum Kee Sweet Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Mushroom Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce

Method:

1. Beat the eggs and season with ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon sesame oil.

2. Mix filling properly.

3. Mix broth substances properly.

4. Heat one tablespoon vegetable oil in a frying pan to a medium warmth. To make one “dumpling”, pour 1-2 tablespoon crushed egg into the pan and attempt to hold in a single spot with a spatula to create a mini omelette.

5. Turn to low warmth in order that the egg doesn’t cook dinner too rapidly. Spoon one teaspoon of filling into the centre of the egg after which fold it over and press the sides of the semicircle down in order that the egg seals round the filling. Repeat this till all the egg or all the filling has been used.

6. Once every egg dumpling has been sealed, take away from the pan instantly and put aside.

7. Heat one tablespoon vegetable oil in a saucepan on a medium warmth.

8. Pour the broth substances into the pan and convey to boil. Once boiling, add three teaspoons of the cornflour paste into the sauce and stir properly while boiling for a minute or so.

9. Place the egg dumplings into the broth and boil for 4-5 minutes and serve.