Or what kind of sounds does a dragon make? Dragon, a mystical creature is a symbol of power, strength, and good luck in the Chinese culture.  According to the lunar calendar, this coming Monday (January 23) marks the beginning of the Year of the Dragon and because this creature is such a significant icon, there are already prediction that hospital beds are all booked up…no, not for patients, but for pregnant mothers because being a child of the Dragon is just awesome and a good omen to a bright future.

Lots of delicacies are eaten for Lunar New Year, both savouries and sweets. One of my favorite sweets is nian gao, a homonym for “higher year.” Nian gao made from glutinous rice flour, Chinese brown sugar and water.  Instead of baking the ‘cake’, you steam it, giving it a gelatinous consistency.  You could eat it in cold blocks or pan fry it to make it an even more ‘mochi mochi’ textural bite.  You eat this for breakfast on New Year’s day, but with so much leftover, I do not complain to continue my ‘year growth’ consumption. Best of all? Nian gao is vegan, so it totally suits my diet…well, except for the sugar rush.

Happy Lunar New Year!

Gong Hei Fat Choi!

Condensed Milk Pound Cake

Makes one 8 1/2 -x- 4 1/2 inch cake, about 12 servings

1/2 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/3 cups (7 oz/200g) all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 large eggs

• Preheat the oven to 325° F.
• Generously butter a loaf pan and set aside.
• Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder.
• Mix the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add the condensed milk and then slowly incorporate the dry ingredients.
• Add the eggs one at a time.
• Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Bake until the top is dark golden brown or prick with a toothpick into the center until it is dry. Approximately baked for 45 minutes-1 hour.

Mom spotted the French toast at the restaurant we brunched at yesterday; unfortunately, she had already placed her eggs Benedict order. No point of return. This morning, I made her dream come true with my ‘healthy’ version of French toast. Yes, the nutella and the copious amount of butter are missing, but the French toast is still enlivened with fresh produces from the blackberries, crunchiness from the granola with a light toast of powdered sugar sprinkled on top. No snow yet in NYC (fingers-crossed…I am not a winter person), so this is just an homage to our winter season.

A new year. A new beginning.  I am not fond of making new year resolution because that just set me up to disappointment if I do not succeed.  However, there are certain plans I have in mind and must be pursued this year. Now all I need is some motivation…

On New Year’s Day, my mom and I took the bus to Mitsuwa Market, a giant supermarket in NJ that solely sell all types of Japanese goods and of course, food.  On this special holiday, they hosted an annual mochi pounding event.  Mochi is traditionally made and eaten on New Year’s Day in Japan.  After the mochi was pounded continuously with an utmost force, balls were rolled and paired with a red bean sauce.  People lined up to receive this special treat as the mochi was shared to the public.  The chewy, yet surprisingly not very sticky mochi was flavorless, so the red bean sauce gave this delicacy a bit of sweetness.  Hopefully, eating mochi would bring us all good luck!

After browsing through the aisles of goodies in the supermarket, mom and I finally stopped by for a real meal.  Soba is also traditionally eaten on New Year’s Eve as a symbol of longevity and good luck.  So of course, we had to order a bowl of hot soba.  As a lover of matcha, we could not leave this place without a matcha dessert.  The slice of cake was not too sweet nor overly ‘grassy’, as sometimes matcha could be subjected to. At $3.50 per slice, that concluded our daytrip quite satisfyingly.

I have actually been either really lazy or just too tired to experiment in the kitchen recently.  So my New Year resolution? get moving and get the oven a crankin’.

Happy New Year everyone~

Visitors can also vote for the BEST gingerbread creation, too! One vote can be purchased for $1, which also allows you to enter in a chance to win a 5 night stay at the luxurious Parker Palm Springs. The best part? All proceeds benefit City Harvest, the world’s first food rescue organization, dedicated to feeding the city’s hungry men, women and children.

Which one is your favorite?

If you are a frequent reader on my blog, I have never done a restaurant review, but because my recent culinary adventures have been lacking (being sick and just tired) and I felt I needed to update my blog before I lose my ‘blog cred’, I decided to write a dining experience that is worth discussing.  So, every Saturday, my mom and I would ‘brunch’.  More like lunch, but in New York, we call it brunch, as long as it is a meal consumed between the hours 11am-4pm.  There is never anything for me on a typical brunch menu, with its standard egg entrees or hearty burgers, so I mostly dine at restaurants that offer other alternatives.  Italian restaurants are great because they have got pastas, pizzas, salads, appetizers, and of course, coffee.   So it is always a safe choice for a decent brunch meal, besides Asian restaurants in my book.

Today, mom and I visited Forcella, an Italian pizzeria (once started in Brooklyn, NY, but recently opened another location in Manhattan) dedicated to the art of making traditional Neapolitan pizza.  The chef behind this joint is a double certified pizzaiolo named Giulio Adriani and the pizza of choice to order here is the montanara, which is a flash-fried, then oven-baked pizza topped with fresh tomato sauce, mozzarella and a few sprigs of basil. What makes this pizza special is in its crust.  I am no pizza zealot, but because the dough is only slightly ‘fried’, the bread remained light, yet got the texture of a crueller. I could just eat off the cornicone with hummus, my preferred dip.

As always, I needed some greens with every meal and the arugula with sliced fennel added refreshing balance to the carby pie due to their bitterness.  While pizza is not on my regular meal rotation, I am glad I seeked out a place that both my mom and I would enjoy.  Our once a week mommy & daughter quality time~

This past vacation, I was able to combine both.  When I was not busy meeting with relatives, I lost myself in street markets and random streets to learn about the local culture and customs.  Although Hong Kong is familiar to me, the everyday details never failed to mesmerize me.  I love ‘old’ stuff.  I once was a ‘hoarder’, be it old T-shirt, stained newspaper clips, or a broken toy, I still kept them in a safe place at home.  But with limited living quarter, I was ‘forced’ to  give up some items.  Ouch.  In Hong Kong, while there are numerous Westernized bakeries on almost every other block, I still have a yearning for old-fashioned bakeries.  When I came across such ones, my heart melted with sweetness and yearning. The intoxicating sugary smell, the simple, yet tasteful pastries; therefore, yes, you can have your macarons, tiramisu, and fancy chocolate tart, just give me a Chinese pastry and I would feel like home again.

PS I think from now on, I will create a category called “Random Note” to chronicle some of the spontaneous moment I shall capture in any given time.

I love to shop at Indian grocery markets too. Not only you will be explosed to so many different, interesting spices, but everything is so fresh and cheap. So much more valuable and fun to stop than your typical chain supermarket. Don’t you think?