Tag Archives: lunar new year

Cooking

Lu Rou Fan, Nian Gao

To celebrate Lunar New Year, we made nian gao (stick rice cake). And because I don’t have steaming capacity yet, we baked it. And because I don’t have steaming capacity yet, I made lu rou fan (braised pork rice) instead of turnip cakes or other traditional dishes.

Lu Rou Fan

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Ahh, one of my favorite Taiwanese comfort foods. What’s not to like about animal fat and soy sauce on white rice? Halfway through frying 8 shallots that I had painstakingly peeled, I realized that fried shallots is a prefabricated ingredient I have in a jar sitting in the pantry. Tracking this recipe, with input from others.

Edit 8/29: I don’t like this formulation. Consider it defunct.

    • Fry 8 shallots finely sliced. Pat dry.
    • In leftover oil, brown 2-3 lb ground pork or pork belly chopped to 1/4″.
    • Add 3 cloves garlic minced, then the shallots.
    • Add 1/4 cup dark soy sauce, 1/4 cup light soy sauce, 1/2 cup cooking wine, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp five-spice powder, enough water to cover.
    • Simmer for 3-4 hours to reduce sauce.
      • Optionally add peeled hard-boiled eggs halfway through.
    • Serve on rice topped with scallions.

Nian Gao

Oops, I bought red bean paste instead of red bean beans. Turns out sticky rice cake is sticky.

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  • Whisk together 16oz box of Mochiko sweet rice flour, 6 tbsp butter, 2.5 cups milk, 3 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1 tbsp baking soda.
  • Spread half of batter on 9×13-in pan, spread over 15oz can of red bean paste, cover with other half of batter.
  • Bake at 350 F for 40-50 minutes, until set.