Happy Belated Chinese New Year

This is the Year of the Rabbit, but leave it to me, the Imperial Procrastinator, to be slow like a turtle and wait until the last day of the Lunar New Year period to spread the word.  Recently I was so lucky to have the chance to celebrate with good friends Sue and Martin Yan, my newly found cousin Lee and husband Jay (more on our reunion later), plus other Yan family friends.  Here's a picture taken by Stephanie Jan, Martin's Production Wizard, at our fantastic dinner.  As most of you know, Martin made classic Chinese food recipes accessible and very do-able for millions of Americans through his tv shows, books, and appearances.  To find out if the busiest celebrity chef is show business will be in your neck of the woods go to http://www.yancancook.com/.

Many fruits and vegetables have special symbolic meaning during Chinese New Year, so I've included long noodles (long life) and baby bok choy (green, prosperity) in this simple, quick, delicious dish  I'll call Long Life Noodles.  (Special bonus when applicable, the rice noodles are wheat-free.)

Long Life Noodles
1 pkg. Rad-Na Noodles (made from rice but like fettucinni)
4-5 heads (a small bunch) baby bok choy, cut into long, thin pieces
4 green onions, sliced thinly in 2" lengths
1 1/2 handfuls of shredded carrots
sauce:
4 Tbsp. light soy sauce
4 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
4 Tbsp. white miso paste
3 Tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. chili garlic sauce
pinch of Chinese five spice
white and black sesame seeds

Whisk all the sauce ingredients together and set aside.  Fill a large pot with water, add a little Kosher salt, and bring to a boil.  Add the dried noodles, pulling them apart with tong or a fork, and continue boiling about 3 minutes.  Add the strips of baby bok choy to the noodles and boil another 1-2 minutes.  Add the carrots for 1 last minute.  Drain the pot into a colander, return to pot, douse with the sauce until combined, sprinkle the sesame seeds on top, grab your chop sticks, and enjoy!

Of course you can add other veggies, put more or less of any of the sauce ingredients in your mixture, and top the whole thing with some crushed nuts and/or tofu.  For more info on a plethora of Asian produce and ingredients visit www.melissas.com/Products/Categories/Asian-Items.aspx.

This is the Year of the Rabbit, but leave it to me, the Imperial Procrastinator, to be slow like a turtle and wait until the last day of the Lunar New Year period to spread the word.  Recently I was so lucky to have the chance to celebrate with good friends Sue and Martin Yan, my newly found cousin Lee and husband Jay (more on our reunion later), plus other Yan family friends.  Here's a picture taken by Stephanie Jan, Martin's Production Wizard, at our fantastic dinner.  As most of you know, Martin made classic Chinese food recipes accessible and very do-able for millions of Americans through his tv shows, books, and appearances.  To find out if the busiest celebrity chef is show business will be in your neck of the woods go to http://www.yancancook.com/.

Many fruits and vegetables have special symbolic meaning during Chinese New Year, so I've included long noodles (long life) and baby bok choy (green, prosperity) in this simple, quick, delicious dish  I'll call Long Life Noodles.  (Special bonus when applicable, the rice noodles are wheat-free.)

Long Life Noodles
1 pkg. Rad-Na Noodles (made from rice but like fettucinni)
4-5 heads (a small bunch) baby bok choy, cut into long, thin pieces
4 green onions, sliced thinly in 2" lengths
1 1/2 handfuls of shredded carrots
sauce:
4 Tbsp. light soy sauce
4 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
4 Tbsp. white miso paste
3 Tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. chili garlic sauce
pinch of Chinese five spice
white and black sesame seeds

Whisk all the sauce ingredients together and set aside.  Fill a large pot with water, add a little Kosher salt, and bring to a boil.  Add the dried noodles, pulling them apart with tong or a fork, and continue boiling about 3 minutes.  Add the strips of baby bok choy to the noodles and boil another 1-2 minutes.  Add the carrots for 1 last minute.  Drain the pot into a colander, return to pot, douse with the sauce until combined, sprinkle the sesame seeds on top, grab your chop sticks, and enjoy!

Of course you can add other veggies, put more or less of any of the sauce ingredients in your mixture, and top the whole thing with some crushed nuts and/or tofu.  For more info on a plethora of Asian produce and ingredients visit www.melissas.com/Products/Categories/Asian-Items.aspx.