034 FOOD & DRINK NEWS
CHINESE NEW YEAR It’s Year of the Rat
anuary 25th marks Chinese New Year – and the festival will last until 8th February. 2020 is the year of the Metal Rat – the Rat symbolises new beginnings as it is the fi rst animal to start off the next 12-year cycle. They are believed to be very industrious and thrifty, diligent and positive. INDEX editor Sarah spoke to Ching-He Huang, international Emmy nominated TV chef and best- selling cookery writer who has just released her ninth cookbook, who told us about the legend of Chinese New Year. “According to one of the legends of Chinese New
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Year – Buddha summoned 12 animals to appear before him when the world was created, and the fi rst 12 appeared before him in the order of: RAT; OX; TIGER; DRAGON; RABBIT; SNAKE; HORSE; GOAT/SHEEP; MONKEY; ROOSTER; DOG, AND PIG. “Each animal has an element attached and there
are fi ve elements to each animal. So the corresponding element and animal appears every 60 years.” January also marks Veganuary, inspiring people to try a vegan diet for the month. Since the event began in 2014 participation has more than doubled each year. Is there the same step towards plant-based dishes in Asia, and how easy is it to serve Asian dishes suitable for those with intolerances and allergies or for those opting for a vegetarian or vegan diet? “It’s easy to celebrate a vegan Chinese New Year Banquet,” says Ching. My husband is vegan and so I always vegan-fy traditional Chinese New Year dishes for him. You can use the stalks of the King Trumpet Mushrooms sliced into ‘coins’ instead of scallops. Longevity noodles are vegan as they are served plain, dressed in garlic, salt and sesame oil. A plate of steamed vegetables is a symbol of prosperity or ‘Fa Cai’ (Mandarin) or ‘Fat Choy’ (Cantonese) as the popular greeting. Golden fried tofu symbolises ingots of gold. And you can serve mushroom spinach dumplings which also symbolise prosperity. Even crispy seaweed is made from the deep frying sliced pack choy greens. So, there is no excuse to not celebrate the Chinese New Year. Most Vegetarian Chinese dishes are vegan, once you omit eggs, we don’t use much dairy in our cuisine. There are plenty of gluten-free sauces and noodles available as these are ingredients central to Chinese cooking and are gluten-free.” • Wok On by Ching-He Huang is published by Kyle Books, £20, with photography by Tamin Jones. Follow Ching on Instagram @Chinghehuang or visit
chinghehuang.com
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