Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year are set to happen this week and its holiday that is all about happiness, health and prosperity. Welcome a new lunar year with your loved ones and celebrate with delicious food, drink and gifts.
With Lunar New Year happening on 1 February 2022, get into the festive spirit and decorate your home with seasonal greetings for the Year of the Tiger.
Whether you’re planning on celebrating all the traditions or want to incorporate a couple into your home, enjoy family-friendly activities and cook delicious meals.
Here’s a guide on how to celebrate Lunar New Year at home for 2022.
According to Chinese tradition, it’s bad luck to clean on the day of Chinese new year as it sweeps out any good luck so to stick to customs, make sure to clean your home on New Year’s Eve.
Wipe dirt off floors and windows, clean clothes and bed linens, and be sure to organise everything including dishes and bowls.
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What to decorate your home with
Whether you want to wear traditional dresses or casual clothes, make sure you wear lucky colours as they are important symbols for the new year and key colours to wear include red, gold as they symbolise luck and prosperity.
Avoid wearing black or white on the day as these colours are worn to funerals.
It’s also important to wear new clothes as the custom states that buying new items symbolises getting ready for a new start to your year.
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What to cook
Food is a central part of Lunar New Year’s celebration and its important to share a family dinner on New Year’s Eve and throughout the days of Lunar New Year.
Tesco has partnered with Taiwanese-born British Chinese chef Ching He Huang who is sharing her recipes for this year’s celebration.
Ching He Huang said: “According to Chinese myths, the duck is a noble and lucky animal and as they mate for life, they are a symbol of fidelity and love.”
She added: “Traditional Chinese Peking duck recipes involve marinading the duck and hanging it to dry for two days, however, my take is more akin to the Cantonese Roast Duck from Hong Kong.”
Ching’s Hong Kong Style Honey Roast Duck – Serves 4
Ingredients
For the duck
· 1 whole duck
· 4 litres of boiling water
· 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
· 3 tbsp Chinese five spice
· 2 tbsp golden syrup
· 1 inch piece of fresh root ginger, peeled, sliced into coins
· 3 spring onions, washed, top tailed, sliced to 2 inch pieces
· 1 star anise
· 4 tsp honey
For the sauce
· 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
· 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
· 1 tsp golden syrup
· 200ml vegetable stock
· 2 tbsp premium light soy sauce
· 1 tbsp premium dark soy sauce
· 1 tsp cornflour plus 1 tablespoon cold water
For leftovers
· 8 wheat flour pre-made tortilla wraps
· 4 spring onions, washed, top tailed, julienne, set on a small serving plate
· ½ cucumber, deseeded, julienne, set on a small serving plate
· 3 tsp hoisin sauce, set in a small dipping sauce bowl
Method
1. Remove the innards of the duck and place it on a rack over a deep roasting tin. Pour boiling hot water all over the bird and keep pouring until all the water is used up. Pat the duck dry with kitchen roll.
2. Mix the dark soy sauce, Chinese five-spice powder and sugar syrup together. Using a pastry brush, brush the sauce all over the duck, inside and out. Place the ginger, spring onion and star anise inside the cavity of the duck.
3. Give the duck another coat of spice rub and leave to air dry for 20 minutes. Keep repeating the process until all of the sauce has been used up. You can do this over the space of a couple hours, however make sure to keep the duck in a cool dry place. If you don’t have a cool dry place, place the duck in the fridge. See my tip below on how to make sure the skin is extra crisp.
4. Preheat the oven to 200˚C. Place the duck on a rack and roast for 45-50 minutes, skin side up or until the skin has darkened. Remove the duck from the oven and place a temperature thermometer between the thigh and body – if the juices run clear and the temperature is above 78 degrees, the duck is cooked. Dip a pastry brush in honey and brush all over the duck, place it back in the oven and cook for another 5 minutes to form a lovely honey glaze.
5. Remove the duck from the oven and leave it to rest for about 15 minutes. Collect the juices from the roasting tin and keep in a container on the side.
6. While the duck is resting, make a start on the serving sauce. Warm up a small pan over moderate heat and start adding in the ingredients: sesame oil, hoisin sauce, golden syrup, vegetable stock, light and dark soy sauce, the pre-mixed cornflour and water, plus a few tablespoons of the juices from the roasting tin. You can also include the ginger and spring onion from inside of the duck for extra flavour. Bring all the ingredients to a simmer, stirring for 1 minute until the sauce is glossy and slightly thickened. Strain through a fine sieve to ensure the gravy is smooth and transfer to a small serving jug.
7. Carve the duck and serve with some stir fried Chinese greens and Jasmine rice with some of the spiced gravy.
What to give
It’s Chinese custom to give lai see or red envelopes during Lunar New Year because it’s a gesture that shows adults blessing children with luck, happiness and fortune.
Red envelopes typically contain money and it’s a tradition that’s carried out by married individuals and elders as a symbol of well-wishing.
Seasonal blessings and greetings are normally said during the red envelope exchange as a sign of respect.
While you don’t necessarily need to give out money, you can also give out chocolates and sweets that are wrapped inside a red envelope.
