Lights in the sky

The topic today is going to be China’s Spring Festival probably known to many as Chinese New Year. This is going to be a hard one for me to write about because I am working on an empty stomach at the moment. Please bear with me as my stomach starts to make unearthly noises.

The Spring Festival starts on the first day of the lunar New Year. Unlike us in the west and having just New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day the celebration continues for 15 days, beginning on the New Moon and ending on the Full Moon. The last day is known as the Lantern Festival. To go somewhere that has this festival would be so cool because during the Lantern Festival they string paper lanterns all over the place. Does everyone remember in the movie Tangled when they have the floating lanterns and it's all pretty and cool? Well it is totally real and in some provinces in China that's what they do for the Lantern Festival. In hopes to stay on my main topic please read more about it here and here. 

My family has always celebrated Chinese New Year but never as elaborate as they do in China. We have adopted the western style of celebrating the eve and day of the holiday. Even so we still keep some things traditional. We gather as a family and make food, play games, and just enjoy one another's company. One of the things that my Grandparents do, which is very traditional, is give us leisees, which are red envelopes with money inside them. Who doesn’t love that? Really, our favorite part of Chinese New Year is the food we get to make and eat.

Cha siu bao, is one of my favorites and one that many have never heard of. It is a Chinese bun that my family has recently added to our permanent Chinese New Year menu. Cha siu means barbecued pork, which is the filling, and bao is the bread the surrounds the meat. Now remember that barbecue is a style of cooking and not a sauce. (Many might not like these if they bit into one thinking it was going to taste like the barbecue we have here in America.) I have seen this bun made two ways -- steamed and baked, but I'm sure there could be more ways out there.

Cha siu bao is only one of the many treats eaten during the Spring Festival. Please try some traditional Chinese food. Here are some ideas for everyone.

Until next time, Zai Jian (goodbye)!