By Scott Jones
“TELL ME WHAT you eat and I’ll tell you
what you are,” wrote 17th-century French
author and food lover Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin. While the renowned gourmet may
have been the first in literature to suggest that
every aspect of one’s life can be viewed through
the lens of one’s daily dining, the Chinese were
living this out hundreds of years earlier.
“The Chinese are an incredibly superstitious people who have long believed that you
are what you eat,” explains Chinese culture
and cuisine expert Grace Young. At no time is
this more on display than during the annual
Chinese New Year celebration.
Also called the Spring Festival, this year’s
celebration starts on February 18 (New Year’s
Eve), the last day of the last month of the
Chinese calendar, and runs to March 5, the
15th day of the first month of the new year.
According to the Chinese zodiac, 2015 is the
Year of the Sheep (also referred to as the Year
of the Goat or Ram). Those born under this
The Costco Connection
Costco warehouses stock a variety of foods,
from shrimp to rice and much more, to help
you celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Traditions and twists
for the Year of the Sheep
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1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Juice of ½ lime
3 tablespoons ketchup
3 tablespoons dark Jamaican rum
2 teaspoons soy sauce
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
½ teaspoon salt
1 medium ripe tomato, cut into thin wedges
1 large green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 small onion, cut into thin wedges
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
In a medium bowl, toss shrimp with lime juice for
a few seconds. Rinse shrimp, drain and set on a
plate lined with paper towels. With more paper
towels, pat shrimp dry. In a small bowl, combine
ketchup, rum, soy sauce and white pepper.
Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch
skillet over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in oil,
add garlic and ginger, then, using a metal spatula,
stir-fry 10 seconds or until aromatics are fragrant. Push aromatics to sides of wok, carefully
add shrimp and spread them evenly in one layer
in wok. Cook undisturbed 1 minute, letting
shrimp begin to sear. Sprinkle with salt and stir-fry 30 seconds or until shrimp begin to turn
orange. Add tomato, bell pepper, and onion, and
stir-fry 1 minute or until shrimp have turned
almost totally orange. Swirl ketchup mixture into
wok and stir-fry 1 minute or until shrimp are just
cooked through and sauce coats shrimp. Stir in
cilantro. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Adapted from Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge,
by Grace Young (Simon & Schuster, 2010).
Chinese Trinidadian
Stir-Fried Shrimp
with Rum
Chinese
New Year
sign are said to have an extra measure of prosperity and peace.
Unlike the Western tradition of ringing in
the new year surrounded by Champagne-
drinking revelers anticipating the stroke of
midnight, the Chinese use the occasion as a
family reunion. “It’s like Christmas and Easter
all rolled into one,” Young says in describing
the importance of the Chinese New Year’s Eve
that, as she puts it, “honors the sacredness of
family as well as ushers in the spring and a
time of renewal.”
While fun exists in activities such as light-
ing firecrackers and giving money-filled red
creative
cooking