Celebrate another new year

Greer Wylder

Now that festivities surrounding the Western new year have settled

down, celebrations for the Chinese New Year have taken off.

2004 relates to Chinese Lunar Year 4702, the Year of the Monkey --

from the ancient Chinese zodiac. On the lunar calendar, Jan. 22

marked the first day of the first moon of 2004. The spring festival

lasts through Feb. 12. For those of Chinese descent, it’s an

important event around the world. It’s a time to wish for good

fortune in the coming year.

“The whole meaning of this holiday is about renewal and

celebration of the family -- it’s Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving

all rolled into one,” said Grace Young, author of “The Wisdom of the

Chinese Kitchen”.Traditional vibrant red and gold decorations trim

homes and businesses; children receive gifts of Lai-See red envelopes

filled with money. In Chinese neighborhoods, firecrackers, lion

dances and acrobats add to the excitement of the holiday.

The feast, however, is the main event of the celebration. A good

luck menu features foods with homonyms and double-entendres. Names of

foods echo sounds of characters that have lucky meanings, while other

foods have shapes or colors that signify spring festival words, like

happiness, prosperity, fortune or luck. In Chinese, a stir-fried

lotus root, “lin ngua” sounds like, “lin yau,” which translates to,

“every year there will be abundance.”

In Cantonese, shrimp is called “ha,” mimicking the sound of

laughter and symbolizing happiness. Fish is also an important dish,

and it takes advantage of puns. The Chinese word for fish sounds like

the word “wish.” It’s also traditional for other reasons -- serving a

whole fish symbolizes good luck, or “from beginning to end.” Since

fish swim in pairs, they are regarded as a symbol of marital bliss as

well as fertility. Eating a whole chicken or duck signifies bringing

wholeness into the new year. Green foods signify money, while round

shapes represent continuity or coins.

Local restaurants including Yujean Kang’s Asian Bistro at South

Coast Plaza, Yan Can Restaurant on Adams Avenue in Costa Mesa and

Pick Up Stix in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa offer specialties so

everyone can enjoy the beauty, fun and sumptuous foods of this

cultural holiday. It could even bring good luck to all.

Yujean Kang’s Asian Bistro is offering a special prix fixe Chinese

New Year’s menu through Sunday, and a chance to see a traditional

lion dance on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The dance has ancient origins,

dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC to AD 220). It’s performed by

two skilled dancers, one supporting the head, the other supporting

the tail. Members of a martial arts school or acrobatic group

normally perform it.

Symbolic acts can be found in the music, dance and climax --

dispelling evil, bringing happiness and injecting good luck. The

dramatic climax of the dance is the choi cheng (“picking the green”).

The green refers to leaves tied to string with an attached red packet

filled with money. The string is hung and the lion eats both the

leaves and red packet. The lion chews the leaves while lying on the

floor and musicians play a powerful rolling crescendo. The calm is

broken when the lion explodes back into motion while spitting out the

leaves. It’s a symbolic act of blessing by the lion -- spitting out

of the leaves signifies that the new year will bring an abundance of

goodness.

Chef/owner Yujean Kang offers a traditional dinner for $38 per

person, or with three flights of wine for $58. The menu features an

appetizer of assorted dim sum, with the following choices of entrees:

green jade prawns; lamb loin with walnuts and spicy sauce; crispy

chicken breast with fruit sauce; crispy aromatic duckling with

steamed buns or crispy whole fish with spicy Szechwan sauce, served

with gold coin tofu; the traditional new year vegetable dish,

“fulfill your wish”; and soup features Chinese “long life noodles.”

Long noodles represent longevity; it’s considered bad luck to cut

them. The dessert is a red bean pancake with coconut sauce. The feast

is served from 5 to 9 p.m.

Yujean Kang’s Asian Bistro is at South Coast Plaza, in the

Robinsons-May wing on Level 1. It’s open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Monday through Friday; 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday; and 11:30 a.m.

to 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call (714) 662-1098.

Celebrity chef Martin Yan rings in the new year at his Yan Can

Restaurant with special dishes to bring wishes of prosperity and

luck. Yan Can is a quick-casual restaurant (one step up from a

fast-food restaurant). It’s a mix of quality Asian culinary

specialties from Vietnam, China, Thailand, Korea and Japan. Spring

rolls are served to symbolize wealth and appear like gold bars.

Lettuce is also served in abundance. In Cantonese, lettuce sounds

like “rising fortune.” And Yan says an orange is the most distinctive

food symbol of good luck, so he’s created a special dish, Good

Fortune Orange Chicken ($6.95). In Chinese, orange sounds like

wealth. Its round shape and golden color resemble medallions when

sliced. You can also try this dish at home by following this recipe:

Good Fortune Orange Chicken

Tangerines or oranges can be used for this dish. You can use a

knife to remove the peel from the orange, but a sharp vegetable

peeler is an excellent tool to make quick work of the job. To reduce

bitterness of the orange peel, remove all the white pith that is

under the peel.

Marinade:

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Sauce:

1/3 cup fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken meat, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 green onions, cut into 2-inch lengths

Peel from 1 orange, cut into thin strips

2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

Combine marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add chicken and

stir to coat. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl; stir until sugar

dissolves.

Place a stir-fry pan over high heat until hot. Add oil, swirling

to coat sides. Add chicken, green onions and half of the orange peel.

Stir-fry, until chicken is no longer pink in center, three to four

minutes. Add sauce and bring to a boil. Add cornstarch solution and

cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens. Add the remaining

orange peel and stir to coat. Serve over a bed of rice. This makes

four servings.

Yan Can, at 1500 Adams Ave. in Costa Mesa, is open from 11 a.m. to

9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

For more information, call (714) 438-1115.

Pick Up Stix is offering a special of four chicken egg rolls, a

blend of chicken, marinated vegetables and spices ($4.99).Another new

year’s special is the six wonton combo, two pieces of krab cream

cheese, cream cheese and avocado wontons ($5.49). In Newport Beach,

Pick Up Stix is in Westcliff Plaza at 1112 Irvine Ave, (949) 650-7849

and at Harbor View at 1614 San Miguel Drive, (949) 759-8200. In Costa

Mesa, Pick Up Stix is at 2701 Harbor Blvd., (714) 957-9191.

* BEST BITES runs every Friday. Greer Wylder can be reached at

greerwylder@yahoo.com; at 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; or by

fax at (949) 646-4170.