Celebrations Archives - Pickles and Tea

Chinese New Year Recipe: Instant Pot Hainanese Chicken Rice

09 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Celebrations, Chinese, Comfort food, Cook books, Entrees, Family style, Instant Pot, Main Course, Poaching, Poultry, Singaporean

Okay okay, if you grew up in Singapore like me, Hainanese chicken rice is not technically a new year dish. It's more of an eat-it-whenever-you-want dish. However, a whole chicken, is also served at new year to symbolize family, unity and togetherness. White Cut Chicken...

Chinese New Year Recipe: Lo Han Jai or Buddha’s Delight

05 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Celebrations, Chinese, Cook books, Family style, Food traditions, Instant Pot, Main Course, Recipes, Stir-frying, Vegan, Vegetarian

Commonly known as Buddha’s Delight, this vegetarian dish is usually eaten on the first day of the Chinese New Year. I’ve turned it into an everyday dish using some of my favorite vegetables with miso paste added for a truly delicious sauce! For new year, the...

Grandma Pearl’s Thanksgiving Sticky Rice Stuffing (Instant Pot Version)

18 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Appetizers/Sides, Celebrations, Chinese, Comfort food, Easy, Family style, Food traditions, Fusion, Main Course

Sticky rice stuffing is a staple for many Chinese American families at Thanksgiving. It is a riff on “naw mai fun” or “lo mai gai,” two very traditional Chinese recipes. My friend Wing gave me his grandmother’s recipe to include in my very first cookbook—The...

Japanese Food Maven Hiroko Shimbo on Her Mother’s Influence in the Kitchen

12 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Appetizers/Sides, Boiling, Celebrations, Comfort food, Easy, Japanese, Vegan, Vegetable

Hiroko Shimbo is a well-known authority on Japanese cuisine and a beloved cooking instructor based in New York City. And like many of us, she owes much of her culinary finesse to her mother. Hiroko has long been a proponent of cooking Japanese cuisine with a...

One-Year Book Birthday Festive Menu

29 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Celebrations, Comfort food, Cook books

Food plays a very big role in celebrations across many Asian cultures. Whether it’s Lunar New Year, a birthday, Christmas, or a promotion at work, food--festive food--tends to be at the center of any get-together. Plus, the dishes served tend to have special meaning. Since I’m...

Happy One-Year Book Birthday!

28 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Book giveaway, Celebrations, Cook books

Woohoo! Farm to Table Asian Secrets turns one today, March 28! I can’t believe it’s already been a year! To celebrate, I’ll be throwing a coming-of-age party for my book baby. Why? In China, and many Asian countries, a baby’s first birthday is a major milestone. High infant...

Longlife Noodles

13 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Celebrations, Comfort food, Entrees, Family style, Main Course, Singaporean, Stir-frying

Adapted from The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook (Sasquatch Books, 2009/2012) Noodle dishes are always served during birthdays and Chinese New Year because the Chinese believe they symbolize good fortune, prosperity, and longevity. The longer the noodles, the longer (and luckier) your life will be — so don’t...

Homemade Bak Kwa (Chinese Pork Jerky)

02 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Baking, Broiling, Celebrations, Chinese, Comfort food, Easy, Kid-friendly, Malaysian, Singaporean, Snacks

When I first came to the U.S. as a college student, one of the foods I missed most from Singapore was bak kwa. It's kind of like jerky, but made with pork and with Chinese flavors. Beef jerky didn’t cut it—not even teriyaki-flavored—and even though salmon...

Turnip-a-looza is Over!

06 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Appetizers, Celebrations, Chinese, Pan-frying, Recipes, Snacks, Steaming

Oof, I’ve just finished the last of my turnips! Yay! For the last two to three months, it’s been raining turnips at my house. Every Saturday, I’d pray that the CSA Gods would be kind to me and replace the turnips with something more versatile, say...

Chinese New Year Panfried Shrimp

26 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Celebrations, Comfort food, Cook books, Pan-frying

Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about the food traditions of other Asian cultures, especially during Lunar or Chinese New Year. The Vietnamese, who celebrate Tet, celebrate with a host of different foods like banh chung, thit kho, candied fruit and lots of pickles. In Singapore,...

Pickles and Tea Celebrations