Chinese New Year Celebration – Dim Sum Delights
Year of the Snake
February 10-15, 2013

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festival of the Chinese calendar. Celebrations traditionally begin Chinese New Year’s Day itself, which is the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar, continuing through the fifteenth day of the same month. Because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, where the calendar is determined by both the moon phase and the time of the solar year, February 10^th marks the start of Chinese New Year. Running through the 15^th, this is 4710 – year of the snake.

On the eve of Chinese New Year, families gather for feasts, the menu of which may include pig, poultry and sweet delicacies, with firecrackers ending the night. If you are out and about this weekend, why not go to your favorite Chinese restaurant that serves Peking Duck—the most famous dish of Beijing. I would also suggest finding a dim sum restaurant where carts are loaded with scores of mouth-watering Chinese appetizers gliding from table to table waiting for your nod—this is the ultimate instant gastronomic gratification. From warm baskets of steaming dumplings and barbecue pork buns to fried spring rolls and taro root turnovers, these delicacies are not to be missed. In celebration of Chinese New Year, please allow me to share some of my favorites from Yank Sing in San Francisco.

Har Gau
Hand-chopped shrimp embedded with crunchy bits of sweet winter bamboo shoot tips and fashioned into a bonnet.

Pork Sui Mai
Hand-chopped shrimp and pork filling, hand-wrapped in fresh pasta skin and hand-formed into a fluted ‘basket.’


Tofu Roll
Pieces of Chinese firm tofu (bean curd), wrapped in seaweed, fried and served with a garnish of finely diced spring onions and red peppers.


Peking Duck – dim sum style
A Yank Sing Signature dish. Crispy paper-thin honey-coated skin and tender slices of succulent house-roasted Peking Duck, stuffed in a steamed seashell bun, accompanied with finely slivered scallions and tangy hoisin sauce.


Lobster Dumpling
Hand fashioned steamed dumpling filled with fresh lobster meat and Chinese Broccoli, topped with Tobiko roe.

Spinach Dumpling
Fresh vegetable filling of hand-chopped spinach, water chestnuts, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, in a natural chive juice colored dumpling.


Taro Root
Crispy mashed taro puffs stuffed with diced shiitake mushrooms, shrimp, pork, and scallions, flavored with soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and oyster sauce.


Sea Bass Roll
Firm, succulent pieces of fresh sea bass wrapped in a sliver of taro sweet potato, a basil leaf, dipped in a light batter and deep fried until golden brown and flaky.


BBQ Pork Bun
Possibly the most recognized dim sum Item. A warm fluffy bread bun stuffed with nuggets of honey-glazed BBQ pork.


Pea Shoot Dumpling
Translucent bonnets stuffed with a filling of chopped snow pea tendrils, roasted pine nuts and a hint of ginger, garlic and sesame oil.

Lettuce Cup
Minced chicken, Chinese Lop Cheung Sausage, sautéed with diced water chestnuts and bamboo shoots, garnished with pine nuts, spring onions, cilantro and served in a fresh lettuce cup.


Sweet Rice Dumpling
A crispy fried exterior; a soft, slightly sweet, glutinous rice wrapping; and a flavorful barbecued pork filling combine for a delicious combination of tastes and textures.


Sweet Sesame Ball
Light sticky rice-flour balls stuffed with sweet yellow bean puree, rolled in sesame seeds deep-fried until golden brown and crusty.

Yank Sing
San Francisco, CA, USA
www.yanksing.com