A Taiwanese American Lunar New Year Menu Full of Chicken Dumplings and Lion’s Head Big Macs
When I was growing up, my family always immersed themselves in American holidays. My mom, so keen on adopting the traditions of America, could go toe to toe with the other moms in the sport of suburban decorating when it came to Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. She wanted to adapt, to be that all-American family from the outside, no different than any other household in our neighborhood.
And yet, no matter how hard our family tried to separate our two cultures, burying our Taiwanese heritage over time while projecting Americanness, the food of our family during theLunar New Yearwas too delicious to ignore. Although there were no flashing lights or ornaments, if you looked closely enough in the quiet of winter, you might have noticed windows foggy from the constant fragrant steam of bamboo steamers when cooking porkdumplings. Or you might have heard the crisp sizzling sounds of hot oil being poured onto layers of fresh scallions and ginger onwhole steamed fish, a burst of fragrance permeating through the porch screen and lingering throughout the cul-de-sac for hours.
You may have been tipped off by the gleeful yells of a ruthless grandma taking all of her children's money playing mah-jongg, the clinks of coins and cash intermingled with the slurps of rice cakes drenched in glistening soy sauce. Whether we liked it or not, it was dishes like the ones on Lunar New Year, celebrated in the comfort of our own homes, that would be the constant thread that kept us tethered to our roots.
In this menu I’ve brought together dishes that speak to both my traditional Taiwanese roots and memories in my Midwestern suburban kitchen. It’s a nod to the modern American table today, where Big Macs can have patties made of lion’s head meatballs, and Grandma’s dumplings can be filled with seasonal ingredients like fennel and apple in the winter. Two seemingly disparate cultures, Taiwanese and American, together on one common table.