Chinese Lunar New Year

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Happy YASSSletter Thursday Gingis!

This week our family our family is getting ready for our big trip east to the Holy Land, at the end of the month. We are excited as ever to be with family, eating beautiful foods, walking markets, hitting the beach, and simply spending time together! With that being said, we want to hear from you - what would you like to see from us during our time abroad! (Feel free to answer, at poll below!)

Additionally, over the next three days I am in Austin, Texas for the Meat Carneval hosted by me and chefs Gili Ben Shahar & Ohad Kvity, I will be creating unique dough based creations for the festival participants! If you are in Austin or in Texas generally, and would like an opportunity to come to this event this Friday or Saturday - see below on how to get tickets!

But, before we head east we've got some absolutely awesome recipes for you and your lovers just in time for the Chinese Lunar New Year!

On the agenda today:

1. 📜 History + Origin: 🐉 Chinese Lunar New Year

2. 🥮 Mooncakes Recipe

3. 🫔 Vegetarian Eggroll Recipe

4. 🥠 Fortune Cookie Recipe

5. 🥩 BenGingi Meet & Greet @ Meat Carneval: FREE TICKETS!

6. 🌎 Travel Poll: What would you like to see while we are abroad?

📜 History + Origin: 🐉 Chinese Lunar New Year

Chinese New Year, also called Lunar New Year, annual 15-day festival in China and Chinese communities around the world that begins with the new moon that occurs sometime between January 21 and February 20 according to Western calendars. The festival is also known as the Spring Festival & ends with the following full moon.

The origins of the Chinese New Year are steeped in legend. One legend is that thousands of years ago a monster named Nian (“Year”) would attack villagers at the beginning of each new year. The monster was afraid of loud noises, bright lights, and the colour red, so those things were used to chase the beast away. Celebrations to usher out the old year and bring forth the luck and prosperity of the new one, therefore, often include firecrackers, and red clothes and decorations. Young people are given money in colourful red envelopes. It is a time to feast and to visit family members. Many traditions of the season honour relatives who have died. This seems to be an awesome and respectful consistency amongst the holidays we’ve talked about this year in the the YASSSletter.

Chinese New Year food traditions are hugely symbolic. Traditions include serving two whole fish and saving one for leftovers to represent surplus in the new year, serving a whole chicken to represent wholeness and prosperity, and serving items like spring rolls, which resemble gold bars and symbolize wealth and mooncakes (which are traditionally eaten at the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival) whose roundness represents family unity, completeness and togetherness.

🥮 Mooncakes

I think mooncakes are one of the most interesting cookies I've ever made. The recipe requires different ingredients and steps than I would usually use for baking cookies. I even needed to go to a Chinese specialty supermarket to get some of the ingredients to make these mooncakes as traditional as possible. Let's go over some of the cool ingredients: Lye water - which brings the pretzel-like color to the dough. You can either buy "lye water" or make your own using lye powder and water. Glutinous rice flour - which is important for a chewy filling. Salted duck egg yolks - (yes, what an AWESOME product) is optional, but truly gives such depth to the cookie. Last thing to mention, in order to get the identical pattern you need to get a mooncake mold (easily available on Amazon). It creates such beautiful moon cake - you won’t ever regret the purchase!

🫔 Vegetarian Eggroll

I guess that because these crispy rolls turned out being a little thicker than spring rolls we will call them Egg Rolls. They are fried 3 times so expect an extra crispiness here! These egg rolls are made with a homemade filo paper. You wouldn't believe how easy is to make it by yourself. All you need is flour and water and that's it. Simply heat up a pan and brush the batter on, after a minute you have a beautiful paper to wrap your veggies up! Some of my American-Chinese friends here in the USA recommended me to make the rolls vegetarian for Lunar New Year, so I decided to skip the proteins that time. Still super YASSS rolls!

🥠 Fortune Cookies

Fortune cookies are not just super cool cookies; they are also so YUM!! I think that was the easiest recipe to make and the hardest to shoot. The reason is that there is no proofing time, mix all the ingredients, and you are ready to bake. The thing is to handle the cookie sheet super duper fast once coming out of the oven before they firm. I asked you to give me some fun liners, and I put them in my cookies. It is such an amazing activity to do with friends and kids. I highly recommend baking one cookie at a time (max two). These cookies make me smile every time I see them, and I wanted to share it with you. I want to see more creative phrases in your cookies!

🥩 Meat Carneval: 10 FREE TICKETS Available for Texans!

If you so happen to find yourself in Austin, Texas today, tomorrow, or Saturday - make sure to check out the Meat Carneval. I will be there! We have a few tickets we'd like to share with our community here (Discount codes and link to order here below). It is a truly unique and unforgettable experience. With more than 20 chefs from all over the world showcasing their culinary skills, you'll have the chance to sample a wide variety of delicious dishes, from Texas BBQ to Mediterranean cuisine. And don't forget about the free beer and wine, live music, and open flame cooking – it's a feast for all the senses! But this isn't your typical dining experience – there are no waiters, no cutlery, and no rules. Grab a plate and dive in, using your hands to savor every bite. And vegetarians, don't worry – they've got you covered too.

10 FREE TICKETS using the code "YASSS" (first come, first served)

Unlimited 15% off for tickets using the code "SUPERHOT"

Hope you have a weekend full of YASSS! Until next Thursday Gingis.

Love, Ben xx

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