The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current, February 06, 2023, Page 15, Image 15

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    FOOD
February 6, 2023
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 15
Lunar New Year desserts: customary or “cute-ified”
By Terry Tang
The Associated Press
very Lunar New Year without fail,
Kat Lieu’s mother would make her
steamed nian gao, which is a sweet
rice — or mochi — cake. It was a tasty
tradition of having dessert for breakfast.
The Seattle-based author of the Modern
Asian Baking at Home cookbook and
founder of the Subtle Asian Baking online
group switches things up for her 9-year-old
son. He gets mochi waffles made with
bright green pandan the first morning of
the new year.
“This year again I’m going to make the
waffles,” said Lieu, who is half Chinese
and half Vietnamese. “I’m also going to
make the steamed nian gao and things like
that, and try to have him appreciate it
more, too.”
Unlike Thanksgiving, when pie is a
given at many households, desserts and
confections at Lunar New Year are as
varied as the Asian diasporas around the
world that celebrate it.
Families from China to the U.S. to
Vietnam marked the new year on January
22 with the usual customs such as
elaborate dinners and red envelopes with
money for children. And there were
customary sweet snacks like nian gao. But
in this age of social media, food savviness,
and cultural pride, younger generations of
Asians also are getting more inspired to
have dessert courses that are whimsical
and creative — from black sesame
financiers to peanut butter miso cookies.
In Beijing, residents have been flocking
to the flagship store of Daoxiangcun, one of
the city’s best-known bakeries, for new
year-themed dessert gift boxes in which
some of the pastries were shaped like The
Rabbit, the animal of this year’s Chinese
zodiac.
On Saturday, people stood in line
outside the store for hours for the chance to
buy baked goods, according to a staffer.
Even at a less popular branch half a block
away, customers still had to wait 40
minutes.
For Lexi Li, it was about bringing a little
something to loved ones even though it
meant waiting in the line for seven hours
in sub-freezing temperatures.
“I don’t really like desserts and pastries,
but I just want to bring something home as
a gift,” said the 30-year-old, who walked
out with a stack of eight boxes for friends
and family in her hometown of Taiyuan, in
central China’s Shanxi province.
Known for its diverse food culture,
China offers a variety of Lunar New Year
desserts that are usually rice-based or
flour-based. They include tang yuan,
which are mochi-esque rice balls with
black sesame or peanut paste in soup, as
well as sesame balls, almond cookies,
candied lotus seeds, and fat goh —
steamed cakes also known as prosperity
cakes.
Nian gao remains one of the most
popular options. Its key ingredient is
glutinous rice flour, along with other
E
things such as taro, dates, jujube, and red
bean paste, depending on the variety. Its
name is a homonym for “higher year” in
Chinese, meaning a more prosperous year
ahead and expressing wishes for children
to grow taller.
The well-preserved tradition plays a
vital role in passing on Chinese culture
because it keeps alive a food culture
honoring grains and reminding people of
how festivals are celebrated going back to
the seventh century, according to Siu Yan
Ho, a Hong Kong-based expert in Chinese
food culture.
“Food is memory, and this memory is
connected with festivals,” Siu said.
In Vietnam, which last month welcomed
the Year of the Cat, sweets also differ by
region. Vietnamese people eat nian gao,
which they call banh to. They also eat che
kho gao nep, a pudding made with sticky
rice and a mixture of water, ginger, and
either sugar or molasses. Other
delectables include che kho dau xanh — a
mung bean pudding made with coconut
milk and sugar — and banh tet chuoi, a
glutinous rice cake with bananas.
“On Lunar New Year, for three days you
go visit family, friends, and teachers,” said
Linh Trinh, a Vietnamese food historian
who is getting a Ph.D. in the subject at the
University of Michigan. “So everybody has
to store a lot of snacks in their house for
people to come visit and have tea. It
becomes like the pride of the household to
serve their traditional snacks.”
More U.S. companies are finding a sweet
spot in incorporating Lunar New Year
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elements. Cupcake chain Sprinkles, in
collaboration with the pan-Asian cultural
support nonprofit Gold House, is selling
red velvet cupcakes with an almond cookie
crust and almond cream cheese frosting.
At Disney California Adventure Park,
guests can order milk tea cheesecake with
taro mousse.
Judging
by
the
150,000-plus
membership of the Subtle Asian Baking
Facebook group, a lot of Asians are more
about showing off something they made for
the holiday rather than bought. The
community has come a long way from
when Lieu started it in 2020. For the third
year, there has been a virtual Lunar New
Year bake-off on Facebook and Instagram
where members share photos of stunning
macarons, chiffon cakes, and other
pastries.
“You’re innovating. You’re bringing
appreciation to all these amazing
ingredients,” Lieu said. “And then you’re
making it your own traditions, which is
amazing.”
Kelson Herman, of San Francisco,
crafted a sourdough boule with an illustra-
tion of Miffy, a girl bunny from a popular
Dutch children’s book series, for the Lunar
New Year. Already an avid baker, the
44-year-old got inspired by seeing online
CELEBRATORY CONFECTIONS. A worker
(top photo) packs a new year gift box with traditional
pastries at a branch of Daoxiangcun, one of the best-
known Chinese bakeries in Beijing, China, last month.
Pictured in the bottom photo are baked goods (from
left): Year of the Rabbit milk bread, a two-tier Lunar
New Year cake with a Year of the Rabbit theme, and a
sourdough boule with an illustration of Miffy, a rabbit
from a popular Dutch picture book series. In this age
of social media, food savvy, and cultural pride, youn-
ger generations of Asians are getting more inspired
to bring desserts to the family dinner table that are
whimsical and creative. (AP Photo/Caroline Chen)
what other people were doing.
“I see a lot of boundaries being pushed,
people trying to not just one-up each other
but be more creative,” Herman said. “I feel
like it always comes down to flavors that
bring back kind of familial memories. ... It
could be things that just evoke
conversation and family.”
In Queens, New York, Karen Chin made
a two-tier cake frosted in coconut
buttercream topped with a white chocolate
rabbit. One layer was vanilla with red
bean paste. The other was spiced cake with
cardamom and mango curd. It’s a far cry
from the fat goh her grandmother makes.
“I told my grandma that I was going to
make a cake. And she’s like, ‘Don’t make it
too complicated,’” Chin said, chuckling.
Yet, Chin’s creativity yielded some
special family moments.
“I was so touched because last time
when she came and she ate something,
she’s like ‘You make good food.’ I was like,
‘Wow, that’s the first time she
complimented me,’” Chin said.
Sue Ng, who was born and raised in
Canada but now lives in Hong Kong, loves
to “cute-ify” pastries for special occasions.
During the pandemic, she found a passion
for combining baking and her love of Asian
pop culture. Past Lunar New Year crea-
tions included a rolled cake that looked
like a White Rabbit Creamy Candy, a
Chinese brand as iconic as the Hershey
bar.
Ng said that because her two school-age
daughters have grown up in Hong Kong,
they’ve learned the importance of the
Lunar New Year, including the food. But
she also likes to throw in something
different, such as black sesame financiers
and salted egg yolk cookies.
“A Lunar New Year dessert to me is
something made using Asian elements
with reference to traditionally-made goods
during this time,” Ng said in an e-mail.
“Now we can be creative and make
something like nian gao-filled cookies and
the ideas are limitless! Sweet treats are a
must during this time because it
symbolizes a sweet life.”
Associated Press news assistant Caroline
Chen in Beijing contributed to this report.
Tang is a member of The Associated
Press’ Race and Ethnicity team.
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