Chinese New Year Cooking: Our Experiences
Our takeaways from preparing and cooking food common in Chinese kitchens around the world
Sage: I’ve made fried potstickers before, but I thought that the experience making these steamed dumplings was much more immersive. Since Betsy has made them before, she taught me all of the techniques to fill and close them. We made them with chicken (because I don’t eat pork) which was a little unconventional and untraditional, however, I enjoyed being able to make and eat them to experience a little bit of Chinese culture. I really enjoyed the dumplings; they were very, very good. They were a little garlic-y, but aside from that I thought that they were some of the best I’ve ever had. Making these dumplings helped me to experience a little bit of Chinese culture and the timing was perfect as we made them right around the Chinese New Year.
Betsy: I have made steamed dumplings in the past. During March 2020 of quarantine, I made pork steamed dumplings by myself and it was a lot of work. So making them with Sage alleviated a lot of the work. We made chicken dumplings, and they were a little dry compared to if you make pork dumplings. However, they were still very delicious. I’ve been taking Chinese since Middle School and I’m in World Religions this semester, so it was perfect timing for my classes to learn about Chinese New Year and their culture.
