You may think the holiday celebrations are over, but for over a billion people around the world, it’s just about to start. Chinese New Year, the longest and most important festivity in Chinese culture commences on January 23 for two weeks.
The traditions of this holiday – hanging auspicious decorations, exchanging lai see packets of money, and gathering for feasts with family – are particularly meaningful to me. Twenty-five years ago my family moved to Hong Kong and we’ve been embracing Chinese customs ever since.
So I was honored to have the opportunity to interview James Beard award-winning Chef Susanna Foo and chat about the New Year plans for her Radnor restaurant, Susanna Foo’s Gourmet Kitchen.
“Chinese New Year is akin to Thanksgiving or Christmas here in the United States,” Chef Foo explained. “It’s one of the most exciting events of the year for families.”
Food, of course, is woven throughout the celebrations and plays a starring role. Chef Foo shared her childhood memories: “My mother and grandma would spend several days beforehand preparing the food and curing sausages. We’d eat lots of dumplings on New Year’s Eve and Day, and spend the days after visiting each other.”
The eve of the New Year, as well as the first day, is the most important time of the festivities, spent visiting family and elders, feasting and celebrating. With this in mind, Chef Foo is planning a special Grand New Year’s Brunch on Sunday, January 29 for families, complete with traditional lion dancing and Chinese musicians (call the restaurant for details).
Chef Foo also gave us a preview taste of the four-course menu that Gourmet Kitchen will feature January 23 through February 19 (except V-day weekend). Some dishes are a nod to the year of the dragon – the most legendary of the Chinese animal symbols, known for its energy, talent, robust health and success. Like the Red Dragon Maki, comprised of spicy tuna and avocado inside, yellowtail and salmon outside, with a red caviar topping. The color red symbolizes prosperity and can be found everywhere during Chinese New Year.
Other highlights of the four-course menu include a lobster spring roll with papaya and mint salad. Grilled five spice beef tenderloin is complemented by coconut polenta and vegetables. Chef Foo also offers a poached lemon sole with squash-quinoa risotto and Shanghai baby bok choy. Choose from desserts like a panna cotta trio with mango, adzuki bean and ginger, served with a rock sugar kumquat. The four course menu is priced at $45 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity.
“Creative Asian cuisine with a European influence” is how Chef Foo describes her culinary approach. “I don’t limit myself. I use ingredients like jalapenos, olive oil and artichokes.” Part of the reason, she shared, is because you don’t always have access to the best Chinese ingredients here in the U.S., like fermented black vinegar.
But choosing not to set culinary boundaries, as many of us know, is what propelled Chef Foo to international acclaim over the past few decades. By melding traditional Chinese foods with classical French techniques, she brought Chinese food into the modern realm.
Today, her focus is on Susanna Foo Gourmet Kitchen, which is managed by her son Gabriel. They take several trips a year to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other destinations around Asia, which influences the restaurant’s ever-changing menu.
The handcrafted dumplings, inspired by the dumplings Chef Foo loved to eat growing up in Shaanxi, are one of my favorite bites at Gourmet Kitchen. I’ll gladly order them any time of year, but as it turns out they’re an especially auspicious meal to have during Chinese New Year. Dumplings symbolize wealth, because their shape resembles ancient Chinese money. Now isn’t that something to raise your chopsticks for?
Visit Susanna Foo Gourmet Kitchen at 555 East Lancaster Ave. in Radnor. For more info call 610.688.8055 or visit susannafoo.com.
