Making a Reunion Dinner for the Whole Family
Reunions and Joyous Gatherings New Year's Eve Dinner, red and prosperous for the new year! The family reunion dinner during the Spring Festival is also a grand gathering of the whole family, known as "Reunion Year"or "Family Joy". Or """During the Spring Festival period, when relatives and friends drop by, preparing a rich and nutritious meal with meaningful dishes is necessary. Gathering friends and family to share the sweet and bitter experiences of the past year over delicious food truly makes one feel happy! As New Year approaches and the festive atmosphere grows thicker, have you started planning which dishes to prepare for the dinner table? During the Spring Festival season, dumplings are considered very auspicious. Eating dumplings during this period is a custom in many regions across China. There are various types of dumplings such as vegetable dumplings,
radishdumplings,glutinous rice dumplings,fish balls, and so on, made from different ingredients with diverse flavors.Dumplings symbolize family happiness, harmony, and unity. Therefore, many families prepare a lot of semi-finished dumpling products before the Spring Festival to save time when preparing the New Year's Eve dinner. When prepared during the Spring Festival period, they can be quickly cooked in a short time, providing a rich variety of dishes even if one is unwilling to cook in the kitchen. Various types of dumplings can be simmered together, resulting in a nutritious and flavorful "Family Reunion"dish. Reunions and Joyous GatheringsIngredients: One wholesilver carptail [about 1000 grams], salt 12 grams, egg whites 2, monosodium glutamate 4 grams,
ginger
a little.Reunions and Joyous Gatherings recipe 1. Cut the fish tail open, remove the bones and abdominal spines, take off the skin and red meat, wash away the blood water, cut into pieces, add some ginger slices to deodorize.Then put it in a blender with water to blend into fish paste, the ginger slices can be added directly [the ratio of fish meat to water is 1:1]. 2. Mix salt and monosodium glutamate into the fish paste until well blended, then add egg whites and mix thoroughly. Using your left hand's thumb and index finger, form the fish paste into balls with a spoon.Use low heat to slowly cook the fish balls in a clay pot, avoid high heat as it can cause holes in the balls, affecting their texture. 3. Fish paste can be steamed or fried into fish cakes.
This type of fish cake has good texture and longer storage time.
A little cheese powder added to the fish paste will give a golden color and aroma when fried; if not available, cornstarch can be used as a substitute.Mix the fish paste in the same way and fry it in oil at an appropriate temperature. After floating on the surface of the oil, continue frying until slightly crispy, then remove. Meatball preparation is simple with many optional ingredients such as radish, bamboo shoots, glutinous rice, etc.To make them delicious, fully mixing water into the meat paste and blending it well are necessary steps. After adding water and seasonings, blend thoroughly to allow the meat and water to combine. This results in soft and tender meatballs with significantly shortened cooking time.5. Besides frying, steaming is another method for making meatballs with a unique flavor. Mix minced meat with scallion and ginger, salt, and monosodium glutamate until well blended. Clean and blanch the water chestnut in boiling water, then chop it finely and mix with the meat filling to make water chestnut meat paste.
Pour cornstarch into a large dish. With the meat paste, form small balls by pressing them out with your fingers and rolling them in the starch. Shake the dish to coat the meat balls evenly with the starch.Boil the meat balls in water until they float. Coat the meat balls again with starch before boiling them to cook through. Remove when the surface is translucent.
After preparing several types of meatballs, making this grand reunion is easier. Additional ingredients can be added based on available ingredients at home.Heat a wok with a small amount of rapeseed oil and add scallions and ginger to stir-fry until fragrant. Pour in a bowl of water, or better yet, chicken or beef broth. Add the meatballs and various other ingredients into the pot and simmer for several minutes. Season with salt and monosodium glutamate before serving. This fish ball has a good texture and can be stored for a longer time. Add some kiri powder to the fish paste; when fried, it looks appealing and fragrant. If kiri powder is not available, cornstarch can be used as a substitute. Shape the fish paste into balls, then fry them in oil at 30% heat until they float. Increase the heat slightly to make the exterior slightly crispy before removing them.
4.Meatballs are relatively simple to make and have many ingredients that can be added, such as turnips, water chestnuts,lotus root, cooked glutinous rice, etc. To make good meatballs, it is essential to properly mix the meat with water until it becomes well-bound. Mix in water and seasonings thoroughly so that the meat and water are fully combined. This will result in soft and tender meatballs and significantly reduce cooking time.
Aside from frying, you can also use the water boiling method for the meatballs; this will give them a different texture. Mince the meat with minced scallions and ginger,MSG and mix well to ensure it binds well.Waterdropwort washes, blanches in boiling water, cools, chops finely, then mixes with the meat paste to make waterdropwort meat filling. Pour the starch into a large dish. Shape the waterdropwort meat filling into small balls and place them on the starch. Shake the dish gently so that the balls roll around and get coated in the starch. Place the ball-shaped fillings in boiling water until they float. Remove and coat with another layer of starch. Reimmerse the balls in boiling water until fully cooked, ensuring their surfaces are transparent before removing them.
Besides making various types of meatballs, you can also prepare a big family reunion dish. Other ingredients can be added based on what is available at home. Heat up a wok with a little rapeseed oil, add minced scallions and ginger to stir-fry until fragrant. Pour in one bowl of water,or chicken broth if available.Add the meatballs and other ingredients to the simmering liquid, cook for a few minutes, then season with salt and MSG as needed. This completes the preparation. Put the meatballs and various ingredients in the pot to simmer together. Roll them around for a few minutes, then add an appropriate amount of salt and monosodium glutamate for seasoning.
