Lunar New Year

This mixed vegetable dish takes its inspiration from Buddhist vegetarian cooking and can include any combination of ingredients that represent good luck, prosperity, happiness, family wholeness, and longevity. 

Rice cakes are available sliced, marble-shaped, and in batons. There are dried versions, but the refrigerated version is widely available and easier to work with. You can use any combination of vegetables and seasonings here, so feel free to experiment with flavors.

One great thing about dumplings is that you can use practically anything in the filling—and you can pan-fry them, or boil them, or deep-fry them.

Packed with greens, these boiled dumplings easily go vegetarian by switching out the ground pork for crumbled tofu.

Named for the famous 8th century Tang dynasty consort, Yang Guifei, this dish of juicy dark-meat chicken and peppers is sweet, sour, and just a little spicy.

The goal of longevity noodles is to create one long, slick, uniform strand, gently pulled over and over again until you get the right thickness.

These pan-fried dumplings are among the best selling items at Nom Wah Tea Parlor in New York City. The chicken gives the dumplings body, while the cabbage gives them volume.

The slightly sweet but mostly textural wrapper of the rice roll is the canvas for the sweetness of the shrimp.

Want showstopping presentation? Make homemade dumpling wrappers to stuff with a filling of spinach, hearty tofu, vermicelli, and fruity Sichuan peppercorns.

Making noodles by hand is a fulfilling cooking project. The results are perfectly chewy noodles, even with ragged edges and imperfect lines.

This casserole relies on the complementary flavors and textures of taro and pork belly: one meaty, the other earthy; one chewy, the other tender.

Since Chinese eggplant has fewer seeds, it is noticeably less bitter than its fellow nightshades. This makes it the perfect ensemble player in this cast of heat, ginger, and garlic.

You’ll find Korean rice cakes in all kinds of shapes and sizes—from long cylinders to thin, oblong rounds. While their flavor does not change according to shape, textures do. Thin rice cakes work well for this stir-fry, as they quickly absorb flavors and soften into crispy, chewy coins.

This roll can be filled with whatever you like: beef, pork, or vegetables. The combination in this recipe is my favorite.

Dried red dates, also known as jujubes, contribute an earthy-sweet caramel flavor to this toffee-glazed cake from Pastry Chef Danielle Spencer of Win Son Bakery in Brooklyn. Look for red dates in most Asian groceries or health food stores.

A slight twist on scallion noodles: the same savory, lip-smacking flavor but now with a lot of texture from the crunchy, spicy garlic topping.

These pancakes get their light texture from a batter made with club soda. Pressing hard on them when frying makes them crisp.

This recipe moves fast—stay on top of it by prepping and lining up your ingredients before you start cooking.

The flavor of the soy paste really shines here, so use the best-quality one you can find. We like Yu Ding Xing’s glutinous rice soy paste.