Scallion Pancakes for Chinese New Year

By Sandy Hu
A new video for Video Friday

Chinese New Year falls on Sunday, February 10, as we usher in the year of the snake. Despite our Chinese surname, our family doesn’t have a tradition of celebrating this important Chinese holiday. But we might cook up a few Chinese dishes, just to feel connected.

It you’re putting together a New Year menu in celebration, try this Scallion Pancake recipe from Andrew Hunter, for starters. He shows busy families how to shortcut the prep time by using flour tortillas instead of making the pancakes from scratch.

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Traveling by Fork

By Marilyn Hunter

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

I also believe a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single bite. There are so many ways to travel. My family taught me the joy of a journey through books, movies and food. I like to think of our dinner table as a place to gather together for sustenance and adventure – a way to explore and discover. Eating together and trying new foods is such a great way to learn about different cultures, traditions and customs.

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Happy Chinese New Year

By Sandy Hu

When I was about 25, I threw my first Chinese New Year dinner party, inviting friends to our New York apartment. I’m not of Chinese heritage, and Steve, who is, didn’t have a tradition of celebrating Chinese New Year, having lost some of the customs along the way as a fourth-generation Chinese-American.

Gathering recipes from cookbooks, I put together an ambitious, multi-course meal that thrilled my friends. But I was exhausted by the effort of trying to get all the dishes – most of which I had never cooked before – to the table in a timely manner.

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Easy Chinese New Year Dish Starts with a Bottled Sauce

By Sandy Hu

Special Fork food editor Linda Lau Anusasananan found herself in the Chinese sauce business quite by accident. She happened to sit at a food professionals’ meeting next to a food manufacturer who produced food products for other company’s brands.

Linda, an accomplished Chinese cook and a long-time member of the Sunset magazine food editorial staff, reflected, “I used to cook mostly Asian food at home and I found making the sauces took most of my time. In 1983 there weren’t many sauces available that were very good.” So she and her husband Terry took the plunge.

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