Hong Kong Typhoon Shelter Crab

Typhoon Shelter Crab (Bìfēngtáng Chǎo Xiè, 避風塘炒蟹 ), a Hong Kong classic, is a consummate party centerpiece, perfect for Chinese New Year. Zoe Yang—who showed us how to butcher a live lobster a few months back—is here to walk us through butchering and frying a Dungeness crab for the occasion.

"The dish is made up of a crab that has been butchered into shaggy pieces, tossed in starch, deep fried and, finally, stir-fried with a deluge of fried garlic. Yes, there is a lot of frying here (four frying steps in total), so this is truly a special occasion dish.

"All that frying, however, does NOT mean you end up with a grease bomb. In fact, excavating spicy-savory pieces of cracked crab from a mountain of crispy garlic is an experience not unlike digging into really great lazi ji 辣子鸡 (Chongqing chicken with chilies), in which chicken and dried chilies are both traditionally deep fried before stir-fried together. Both dishes are a balance of smoky wok hei, umami and spice. Both dishes are meant to stretch a dear protein and give the diner an irresistible fried condiment to 下饭 (xiàfàn), “send the rice down.” And both dishes, done well, have an addictive lightness."

If you've ever had this dish at Under Bridge Spicy Crab in Wan Chai, as many of us travelers have, get ready to relive those memories—plastic gloves not optional, as Zoe would say. 
 

Dongpo Pork

Zoe also gave us this head turner on a plate. Yes, it's red-braised pork belly, but not just any hongshao rou. This is Dongpo Rou, named after the great Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE) poet, essayist, civil servant and gourmand Su Dongpo. 

Not only is this story a superb read, but the dish of pork belly cubes braised in soy sauce with ginger, scallions and other aromatics is eminently doable. 
 

Three Umami Emerald Jade Dumplings 

In most Chinese homes in wouldn't be Lunar New Year without homemade dumplings. If you celebrate and your family wants to get fancy this year, why not make these Three Umami Dumplings in Emerald Jade Wrappers (Sanxian Jiaozi, 三鲜饺子). This recipe was contributed a while back by Michelle Zhao, who now owns a Yunnan restaurant in Bergen, Norway. 

"This two-toned, white-and-green dumpling is meant to evoke the color of emerald jade (翡翠白玉, fěicuì báiyù), a natural treasure that symbolizes auspiciousness in traditional Chinese culture. The wrapper is actually formed from two doughs, one made with water and the other with spinach juice as the liquid. You simply wrap the green dough around the white dough, slice the log into pieces and proceed as normal in rolling out the wrappers.

"The fillings are inspired by one of the most famous dumpling fillings, three umami flavor (三鲜, sānxiān), which in this case is pork, shrimp and dill (traditionally the third ingredient is Chinese chives, but I prefer dill)."
 

Baked Nian Gao

Mala Hot Pot

Hot pot is a favorite anytime there's a family gathering—including before, after or on New Year's Day. A special occasion like this is when you might want to go all out and make Mala Huoguo From Scratch. That's what we're doing because hot pot is Fongchong's favorite way to celebrate the new year.