CNY Isn't The Same Without ...

Chinese New Year can mean many things to many people. For the Chinese, it's the official start of the Lunar New Year, marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring (if you're in a region with seasons like China). It's a time to wipe the slate clean—literally—as a thorough cleaning of the house signifies sweeping away any bad luck and making way for the good.

For me and countless others, CNY revolves around the reunion dinner and the food that unites our families, if only for one night. Ever since my grandma passed, the festival has also become a week of remembrance for her and a beloved bamboo shoot dish she used to make only on CNY. There's no actual name for the dish, because as much as I've asked around my family, friends, and friends of friends, this doesn't seem to be a household staple that I'd initially presumed.

2024

We just call it 笋, or shun in English. One word, one syllable, highlighting the ingredient itself—like how coq au vin is literally chicken cooked in wine.

Actually, this is way more reductive, since shun doesn't indicate that it's braised in a deceptively simple stock of dark and light soy, laced with an ungodly amount of garlic. It doesn't tell you the dried bamboo shoots have to be soaked at least three days in advance before they're pliable enough to be sliced and stewed (preferably five, since there'd be a riot if this dish doesn't turn out).

It also fails to mention the hulking slab of pork belly that is twice-cooked – first boiled in lightly salted water and air-dried in front of a standing fan, then slathered with the richest, stickiest dark soy you can find before deep frying until the skin blisters – before it joins the pot, along with the light pork stock that it was initially cooked in.

(That final step goes against the basic principles of Chinese cooking for braises, where you typically discard the initial blanching liquid filled with impurities. No matter, you can't argue with the results. Plus, the one time I nearly discarded the initial stock by mistake, my aunts swooped in like a moth to the flame to, in their eyes, avert catastrophe and save CNY. Who am I to argue with such fervent dedication?)

Shun is essentially bamboo shoots, pork belly, garlic and dark soy. Since I've taken over the reins of this family heirloom, I typically add some chicken powder, MSG, rock sugar, and soy caramel to really round out the flavours, but I submit that I could make the dish slap with just these four humble ingredients.

2022

Over the years, I've streamlined this recipe into a well-oiled machine – pun intended. Shallow frying the pork belly was arduous and dangerous, we're talking Tom Cruise jumping out of a helicopter levels here. We used to lay newspapers strewn across the kitchen floor, because oil was bound to splatter anywhere and everywhere. Achieving that perfect 'puff' on the pork belly skin was crucial, but the dark soy coating introduced moisture, so the oil would splatter the moment the pork was dropped in.

I remember my grandma would drop the pork in the wok and immediately put the lid on, and for a good three to five minutes, we would hear the oil aggressively ping against the lid like a mini explosive setting off every few seconds, until slowly, the pings grew quieter and eventually dissipated. The first time I did it, I panicked and didn't properly put the lid on before scurrying to the other side of the kitchen. That day was the closest I came to seeing someone drop an ice cube into a deep fryer. That's also when I turned to the air fryer as I just refused to entertain the notion of an annual flirtation with mortal peril of my own volition. We only use the air fryer now – and no one can tell the difference!

CNY Bamboo Stew (makes 10 servings and plenty leftovers)

Ingredients: 

Dried bamboo x 1kg

Garlic x 6 whole bulbs, chopped 

Pork belly x 2kg 

Superior dark soy x 1 cup  

Rock sugar x 3 tbsp

Chicken powder x 4 tbsp 

Msg x 1 tsp 

Salt, to taste 

Method: 

1. Soak dried bamboo for 3 days, change water once everyday. 

2. On the 3rd day, bend the bamboo to see if it still feels very hard. If so, bring to boil then let cool in same water. 

3. If still very hard, change water then boil again in the night and let cool in same water. 

4. Cut pork belly into 2 or 3 big slabs, then blanch in boiling water for 10 mins. 

5. Take out pork belly, let cool, then douse in dark soy into it’s completely black. Don’t be shy with the dark soy, any leftover drippings can be chucked into the stew later. Reserve the water that the pork was boiled in. 

6. In a large pan or wok, stir fry garlic for a few mins till aromatic, then add bamboo shoots and fry together for 5-10 mins. 

7. Then throw all the bamboo and garlic into a large pot, add the reserved pork broth, and top up with water. 

8. Add dark soy to color, and season with 3 tbsp salt, 3 tbsp rock sugar, chicken powder and msg to start. 

9. Bring to boil then simmer for 1hr. Preheat air fryer at 240C. 

10. While bamboo is cooking, air fry pork belly for 10 mins on one side, flip and fry for another 10 mins. Make sure skin is slightly blistered, if not, return skin-side up for another 5 mins, then set aside.

11. Add fried pork belly and all the leftover drippings into the stew. 

12. Use a large perforated spoon or ‘spider’ to push bamboo to one side and drop the pork into the stew. The pork MUST be completely submerged to get that unctuous melty skin. 

13. Simmer for 1 more hour then season to taste with more rock sugar, salt and dark soy. 

14. Let it sit for at least 2-3 hours for flavours to develop. Taste again and adjust to your preference. 

15. Keep for up to a week on the stove, just boil it once every morning and night.