Chinese New Year offers tons of opportunity for celebration: parades, dim sum brunches, and Chinatown feasts. It’s also a brilliant reason to throw a party! If you’re feeling ambitious, celebrate the year of the dragon by making your own dumplings or bun-or supplement any of the great main course treats that follow with takeout dumplings from one of NYC’s many $1-for-four-dumpling joints.
**The Best Chinese-Inspired New Year’s Treats**
1. Pork and String Bean Stir Fry. This was invented as an easy weeknight dinner for two, but it doubles as a buffet main for a crowd of Chinese New Year revelers, especially because all you really need on the side is a huge bowl of white or brown rice.
2. Ginger-Honey Chicken Wings. Remember the days when you could get good fried chicken wings at your local hole-in-the wall Chinese joint? These sort of/kind of evoke that Chinese-American favorite, and they’re fantastic party food. (Plus, they double as Super Bowl fare.)
3. Ginger-Scallion Noodles. Momofuku made these richly sauced noodles popular. But you know where Mr. Chang found them originally? In Chinatown. Yes. Though you’ll have to endure a reasonable amount of chopping and grating, make a vat of this sauce, buy tons of fresh or frozen ramen, and create a buffet around Ginger-Scallion Noodles featuring an array of add-your-own toppings, from hard-boiled eggs to nori to roasted eggplant.
4. Broccoli-in-Garlic-Sauce Fried Rice. This dish actually takes advantage of leftover brown rice and the remaining broccoli and garlic sauce from your recent takeout dinner. Yet, it’s one of those leftover dishes that doesn’t quite feel like leftovers, since it really is different, even better, from what came before. (You can also make it from scratch, if you’re cooking for a crowd.)
5. Noodles with BGSK Peanut Sauce. These may be our most-requested dish. The recipe makes a pretty massive amount. Garnish with cucumbers, scallions and sesame seeds and let your guests start slurping these addictive noodles. Note: they also make for excellent leftovers.
