New Year, New Site!

Hi, if you've landed here, I've moved my blog to my new and rebranded website, so PLEASE visit me at wokstar.us/blog!

This will be the last post here...
I was invited by NBC Miami to celebrate Chinese New Year with their audience and thought you might enjoy some funny things that happened and the three lessons I learned:
– check lists are only good if you actually check them
– sisters are helpful except when their shots are of producer’s backs
– you can’t always trust your GPS

Thanks to Betty Yu, news reporter for NBC Miami for hooking me up with the producer for the Today Weekend Sunday Show to celebrate Chinese New Year!

Jennifer Reeves, meteorologist made my cooking segment so much FUN! She’s the BEST, got right to my cooking classes and Wok Star Kit, what a STAR!

I got Jennifer to stir fry and had to apologize because she had to use a plastic spatula, yuk! While packing for the TV appearance, I forgot to repack my spatula even though I checked it over & over, so thank goodness there was one in the studio drawer! This goes to show the IMPORTANCE of a good tool and why my spatula is so perfect.

Uh the spatula wasn’t the only thing I forgot, I also forgot the dish to put my prepped vegetables prior to the stir fry. Good thing I can think fast and used the red paper plates!

Sharon Lawson, news reporter had a taste of the Sizzling Shrimp dish and asked about my Chinese New Year table setting before winding down the news show. I can’t wait for them to join me in a Wok Star class.

After the show, we were chatting and Sharon thought she was supposed to sprinkle the contents of her red packet into the Shrimp dish! Good thing Jennifer stopped her cause she knew it was a buddha inside!

It was fortunate my sister, Valerie was visiting and was able to help me. It’s not easy to drive, work the GPS, setup and take photos as well as focus on my message, ha, ha!

Thanks to Yari, the floor producer for all your help. Sorry, my sister only got your back! Wow, you were fantastic running the whole show. I love how the reporters and producer would say, “oh, 15 seconds is a long time!” Really?

Thanks NBC Miami for inviting me!

Chinese New Year at Chu's

We decided foolishly to celebrate Chinese New Year day at Chu's with my sister, her hubby and her friends. Calm before craziness, but to be expected for such a big event. Chu's will be holding another Chinese New Year event this Friday, February 11. So, if you want to experience a traditional dragon dance etc., reserve NOW. Enjoy. Don't say I didn't warn you there's a long wait before your dinner arrives, so have a little snack before going. Worth the wait and good to have an appetite. Happy Rabbit Year!

Wok Star Eleanor Hoh & Norika Chu
We managed to get a shot together before guests arrived!

Norika presents Peking Duck before carving it up!

Norika was so fast at carving & making these rolls for us!
Definitely don't want to share with so many next time.

After waiting 1 1/2 hours for our dinner to arrive, everyone snatched these rolls so I had to scramble to get this shot and others! Sorry, they're all a bit dark and blurry.

Here's remainder of Peking duck stir fried with veggies.

Huge scallops with black beans & bell peppers on a sizzling platter.

We had to order long life noodles for luck. This came with seafood & veggie.

Loved this eggplant dish that came in a clay pot and kept hot on a little burner.

The guy who leads the dragon has to learn to get OUT OF THE WAY so silly us can get the shot! The guy was in every shot I took. Lots of banging of drums and cymbals. I put a red packet into the mouth of the dragon dancer. He looked dazzled by the frenzy. His mouth was full of red packets, poor thing.

East meets west with jazz music in between.

Baby bok choy, needed twice as much. We love veggies.

It's very strange eating with westerners, they don't understand 'family style' where you pick what you want and eat slowly with your rice! Well, the other reason was we were STARVING. Everything was delicious.
After dinner, we dropped by Villa 221 to enjoy reggae music on the beautiful back deck. The weather was gorgeous. I am quite excited about this new venue and hope to hold some of my Wok Star events there. They have a cozy and cool lounge area to set the mood and tone to my class.

If you fell off track with your New Year's resolution, this post explains my easy approach and Wok Star Kit with everything to help you kickstart for a healthier, happier and slimmer you.

You might also enjoy a Simple Home Dinner my sister and I made together showing that dinners don't have to be a big deal.

WOK STAR KIT KICKSTARTS CHINESE NEW YEAR HEALTHY RESOLUT

Buddha's Delight, a Wok Star's modern twist!

Chinese New Year this year falls on February 3rd, and it's the Year of the Rabbit. My husband is one, so it's his year to shine. If you've missed the western new year's resolutions to eat healthier, you can kick start it with our Chinese New Year and a new approach to cooking with my Wok Star Kit. My Kit has the both the tools and techniques to help you succeed and Be a Wok Star, hence the name of my blog!

My family usually celebrates New Year Eve with a dish of everything like chicken, fish, shrimp, pork and many veggie dishes as well as fried rice and longlife noodles. These dishes symbolize good luck, health and prosperity, you can find out more about this topic in my other New Year posts below.

I wanted to cook Buddha's Delight because it uses both fresh and dried veggies to give different textures and flavors. I hope you'll try this dish even if you don't have any dried ingredients where you live, it's not essential but adds an Asian touch. I've included gourmet morels and sugar snap to give it a modern twist.

Typical vegetables used in this dish are cabbage or lettuce with Chinese mushrooms, toufu, dried bean curd sticks, glass noodles, fungus, hair moss. My husband had two huge helpings before I could take my final shot in a serving bowl, oops, so the dish above was it! I had to set some aside for my sister to try as she's arriving tonight. We're going out New Year's Day to celebrate at Chu's with the traditional dragon dance as well as jazz music, yeah, nothing like a mix of east and west. It's a busy week, also giving a cooking class New Year's Eve at beautiful Lyons Spa who's a new venue hosting my classes this year.

Here's what and how I made my Buddha's Delight with.

Fresh vegetables I had were napa cabbage, sugar snap peas, carrots and scallions.
Fresh garlic and ginger are mandatory to start off any stir fry.

Dried veggies included Chinese mushrooms, morels, fungus, bean curd sheets, goji berries. These need to be rehydrated in warm water to plump them up.
I cooked the dried ingredients in my clay pot, another wonderful piece of cookware which I love using. It makes everything so juicy and tender. Added dash of tamari, sherry and a little black vinegar.

Because there were quite a lot of different veggies, I stir fried them in batches. It's important not to overload your wok, it lowers the temperature of your wok and creates juice, resulting in a 'soupy' stir fry, a very common mistake.
First, I fried napa cabbage with carrots, always starting with garlic and ginger. Added dash of tamari and sherry.
Next, I fried the sugar snap peas with goji berries and added scallions last. Added dash of tamari and sherry.
Last, I recombined the fresh vegetables and dried vegetables from the clay pot.

I served Buddha's Delight right from the hot wok! We had it with some curried grilled leg of lamb. Yes, very untraditional but that's what being a Wok Star is all about.

This Year of the Rabbit, BE A WOK STAR! Kung Hei Fat Choy...

Here are some simple wok dishes to show you eating healthy isn't about deprivation but ADDING flavors and textures to spice up your appetite and palette. These dishes illustrates easy, mostly one-dish dinners and mostly cooked in my cast iron wok.

Crispy Potstickers

Easy Kimchi

Pineapple Fried Rice

Crispy Shrimp

Fried or Grilled Fish

Healthy, Delicious Snacks

CHINESE NEW YEAR EATS:
If you don't want to cook and just want to eat out, here's a great roundup if you live in Miami.

CHINESE NEW YEAR EVENTS:
Miami Dade College's Chinese New Year events.
Feb. 1, 2, 20 (main, big event)
This year, they've expanded to 2 other campuses! Get details here:

IBPS Fo Guang Shan Temple
An amazing lineup of innovative & multicultural performers blending East and West. I hope to see this.
Sunday, Feb.6: 2pm - 3:30pm
9341 NW 57th St, Tamarac, FL 33351
FREE
Details of performances here.

MY OTHER CHINESE NEW YEAR POSTS:

Chinese New Year, Simple Home Dinner:
Roast Duck, Zesty Shrimp & Veggies

Year of Tiger 2010

Year of Ox 2009

Year of Rat 2008

There are hundreds of Asian food blogs, too many to mention but you can see some here.

My friend, Shulie who I 'met' through Twitter has done her homework and posted a list of superb Asian food blogs to celebrate Chinese New Year, honoring some awards.

I love New Asian Cuisine, it's full of resources, chef features, interesting tid bits and recipes from all over the world. Here's their Chinese New Year roundup.

Chinese New Year - simple home dinner is best!

The best way to celebrate Chinese New Year is a simple dinner at home with your family. You don't have to get stressed with a big production.

Earlier in the day, I had given a Wok Star cooking class to celebrate Year of the Tiger, so I didn't feel like going to a crowded, noisy restaurant that evening or pay the high prices usually jacked up on these occasions.

A red tablecloth is important because it signifies good luck. My friend, Irene had given me some beautiful napkins with "chopsticks", so appropriate for the occasion, thanks.

My brother-in-law is Italian, so he picked out a Chamarre Shiraz Merlot which went very well with everything.

I noticed my sister had snuck a duck leg on her plate!

I had bought a whole roast duck (everyone's favorite), already carved and just needed crisping up under the grill.
It was so much fun to cook with my sister, reminded me of our childhood, cooking, laughing with our mom and two other sisters.

I also fried up a plain veggie dish of Chinese broccoli and bok choy.

A dish of plump shrimp with a spicy, zesty brown bean sauce, asparagus and carrots. This is a dish I actually made in class earlier so I had all the fixings already so no big deal. Everything was ready in about half an hour!

This was my plate with the duck leg, yummy.

For dessert, a few Chinese cakes like almond cookies, coconut tart and melon pastry. My sister brought some Vosges chocolates. They have the most amazing and strange combinations but so good, it perks up your taste buds.

We even went to the Wynwood/Design District Art Walk after dinner. I'm not sure how I managed it as I'd already been on my feet for about 6 hours! We walked probably 2 miles, popping into all the galleries was fun, many had Valentine themed art and gifts.

My brother-in-law bought me a lovely bangle from Ecoist.

It was made out of recycled sweetie wrappers, so cheerful.

What a lovely way to celebrate Year of the Tiger and Valentine's Day!

Love to hear how you spent your Chinese New Year?

More Chinese New Year Celebrations:

Celebrate Chinese New Year with the Wok Star - 2010:

Year of Ox - 2009:

Year of Rat - 2008:

Celebrate Year of Tiger with the Wok Star! (Updated)

Red signifies good luck and prosperity and I just like red, so lots of it!
That's a lovely, round lacquer box for crystallized snacks.

Dragon dance

KUNG HEI FAT CHOY!

Year of the Tiger falls on the same day as Valentine's Day this year! So, there are many, many events around Miami. I have 4 events scheduled (see below), so I won't have time to cook for my friends or organize a gathering this year. But here are some dishes I made from previous Chinese New Year celebrations. I actually did manage to cook a cozy, simple dinner for my sister and husband and will post in a separate blog: Chinese New Year - simple home dinner is best!

Visit your Asian market and get red packets and decorative stuff to put all around your house.

Sesame Noodles served room temperature
and Roast Chicken from the Asian market (easy).

Cucumber Pickle and Char Siu,
best savored with ice cold Tiger Beer and Fiji Water

Chinese desserts: coconut tarts, melon pastries,
almond cookies, crystallized snacks, tangerines

Well, I already broke my no.2 resolution which was to call 3 Wok Stars a week! No. 1 resolution was to "open my umbrella" and be more "open" to new ways of doing the same thing. So, now I'm going to add no.3 resolution which is to CHANGE the way I do things. I read this quote on Twitter and it was an "AHA" moment. It was something like: To succeed, focus on CHANGE not RESULTS. CHANGE is good. I love to stir things up, so this year I'm going to be full of CHANGES.

For Tiger folks, here's one to help Tigers get together and stay together. I can't vouch for the accuracy or anything but fun to scan through.

So many wonderful Asian food bloggers have produced some amazing posts for Chinese New Year, do visit them:

Bee of Rasa Malaysia is one of my favorites, it is beautiful and has a Chinese New Year series from a variety of guests.

Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen does an incredible job with step by step photos. If you've still not bought her book, there's a 40% discount on her Steamy Kitchen Cookbook if you hurry. She gave me a nice mention in her book, thanks Jaden!

Andrea Nguyen, recently had her book published, Asian Dumplings. Her Viet Kitchen blog is full of Vietnamese foods and stories. Here's her Year of Tiger traits, horoscope etc.

Diane Kuan, an accomplished writer and cooking teacher listed the Chinese New Year Foods - Top 10 picks.

Jen Lee was a research lab scientist so she loves to experiment. Here are her Chinese New Year Recipes.

Paula Nino of Mango and Lime listed a number of Chinese New Year events around Miami.

2 Wok Star Classes - Healthy and absolutely yummy
A perfect combination of socializing, entertaining and learning

Ready for CHANGE? Try my NO-RECIPE approach for weeknight dinners. Using a few fresh ingredients and seasonings is all you need for weeknight dinners, all cooked in a cast iron wok.

$55 per person

4 dishes savored with Gancia Prosecco and Fiji Water

door prizes from sponsors

handouts with Asian markets and brands of ingredients

2 woks and gas stoves going

reservations and prepayment required

click for menu, more details and gift certificates

1. Saturday, February 13: 12pm-3pm

upscale Italian kitchen design by Antonio Citterio

3140 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Coral Gables FL 33134

Scenes from last Saturday's class. Chinese New Year setup at Arclinea.
Thanks to Arclinea for hosting me, always fun there!

photo credit: Christine Najac

SouthFloridaFoodandWineBlog.com

Vegetable platter ready for stir fry, eaten with

Soy sauce chicken and Char Siu from the Asian market.

Thanks Christine for sharing your wonderful photos and making it a "live" twitter event.

photo credit: Christine Najac

I demonstrate how to "cut" vegetables Asian style.

photo credit: Christine Najac

A selection of Chinese cakes: coconut tart, bite size almond cookies and melon pastry.

"Graduation" photo by Christine Najac

Here are my photos from the class at Arclinea, enjoy!

2. Wednesday, February 24: 7-10pm

custom Italian kitchens and baths

Brickell Financial District

53 SW11th Street, Miami, FL 33130

Tall orchid arrangement made a dramatic presence in the beautiful Italian kitchen showroom, so welcoming and cheerful. Thanks to Pedini Miami for hosting me and all the work you put in to make this happen. I was also honored that David, the GM came fro Sarasota to experience this event. Plenty of drinks especially Gancia Prosecco and Fiji Water to go with my Rainbow Lettuce Wrap appetizer while everyone got to know each other.

Two cast iron woks and 2 portable gas stoves setup ready for Wok Stars and the big sizzle!

Soy chicken and Char Siu are usually warmed in the microwave but I was so excited about scoring this new venue, I forgot to ask if they had a microwave oven! I solved this quickly by having Hayli (my assistant who keeps me sane and a Johnson & Wales culinary graduate, see her in Wok Star tee below.) to warm chicken in the rice cooker and I warmed up the Char Siu in the 2 woks, worked out perfectly! It's actually how I like to warm up roast meats from the Asian market at home, so much tastier. Another great use of my cast iron wok.

"Graduation" photo by Angie Chen, see more photos.

Angie is studying to be an art director at The Miami Ad School and kindly took photos at the class.

Here are my photos on Flickr. Lots of you enjoying Rainbow Lettuce Wrap Appetizer, thanks for coming.

Thanks to Plum TV, Megan Harris for promoting this class on 5 best things to do this week!

If you're interested to take my Wok Star cooking class with me, all the photos will give you a good idea of how I run my class.

2 WOK STAR APPEARANCES:

I'll choose from a selection of fresh veggies and protein to show quick, easy, one-dish dinners cooked in my cast iron wok.

1. Sunday, Feb.14: 2pm

FREE with festival admission ($10)

Coconut Grove Art Festival

Culinary Pavilion

South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133

The Culinary Presentations get better every year, this year, they even had cameras to shoot closeups projected on big monitors! Thanks to Coconut Grove Art Festival for inviting me back the 3rd year! Thanks to many who signed up for my newsletter/cooking classes (hope to see you soon.)

Check out other demonstrations! Chef Douglas Rodriguez is right after me. My buddy, Chef Hugh Sinclair is on at 4pm with his delicious Caribbean dishes. Thank heavens my sister came to help me out, I used my oil to fry an egg for breakfast and didn't put it back in my caddy! I got my sis to run to the Creperie booth to get some oil. BTW, next time you go to this festival, get the Skirt steak with spinach, mushrooms and cheese, it was very good, tender big chunks of beef. I was recommending to everyone.

2. Saturday, Feb.20: 1-4pm

FREE DEMO in Produce Dept.

Whole Foods Market - Pinecrest

11701 S. Dixie Hwy, S.Miami, FL 33156

Join me in the Produce Department where I'll be showing how to make healthy, easy, one-dish, weeknight dinners. Using my NO-RECIPE technique and Wok Star Kit to "mix and match" a variety of fresh veggies with grass fed beef and shrimp. My Squirt, Squeeze, Shake of a few seasonings is all you need for a simple and yummy, sizzling stir fry meal that even picky kids will eat! I'll post about what I learned from this demo soon! That's why interacting with a live audience is so important, I learn what problems people are having with their wok cooking or "what's for dinner?" syndrome.

P.S. Just got a nice email to say they "loved having" me there and invited me back in May, yay, will keep you posted.

You might also enjoy more Chinese New Year Celebrations:

Chinese New Year - simple home dinner is best

Year of Ox - 2009:

Year of Rat - 2008: