Healthy Recipes for the Chinese New Year

16 January 2007

Chinese Spinach Toss, Honey and Garlic Spare Ribs, and Honey Cake 3 ways - Apple, Pear or Coffee

Honey Cake is traditionally served at the Jewish New Year as a promise of the “sweet” things to come, but can be just as readily enjoyed for Chinese New Year.

Chinese Spinach Toss

3 ½ cups fresh bean sprouts
1/3 cup rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
1/3 cup salad oil
1/3 cup honey
2 tsp soy sauce
1 – ½ tsp fresh grated ginger root
1 bunch spinach, washed and stems removed
1 cup crisp Chinese noodles
1 cup diced jicama, or substitute water chestnuts, Jerusalem artichoke, tart apple or radish.

METHOD
Toss bean sprouts lightly with vinegar, oil, honey, soy sauce and fresh ginger. Chill at least 1 hour, tossing occasionally. Just before serving, add spinach and jicama (or your substitutes). Toss gently to coat. Top each serving with Chinese noodles.

For a main dish, add 350gm (12 oz) of cooked chicken, tuna or shrimp, cut into chunks.
Serves 6

Honey and Garlic Spare Ribs

1.5kg (3 1/2 lbs) Boston pork butt and/or spareribs

Marinade:
2 tblsp honey
2 tblsp hoisin sauce
1 tblsp oyster sauce
1 tblsp light soy sauce
1 tblsp dark soy sauce
3 - 4 garlic cloves, crushed

Other:
1/4 cup liquid honey, or 2 tblsp honey dissolved in 4 tblsp water

METHOD
If using pork butt, cut into 2cm (3/4”) lengthwise strips, trimming off part of the fat. For the spareribs, leave in big flat pieces and cut into individual ribs after cooking.

Place the pork butt or spareribs in a shallow dish. In a small bowl, combine the marinade ingredients. Add the mixture to the meat and marinate in the refrigerator, covered, for 2 hours. Turn occasionally to make sure the meat is completely coated.

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Line 1 or 2 cookie sheets with aluminum foil. Place a rack on the cookie sheet and place the pork on the rack. Roast the pork for 30 minutes.

Brush with the honey and water mixture, turn over and brush the other side, and then roast for another 25 - 30 minutes, or until the ribs just begin shrinking and the internal temperature reaches 70 C (160 F). Remove and cool briefly before serving.

*If the pork isn't cooking quickly enough, you can broil the meat for about 5 minutes before turning them over. For a more garlicky flavor, add extra garlic when brushing the pork with honey.
Serves 6 - 8

New Years Honey Cake – three ways - with Apple, Pears or Coffee

Honey Cake is traditionally served at the Jewish New Year as a promise of the “sweet” things to come, but can be just as readily enjoyed for Chinese New Year.

Honey Apple Cake1 tblsp plus 3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
300 g (¾ lb) - 2 large sweet apples, Golden Delicious are good
2 large eggs
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp fine grated lemon rind
1-1/2 cup flour
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tblsp each: fresh lemon juice and water
1/2 cup diced or coarse chopped walnuts

METHOD
Preheat oven to 180 C (350).Lightly oil a 20 cm (8”) square pan and flour pan lightly. Mix 1 tblsp sugar with the cinnamon; set aside. Pare and slice apples thin, under 1/4" thick; set aside. With mixer on medium, beat eggs with 3/4 cup sugar until light. Add honey, oil and lemon rind; mix to blend. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Combine the lemon juice and water on low speed, mix half the flour mixture and half the lemon juice mixture alternately into the egg mixture; repeat with remaining flour and lemon juice mixtures. Mix in walnuts on low speed.
Spoon 1/4 of the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Arrange 1/3 of apple slices on batter and sprinkle evenly with 1/3 of cinnamon mixture (about 1 heaping tsp.) Spoon another 1/4 of the batter in dollops over apples and spread very gently. Repeat with 2 more layers of apples, cinnamon and batter, ending with another layer of batter; top layer of apples may not be completely covered.
Bake about 40-45 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack about 20 minutes. Run metal spatula carefully around cake and turn out onto rack; let cool. Turn out of pan.
Serves 12-16

Honey Cake with Caramelized Pears

“Queen of Green” Debra Lynn Dadd’s sweet savvy website http://www.sweetsavvy.com/ contains a treasure trove of recipes made with natural sweeteners – white sugar or artificial sweeteners banned. This Honey Cake is just one of the sweet treats found there.

7/8 cup unbleached flour
3/8 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 large egg
1/4 cup date sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon flavorful honey
1/4 cup milk or cream
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter (cooled)
1/4 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

METHOD
Preheat oven to 160 C (325F). Butter a 15 cm (6“) springform pan and dust with flour. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. Mix egg and date sugar on high speed in an electric mixer for about 3 minutes, or until pale and thick. In another bowl, whisk together honey, milk, butter and zest. With the mixer set on low, add honey mixture to egg mixture and mix until combined. Add half the flour mixture and mix until smooth, then mix in the other half. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake about 50 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen and remove the sides of the pan. Transfer to a platter and top with caramelized pears. Serve with whipped cream.

Caramelized Pears

1 tblsp butter
2 tblsp evaporated cane juice
300 gm (3/4 lb) pears, cut into wedges or chunks
2 tblsp flavorful honey

METHOD
Heat butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add sugar and stir until it is almost dissolved. Add pears and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and golden, about 15 minutes. Add honey and cook, stirring constantly, until pears are coated and very soft, about another 3 to 5 minutes.

Coffee Honey Cake

Winner of a competition run by a Jerusalem newspaper for the best Honey Cake.

4 eggs
1 cup bland oil
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup honey
1 cup double strength black coffee (instant is fine)
350g (3/4 lb) self-raising flour
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon

METHOD
Beat the eggs, oil and sugar until sugar has dissolved. Add honey and coffee and then beat in the flour gently.
Bake in a large round fluted tin at 170C (340F) for 1 hour.

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