Mia made Radish Cakes. She said they were a nightmare, as the recipe seemed too liquidy and she had to make a lot of modifications to get them to come together. I’m glad she suffered through it though, because they were delicious. I always enjoy getting radish cakes when I go to dim sum, and these lived up to my expectations.

I made Gailan with Oyster Sauce. Also known as Chinese Broccoli, this is a traditional new year dish. It’s also a family favorite for me. Strangely, I’d never made it myself, so I thought it was high time. I love the bright green color and crispness that comes from only cooking them a short amount of time. It’s nice to have these greens to round out a Chinese meal.

Shayna made Consort’s Chicken Wings. These have the go-to Chinese cooking combo of soy sauce, ginger, rice wine, and sugar. The flavors were good, but didn’t infuse into the chicken as much as I could have hoped.

Cindy made the Manchurian Chicken Salad. It had a great fresh taste, with the cucumbers and ginger sesame dressing. The bed of what I thought were rice noodles turned out to be mung bean sheets. Turns out I like mung bean sheets!

Cindy also made Russian Soup. Yes, this is in the Chinese cookbook we were using – I checked! Apparently it’s the Chinese version of borscht. It’s an oxtail soup with the Slavic flavors of carrot, tomato, and parsley. Warm comforting flavors and tender fall-off-the-bone oxtail… delish!

Sheana made Laughing Doughnut Holes. Not nearly as sweet as American donut holes, but really great sesame flavor. Perfect size for me to keep wandering by and popping another crunchy morsel in my mouth.

Cindy was the overachiever and made a third dish – Toffee Banana. They were reminiscent of the fried banana dessert you can often get at Chinese restaurants. Only instead of a fried dough shell, these had a sweet harder shell. I just wish the toffee hadn’t adhered so firmly to all my teeth as I chewed.

Alyssa made Shanghai Stir-Fried Chunky Noodles. Noodles are a traditional new year dish that are supposed to bring long life. These were thick, springy udon noodles, with bok choy and tender chicken pieces. While tasty, this didn’t blow me away in the universe of all of the noodle dishes I’ve ever had.

Hui Ye made Nian Gao, which is the traditional New Year’s Rice Cake. I had never had this before, as it’s not a tradition in my family 🙂 I may have to make it part of our traditions though, because I really liked it! The Nian Gao is like discs of chewy rice noodles. I enjoyed the stiff chewiness, and thought it went really well with the edamame, seaweed, and clams.

Colin made Shanghai Red-Braised Pork with Eggs. This dish did not disappoint. 1 – I love all things red-braised (you just can’t go wrong with the soy sauce, sugar, and rice wine combo). 2 – Pork belly is never bad. 3 – The eggs were scored to let in all the amazing flavors, which they absorbed beautifully.

Anthony made Warm Pumpkin Juice with Honey. I had never heard of this, and it didn’t sound Chinese to me at all. I have to admit I had my reservations. Warm juice!? It actually turned out to be quite tasty. It had just a touch of sweetness and was thicker than I expected – more like a smoothie than a juice.

Tao made Chicken Dumplings, another traditional dish for bringing wealth in the new year. These were his own recipe, which he has been working to perfect. The filling was much like what I’m accustomed to, but the wrapper was thicker. And they were huge!

Robert and Halina made Pork Belly with Steamed Buns. I ate several. The pork belly was sweet and salty and juicy and crispy all at the same time. The buns were just like you get them in the restaurant. I didn’t even know you could make steamed buns at home!

Robert and Halina also made Mango Soup with Tapioca Pearls. They went super off the reservation with this one, as it was from a completely different cookbook – Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking. I forgive them only because this was so good I ate 3 bowls.

Anthony also made a bonus strawberry shortcake. This was definitely not in either of the cookbooks, nor is it a traditional Chinese New Year dish. But I’m not going to complain about having some extra strawberry shortcake around! He made this in place of boba because he couldn’t find tapioca balls.