Good food, good fortune at Mandarin Hotel’s Chinese New Year

It won’t be just another Chinese New Year at Mandarin Oriental Manila where good food and good fortune mix for a deliciously auspicious way to start the Year of the (Yin Water) Goat. For starters, executive Chinese chef Andy Chan has especially concocted a lot of dishes which invite not only a good appetite but good luck as well, as part of the hotel’s New Year’s buffet and set lunar menu. And if you’re lucky, you may yet get Hong Kong geomancer master Joseph Chau to tell your fortune. Now, which one do you want first?

Let’s try the food first.

For oyster lovers, there’s braised dried oyster with sea moss and black mushroom. Translated in Chinese dialect, the name of the dish sounds like fat choi hoy si, which means good fortune, opulence, increased material wealth, and improved business. If you want to cook it at home, Chan shares this recipe: Soak dried oysters and sea moss in water. Stew suckling pig and barbecued pork; stir-fry lettuce. Put all ingredients on a platter and top with oyster sauce.

For something hot and savory, try the deep-fried shrimp balls with fried scallop. Its Chinese name sounds like kam an mun ok (certainly, it’s better eaten than pronounced), which means "lots of money in the house." Nothing like ringing in the New Year with the merry rattling of cash around the house. To prepare at home, roll frozen scallops in breadcrumbs and then fry to a golden brown. Season mashed shrimps with pepper and salt and fry as well.

Then there’s braised broccoli with spears and crab roe which, translated in Chinese, means "blooming flower." Have a mouthful, close your eyes and make a wish. Your wish (personal or business) may bloom and flourish. Try this recipe: Stir-fry broccoli spears. Braise crab meat and crab roe to make a thick sauce and pour it over broccoli spears.

These and more are included in the lunar set menu currently offered until Feb. 14 at Tin Hau.

Chan cooks up a feast fit for an emperor for the Chinese New Year buffet, which consists of: appetizer – barbecued pork with honey sauce, roasted duck and soya chicken, sliced beef shank with pork knuckle, jelly fish with century egg; soup – hot and sour soup, sweet corn soup with crabmeat and asparagus; vegetarian congee; hot dishes – steamed fresh live garoupa with soy sauce, deep-fried minced cuttlefish ball, sauteed beef fillet in honey pepper sauce, braised seasonal vegetables with black mushroom, sweet and sour pork, stewed mixed vegetables with mushrooms, fungus and sea moss, Yang Chow fried rice, braised e-fu noodles with mushroom; dim sum – steamed pork dumpling with crab roe, steamed ha kao, deep-fried spring roll with taro, deep-fried wanton with sweet and sour sauce, Chinese buns; dessert – pan-fried New Year cake, deep-fried sesame balls with lotus cream, chilled red bean cake, chilled mango sago, hot taro sago, fresh fruit platter.

The midnight buffet meal, priced at P1,088++ for adults and P888++ for children, will be served on the eve of Jan. 31 at the Mandarin ballroom, following a festive prosperity parade traversing an auspicious route mapped out by master Chau. Diners get a complimentary copy of the 2003 Year of the Goat Forecast, a 92-page guide on what’s in store for each animal sign in the Year of the Goat.

"Eat tikoy, radish cake and other things that rise and are round," Joseph Chau gives us suggestions on how to start the New Year auspiciously. "On New Year’s Eve, there should be eight dishes on your table to ensure fat choy or prosperity. Don’t wear pure white, pure blue or pure black outfits. Have two ang paos in your pocket."

According to Chau, the Year of the Goat brings as much good luck as it does bad luck, because of "conflicts arising from the Tiger and the Monkey, two incompatible signs, which gravitate towards the Yin Water Goat and the Yin Earth Goat on the very first day of the year." Lucky zodiac signs are Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Monkey, Rooster and Pig.

"But the unlucky signs (Rat, Ox, Dog and Goat) need not worry," Chau hastens to add. "Find out what your element is."

The best directions/locations, according to Chau, are south, northeast, northwest, east and west while the troublesome directions are north, southeast and southwest. The lucky colors are brown, beige, yellow, gold, white, sky blue, navy blue, silver, grey and black. The lucky stones/jewelry are amber, blue ruby, white amethyst, gold jewelry, green crystal power beads, jade ma on ring and jade compatible pendant.

According to Chau, businesses that face good prospects are tourism (not in our part of the world though), freight transport, trading, banking, shipping, automotive selling. Still on the slump are industries like construction, printing, garment and textile.

Yes, it’s a good year to get married! "But for Filipinos, every Sunday is a good day to get married," jests Chau, who himself got married in the Philippines one auspicious day in 1975.

Health-wise, people should watch out for stomach problems and diseases related to the heart, kidney, blood pressure and the reproductive system. Avoid or minimize traveling abroad during the months of May, June and September.

Good food and good luck to all!

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For inquiries or reservations, call Mandarin Oriental at 750-8888.