Chinese New Year recipes for celebrating

Pan-Seared Cod

2-3 cod fillets

3 quarter-sized slices ginger

1 clove garlic

1 green onion

3 tablespoons oil, divided

1-2 red chilies, sliced

1 jalapeño, sliced

For the sauce, (make your own sauce, or use ¼ cup Ying's Korean BBQ Marinade available at yingskitchen.com.)

1 tablespoon cooking wine

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

¼ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons water

Cut ginger into thin strips, garlic into slices and green onion into 2-inch lengths. Combine sauce ingredients in a container. Mix well. To cook, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, place fish carefully in the oil and sear fish fillets until they are browned on both sides (about 2-3 minutes each side). Remove fish from pan and place on a serving plate. Add the remaining oil, ginger, garlic, red chili and jalapeño. Stir for 30 seconds, add green onion and sauce. Cook until sauce boils; then carefully pour over cooked fish.

Makes 2-3 servings.

Eight Treasure Sticky Rice

1½ cups water

1 cup sticky rice (sweet rice)

2 tablespoons butter

5 tablespoons sugar

3 ounces dry fruit (any six kinds)

1 can sweetened red bean paste

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

For the sauce

3 tablespoons sugar

1 cup water

¼ teaspoon starch

Add water to rice in covered saucepan and place over medium heat. Boil covered for about 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn heat off and allow rice to sit in covered saucepan for another five minutes. Saucepan must always remain covered during cooking. Stir in butter and sugar while the rice is still hot. Mix well.

Make dessert

Grease a big bowl with butter and put a thin layer of the dry fruit on the bottom of the bowl. Then add 2⁄3 of the cooked sticky rice on top of dry fruit. Form a cup-sized valley in the center of the sticky rice, and fill it with ½ cup sweet red bean paste, then cover with the rest of the sticky rice. Steam in a steamer or in a pan for 8-10 minutes. Remove the bowl from the steamer and cover it with a serving plate. Invert the bowl and serving plate, so the plate is on the bottom. Remove the bowl. In a saucepan, combine sauce ingredients, cook until it becomes thick, then pour over the rice. Finally, sprinkle black sesame seeds on top.

Makes 4-5 servings.