Year of the Tiger (Prawns)

What better way to welcome the Year of the Tiger than to eat like one? Every year our friend Anny (don’t be fooled by the name, she’s Chinese) and her partner Sara host a fabulous dinner for Chinese New Year at Mark’s Duck House in Falls Church, VA, and this year we were lucky enough to score an invite.

Winter Melon Soup arrived in the giant gourd, its sweet translucent flesh offset by bits of pork. We devoured Drunken Garlic Prawns– heads, shells and all — and slurped down oysters the size of my entire hand (Three Mile Island oysters one of the guests called them.) Bamboo fungus, a new item for all of us, bounced like sponge between tongue and teeth and absorbed every bit of flavor, like a very porous tofu. But the highlight for me was the Peking Duck, so seductively fatty and crisp that we skipped the time-consuming presentation of individually wrapped packets and just dug in with our chopsticks as the lazy Susan twirled.

I know very little about Chinese traditions. But the New Year feast is one I strongly favor! Please chime in with any traditions you and your family and friends might have. (photos: Jim McCallum)

Oysters before.....

...oysters after....