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NYE
Context: we always have a Big Party (~30 people attending) for NYE, and this year I unilaterally decided to be the main chef. I wrote up reflections on each dish for next year's reference, so I thought I might post them here. I'd add pictures, but then my chances of actually posting this would decrease, so perhaps not.
Also this explains why I wasn't around for the last week -- we did two days of shopping and two days of cooking. Frankly, one of those days of shopping was unnecessary; OTOH my mom would do things like absolutely insist upon a specific store for shrimp and only shrimp so I don't see much of a way of decreasing this time. For next year, definitely need to be more aggressive about keeping mommy on track in the grocery stores; of those 12 grocery visits probably 4 were unnecessary duplicates.
Next year, I must bring my baking sheets, box grater, and whetstones (need to allocate time to sharpening my mom's knives). I do not know if the lack of puff pastry was bad luck, but if we do pastry again I might buy it in advance and bring it down. Absolutely need to research and buy new folding tables to hold food, as one collapsed.
Overall menu notes:
- There was a Huge Scandal over my not including Shanghai spring rolls, so I guess next year we have to do that. I wanted it anyway, but it was easier to not have to worry about frying stuff as people arrive...
- People brought too many meat dishes so the dishes were way too heavily meat/protein. Need to either assign or cut back on our planned meats (but we didn't have that much...) Maybe I just need to plan more veg dishes? Difficult to navigate socially.
- Too many heavy appetizers, limit to two plus the nuts and fruits.
- Picking oven things that require the same temperature... Superior choice, as my mom's oven has three rows so this makes timing easier.
Appetizers:
- Nuts, peanuts, candies: little brother handled this okay, but need to bring out two trays instead of one. These watermelon seeds were no good and way too hard and it's impossible to tell in advance so just cut it. The internet famous pumpkin seeds from China were okay. We had six types of seeds that need shelling and the peanuts, but I felt like we needed one more easy nut. Ah, my mom had roasted pecans that we forgot about, so that would've been perfect. Only one candy variety (hawthorn paste) seemed a bit stingy, but we didn't have many of the kid generation so I guess that's fine.
- Fruits: grapes, hami melon, honeydew, tangerines. Little bro can handle cutting the fruit, but may need reinforcement on appropriate size at first. Two melons got almost fully eaten, but there were lots of grapes left, so it's hard to say if that last melon should've been cut. In any case, needed that last melon on standby.
- Stuffed mushrooms: adorable and nice to make ahead. Experimented with breadcrumbs, but IMO they just diluted the flavor, use full cheese next time. We did eat through two Costco boxes worth and into the third. No one said these were the best though, so this can be cut.
- Curry puffs: Multiple people said these were amazing, but IMO not a success for the effort. If I didn't have to spend 5 h making the pastry though... I think these may have been too heavy, esp if we do fried spring rolls next year? OTOH, can make in advance and freeze.
- Vietnamese spring rolls: Little bro could not handle the pressure of making these, but sister showed up just in time. People loved the peanut sauce of course (my go to party dish). Some of the older people were fine with this, but greataunt who wanted the Shanghai ones refused to try it lmao. Nainai in particular loved this.
- Turnip cake: USE A PAN WITH SIDES TO FRY. Obviously delicious (my other go to party dish), but did suffer from not being freshly fried. Keeping it warm in the induction burner wasn't super successful, as having the lid on made it a bit soggy.
Food we cooked:
- Jellyfish with radish: Hadn't realized what a HUGE PAIN peeling the jellyfish was. And it can't even be fully made in advance! I wonder if we can cut this without people noticing. It's a staple...
- Steamed eggplant: Good since it wants to sit for a day anyway to absorb the flavor.
- Bok choy with mushroom: Surely we can find a veg to stir fry that is easier to wash. Surely. Also, place this closer to the end of the line next time if we still have an overabundance of meat.
- Baiye tofu: Can be made in advance, excellent.
- Salted duck: Can be made in advance, though we must find someone to cut it up on the day. Really liked this particular recipe.
- Baked fish: Easy to bake+serve in the foil pans. Since this is coming out of the oven when people are already here, remember next time to bring cell phone around or the alarm isn't loud enough... The eyes will not bug out like if it was steamed, so remind mommy if she says it's not done.
- Baked ribs: Take over from mommy; IDK why she covered the rack with foil so it couldn't drain but this is clearly going to cause an issue. Does seem easier than red braised pork, but maybe the pork would be less stressful.
- Chicken soup with meatballs, salt pork, tofu knots, bamboo etc: Maybe next time we do yanduxian, finding this chicken was a pain. And it had salt pork anyway so it's not less effort!
- Baimu'er: Well, that brand sucks. Not really sure how to assess the best brand though.
- Oh I forgot my dad inexplicably cooked rice that no one ate. Stop him next time.
Other food people brought:
- Kaofu: We requested this, but maybe this is too onerous to ask someone else to make...
- Tofu skin wraps, rice cakes, seaweed salad: Good choices and filled niches we didn't have.
- Steamed pork dish, meat skewers, red braised pork: I guess we kind of requested the red braised pork by my grandma saying she couldn't make it. However, this was too much meat.
- Yule log and Filipino butter cake: Two cakes seems like the reasonable number of cakes for 30 people.
Actually, upon reflection, my schedule was fine and had an appropriate amount of slack time. The real problems were managing my mom and then my grandpa getting kidnapped by that Christian guy and left in the December cold in a parking lot for two hours without a jacket. A bystander called the police and eventually all grandparents were located, but this understandably Caused Problems. I don't think I need to build time for the latter into my schedule. Probably???
Also this explains why I wasn't around for the last week -- we did two days of shopping and two days of cooking. Frankly, one of those days of shopping was unnecessary; OTOH my mom would do things like absolutely insist upon a specific store for shrimp and only shrimp so I don't see much of a way of decreasing this time. For next year, definitely need to be more aggressive about keeping mommy on track in the grocery stores; of those 12 grocery visits probably 4 were unnecessary duplicates.
Next year, I must bring my baking sheets, box grater, and whetstones (need to allocate time to sharpening my mom's knives). I do not know if the lack of puff pastry was bad luck, but if we do pastry again I might buy it in advance and bring it down. Absolutely need to research and buy new folding tables to hold food, as one collapsed.
Overall menu notes:
- There was a Huge Scandal over my not including Shanghai spring rolls, so I guess next year we have to do that. I wanted it anyway, but it was easier to not have to worry about frying stuff as people arrive...
- People brought too many meat dishes so the dishes were way too heavily meat/protein. Need to either assign or cut back on our planned meats (but we didn't have that much...) Maybe I just need to plan more veg dishes? Difficult to navigate socially.
- Too many heavy appetizers, limit to two plus the nuts and fruits.
- Picking oven things that require the same temperature... Superior choice, as my mom's oven has three rows so this makes timing easier.
Appetizers:
- Nuts, peanuts, candies: little brother handled this okay, but need to bring out two trays instead of one. These watermelon seeds were no good and way too hard and it's impossible to tell in advance so just cut it. The internet famous pumpkin seeds from China were okay. We had six types of seeds that need shelling and the peanuts, but I felt like we needed one more easy nut. Ah, my mom had roasted pecans that we forgot about, so that would've been perfect. Only one candy variety (hawthorn paste) seemed a bit stingy, but we didn't have many of the kid generation so I guess that's fine.
- Fruits: grapes, hami melon, honeydew, tangerines. Little bro can handle cutting the fruit, but may need reinforcement on appropriate size at first. Two melons got almost fully eaten, but there were lots of grapes left, so it's hard to say if that last melon should've been cut. In any case, needed that last melon on standby.
- Stuffed mushrooms: adorable and nice to make ahead. Experimented with breadcrumbs, but IMO they just diluted the flavor, use full cheese next time. We did eat through two Costco boxes worth and into the third. No one said these were the best though, so this can be cut.
- Curry puffs: Multiple people said these were amazing, but IMO not a success for the effort. If I didn't have to spend 5 h making the pastry though... I think these may have been too heavy, esp if we do fried spring rolls next year? OTOH, can make in advance and freeze.
- Vietnamese spring rolls: Little bro could not handle the pressure of making these, but sister showed up just in time. People loved the peanut sauce of course (my go to party dish). Some of the older people were fine with this, but greataunt who wanted the Shanghai ones refused to try it lmao. Nainai in particular loved this.
- Turnip cake: USE A PAN WITH SIDES TO FRY. Obviously delicious (my other go to party dish), but did suffer from not being freshly fried. Keeping it warm in the induction burner wasn't super successful, as having the lid on made it a bit soggy.
Food we cooked:
- Jellyfish with radish: Hadn't realized what a HUGE PAIN peeling the jellyfish was. And it can't even be fully made in advance! I wonder if we can cut this without people noticing. It's a staple...
- Steamed eggplant: Good since it wants to sit for a day anyway to absorb the flavor.
- Bok choy with mushroom: Surely we can find a veg to stir fry that is easier to wash. Surely. Also, place this closer to the end of the line next time if we still have an overabundance of meat.
- Baiye tofu: Can be made in advance, excellent.
- Salted duck: Can be made in advance, though we must find someone to cut it up on the day. Really liked this particular recipe.
- Baked fish: Easy to bake+serve in the foil pans. Since this is coming out of the oven when people are already here, remember next time to bring cell phone around or the alarm isn't loud enough... The eyes will not bug out like if it was steamed, so remind mommy if she says it's not done.
- Baked ribs: Take over from mommy; IDK why she covered the rack with foil so it couldn't drain but this is clearly going to cause an issue. Does seem easier than red braised pork, but maybe the pork would be less stressful.
- Chicken soup with meatballs, salt pork, tofu knots, bamboo etc: Maybe next time we do yanduxian, finding this chicken was a pain. And it had salt pork anyway so it's not less effort!
- Baimu'er: Well, that brand sucks. Not really sure how to assess the best brand though.
- Oh I forgot my dad inexplicably cooked rice that no one ate. Stop him next time.
Other food people brought:
- Kaofu: We requested this, but maybe this is too onerous to ask someone else to make...
- Tofu skin wraps, rice cakes, seaweed salad: Good choices and filled niches we didn't have.
- Steamed pork dish, meat skewers, red braised pork: I guess we kind of requested the red braised pork by my grandma saying she couldn't make it. However, this was too much meat.
- Yule log and Filipino butter cake: Two cakes seems like the reasonable number of cakes for 30 people.
Actually, upon reflection, my schedule was fine and had an appropriate amount of slack time. The real problems were managing my mom and then my grandpa getting kidnapped by that Christian guy and left in the December cold in a parking lot for two hours without a jacket. A bystander called the police and eventually all grandparents were located, but this understandably Caused Problems. I don't think I need to build time for the latter into my schedule. Probably???
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Non-appetizer vegetables are so hard to plan haha either they’re too boring or they’re salads with raw ingredients, which don’t really feeel like a Chinese thing. Our veggies were just french beans as a side to our main dish (fish) this year.
Shanghai spring rolls (a localized version, but we call them Shanghai rolls) are also a common party dish where I’m from, though my family has never. Idk if what you make is similar, but I understand the scandal. 😂 Vietnamese rolls are top-tier food but they definitely can’t replace, only supplement. 😂 Curry puffs sound AWESOME.
I’m so glad your grandpa is ok!
PS. My dad would totally approve of your dad ensuring that there is rice at the party hehe.
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Lumpia, right? The wrappers I get are labeled lumpia hahaha. I guess it's an easier term to distinguish them.
I do not know why my dad suddenly decided rice when we've never had it before though!
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And yes, we call them Lumpia(ng) Shanghai —you can make cheese sticks with the wrappers too if you want an extra fried appetizer. :P
Maybe your dad was planning ahead for leftover fried rice for New Year’s day hahahaha.
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Ignore if advice isn't what's wanted, but when socially maneuvering people into bringing correct potluck dishes, I've always found that, "Everyone loves YOUR ___; you simply must bring it so we can enjoy it," usually works pretty well.
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Your dad sounds like my aunt, who also believes no meal, no matter how massive, is complete without rice.
My usual policy when hosting a party is to tell guests they don't have to bring anything, but if they want to bring a drink or dessert or snack, store bought or homemade are both perfectly fine - though I'm not sure if this works as well for a party as large as 30. It leaves a wide range of options open, and doesn't interfere with the existing planned meal. Usually this breaks down to a nice mix of booze, cheese, fresh fruit and baked goods. (This has backfired exactly once, when something like five different people all independently decided to bring Japanese souffle cheesecakes from Uncle Tetsu. I love their cheesecakes, but that was Too Much Cheesecake).
I'm glad your grandpa was okay!
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Do you have a recipe for your go-to peanut sauce you'd be up for sharing?
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