A state banquet chef teaches you to cook auspicious New Year’s dishes for the Year of the Rooster—smoke-free Ginseng-Soaked Chicken is healthy and delicious!

▲ Add energy-boosting ginseng to your soaked chicken, bringing vitality to the whole family in the new year. (Photo provided by Chen Qiwen, same below.)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

The Year of the Rooster is here, so of course you should eat chicken for good luck. Want to learn how to make the smoke-free, healthy, and tasty “Ginseng-Soaked Chicken”? Or how about the colorful, high-fiber, appetite-boosting “Pineapple Sweet and Sour Pork”? This time, renowned state banquet chef Chen Qiwen—who has won the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Golden Chef’s Hat Award—is going to teach everyone how to easily make state banquet–level auspicious New Year’s dishes at home, bringing you good fortune and prosperity in the Year of the Rooster!

▲ Chen Qiwen, a state banquet chef who has been awarded the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Golden Chef’s Hat Award, demonstrates how to easily make auspicious New Year’s dishes at home.

Auspicious and Energy-Boosting Ginseng-Soaked Chicken
Ingredients: 1 mock pheasant, 60g bok choy, 40g old ginger, 40g green onions, 20g ginseng, 10g goji berries, 20g red dates, 20g black dates, 15g astragalus, 15g angelica, 15g white peony root
Seasonings: 15g salt, half a bottle of Shaoxing wine

Method:
1. Wash the mock pheasant and blanch the whole chicken in boiling water for about 15 seconds, then rinse with cold water.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then add slices of old ginger and sections of green onion. Submerge the whole chicken in the boiling water and press it down with a plate to ensure it’s fully immersed.
3. Once it boils again, reduce to low heat and simmer for 20 minutes until small bubbles appear.
4. Turn off the heat and let it soak for another 20 minutes until fully cooked.
5. Immediately transfer the whole chicken to an ice bath to firm up the skin.
6. Take half of the chicken cooking broth, add salt for flavor, then let it cool. Add Shaoxing wine and the cooked chicken, and let it marinate for 1 day until flavorful. Slice the chicken and arrange with the blanched bok choy for serving.

Chef’s Tips:
For more flavor, you can use the original chicken broth to make the soaking liquid for the chicken. But if you want it to last longer, prepare the soaking liquid separately with fresh water, as the original chicken broth has a higher fat content and won’t keep well.

▲ Colorful sweet and sour pork, with broccoli, red, yellow, and green bell peppers, pineapple—high in fiber, nutritious, and festive.

Prosperity-Bringing Sweet and Sour Pork
Ingredients: 250g pork loin, 100g broccoli, half each of red, yellow, and green bell peppers, 4 slices of pineapple, 70g sweet potato starch, 200g salad oil
Seasonings: 7g salt, 5g white pepper, 15g sugar, 20g ketchup, 10g white vinegar, 10g cornstarch slurry, 5g sesame oil

Method:
1. Cut the pork loin into 4cm cubes, then marinate with salt and white pepper for 20 minutes.
2. Coat the pork cubes in sweet potato starch and deep-fry in 180°C oil until golden brown.
3. Wash the red, yellow, and green bell peppers, cut them open, remove the seeds, and slice into triangles along with the pineapple.
4. Cut the broccoli into small florets, blanch, and mix with salt.
5. Heat a pan, add ketchup, sugar, and white vinegar, and heat for 1 minute until fragrant. Then add the three types of bell peppers and pineapple, stir-fry for 20 seconds, add the cornstarch slurry to thicken, then add the fried pork and sesame oil. Stir a few times and serve. Garnish with broccoli around the edges.

Chef’s Tips:
The main ingredient, pork loin, can also be replaced with fish, chicken, or even tofu or yam for a popular all-vegetarian version.