773: Happy Lunar New Year!

The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

American Public Media

Food, Arts

4.2 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week it’s a look at the different Lunar New Year celebrations in China, Vietnam, and Korea. First, Sarah and Kaitlin Leung talk about their Chinese New Year traditions and the symbolism behind the dishes they serve at their new year table. Sarah and Kaitlin, along with their parents, Judy and Bill, are the family behind The Woks of Life blog and cookbook, and they shared their family recipe for Poached “White Cut” Chicken. Then, Andrea Nguyen, author of Vietnamese Food Any Day, talks about celebrating Tet, the Vietnamese new year tradition that focuses on simple foods like rice, meat, beans, and vegetables. Her forthcoming book is, Ever Green Vietnamese, and she left us with her Braised Pork Ribs in Caramel Sauce (SUON KHO) recipe. Then Chef Hooni Kim, author of My Korea; Traditional Flavors, Modern Recipes remembers Lunar New Year celebrations spent with his family and leaves us a recipe for a classic accompaniment, Simple Zucchini Jeon, a delicious pan-fried fritter with your choice of meats or vegetables.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

January 20, 2023 (originally aired)
January 19, 2024 (rebroadcast)
January 31, 2025 (rebroadcast)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The Splendium Table was supported by Vitamix. You know, there are some essential cooking tools that have spanned generations, cross continents, and found their way into kitchens around the world. I'm thinking of the cast iron pam, the rolling pin, the mortar and pestle. But all of those were innovations at one point, and the high-powered Vitamix blender takes its place in that pantheon.
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0:37.4	Support for this show comes from OnePassword.
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0:52.6	IT by discovering every app your team uses, managed or not.
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1:00.7	Learn more at onepassword.com slash podcast offer.
1:05.3	That's onepassword.com slash podcast offer, all lowercase.
1:14.0	Hey, it's Francis.
1:15.6	This week, we are celebrating the Lunar New Year.
1:18.6	And for one and every four people on this planet, that means festivity, family, and feasting.
1:25.5	Check out this episode we did last year to celebrate the day.
1:31.4	I'm Francis Lamb, and this is The Splendid Table from APM.
1:40.8	When you hear the words New Year's celebration, what do you think of?
1:45.5	My first dog actually always goes back to Anthony Bourdain because there's a scene in his book, Kitchen Confidential, where as a chef, he's, you know, cooking a New Year's Eve menu where they're pulling out all the stops and it's champagne and caviar.
2:00.0	Of course, the night he's running about turns
2:01.9	into a total catastrophe but that's the image i imagine right a night of excess indulgence and new year's
2:09.7	day is really just for a nursing hangover which is all to say that the idea that pops up in my head
2:16.3	is kind of the exact opposite of what New Year
2:19.4	is actually meant to me and my family when I was growing up. And by that, I mean the Lunar New Year,
	...

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