Celebrate the Chinese New Year with these Delicious Recipes

February 8 marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year, a 15-day celebration of togetherness where family and friends gather to share their good fortune. If you’d like to celebrate this holiday at home with your kids, Panda Express has put together a fabulous website with crafts, activities, and historical trivia. They’ve also offered to share recipes for some yummy treats you can make at home.

Panda Express’ Egg Rolls

Servings: 4-6
Difficulty: Easy
Cook Time: 60-120 min

Egg rolls signify wealth because they resemble gold bars. Happy new year!

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 medium head cabbage, finely shredded
• 1/2 carrot, julienned
• 1 (8 ounce) can shredded bamboo shoots
• 1 cup dried, shredded wood ear mushroom, rehydrated
• 1 pound Chinese barbequed or roasted pork, cut into matchsticks
• 1/2 cup chopped Chinese yellow chives
• 1 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 (14 ounce) package egg roll wrappers
• 1 egg white, beaten
• 4 cups oil for frying, or as needed

Cooking Directions

1. Heat 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Pour in beaten eggs and cook, without stirring, until firmed. Flip the eggs over and cook for an additional 20 seconds to firm the other side. Set egg pancake aside to cool, then slice into thin strips.
2. Heat the remaining vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat. Stir in cabbage and carrot; cook for 2 minutes to wilt. Add bamboo, mushroom, pork, green onions, Chinese chives, soy sauce, salt, sugar, continue cooking until the vegetables soften, about 6 minutes. Stir in sliced egg, then spread mixture out onto a pan, and refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.
3. To assemble the egg rolls, place a wrapper onto your work surface with one corner pointing towards you. Place about 3 tablespoons of cooled filling in a heap onto the bottom third of the wrapper. Brush a little beaten egg white onto the top two edges of the wrapper, then fold the bottom corner over the filling and roll firmly to the halfway point. Fold the left and right sides snugly over the egg roll, then continue rolling until the top corners seal the egg roll with the egg white. Repeat with remaining egg roll wrappers, covering finished egg rolls with plastic wrap to keep from drying out.
4. Heat about 6-inches of oil in a deep-fryer to 350 degrees F.
5. Fry egg rolls 3 or 4 at a time until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Panda Express’ Firecracker Chicken Breast
Servings: 2
Difficulty: Easy
Cook Time: 1-30 min

Firecrackers are commonly used during the holiday to scare off evil spirits and are represented by the slight spicy kick from the chili found in this dish.

• Ingredients
• 12 ounces marinated chicken breast
• 2 tablespoons salad oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 8 pieces whole dry chili pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground garlic
• 1 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black beans, washed
• 2 ounces diced red bell pepper
• 2 ounces yellow bell pepper, tri-cut
• 3 ounces yellow onions, diced
• 1 teaspoon cooking wine
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch mix (equal parts cornstarch powder and water)
• 1/4 cup water

Cooking Directions

1. Heat clean skillet over high flame. Add salad oil and heat until hot.
2. Add marinated chicken breast. Stir quickly, separating the meat and cook for about 1 minutes. Remove and set aside.
3. Add whole dry chili pepper into skillet and stir until chili peppers darkens. Then add ginger, garlic, crushed red chili pepper and washed black beans into skillet and stir for about 30 seconds.
4. Add in marinated chicken breast and cooking wine, soy sauce, cornstarch mix and water and stir until sauce boils and thickens. Add sesame oil and continue stirring until ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Serve.

Panda Express’ Chow Mein
Servings: 2-4
Difficulty: Easy
Cook Time: 1-30 min

Chow mein’s long noodles signify longevity, and it is said that the longer the noodles you eat, the longer your life will be. It is customary to make sure that you do not break any of the noodles while you are serving it as not to shorten anyone’s life.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds store bought pan fried chow mein (yakisoba noodles)
• 1/2 pound bean sprouts
• 1/3 cup salad oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1/4 pound onions, shredded
• 1/4 pound celery, shredded
• 1/4 pound cabbage, shredded
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cooking wine
• 1/4 cup soy sauce

Cooking Directions

1. Heat skillet on high heat. Pour in oil and swirl oil until pan is evenly coated.
2. Add in onions, celery and cabbage and stir for about 20 seconds.
3. Put in pan fried noodles on top of the veggies and slowly separate the chow mein noodles. Add in bean sprouts and continue stirring. Add in cooking wine and soy sauce and mix well until veggie and noodles are soft.
4. Add sesame oil and mix well again. Serve.