Last Saturday I attended the Tiger Beer Chinese New Year Potluck hosted by the illustrious duo, Jackie Gordon and Ken Leung. I love Asian food, but other than the occasional stir fry, I don’t really make Chinese food.
As I said to Jackie at the event, I had this expectation that some of the dishes might be hit or miss, but I was so wrong. Everyone bought their A-game.
The night before the event I googled “easy Chinese recipes” and found Chinese Honey Walnut Shrimp on Use Real Butter. The recipe is actually from the book Easy Chinese Recipes by Bee Yin Low of Rasa Mayalsia which got enthusiastic, positive reviews on-line. It was a big hit at the potluck too.
Ken from Hungry Rabbit NYC made these almost-too-gorgeous-to-eat Sesame Gold Nugget Cookies.
Dan from Renegade Kitchen made this Five-Spice Almond Cake which I have not stopped thinking about since Sunday.
The Experimental Gourmand made duck pancakes. I’ve never even made duck, but Andy loves duck pancakes with a passion. When I announced I would attempt to make them this weekend, he was overjoyed.
Justin made two dishes, Indonesian-Style Beef Rendang and Philippine Adobo. Both meat dishes were melt in your mouth good and flavor-packed.
And perhaps most impressive, Kirsty from the Good Taste Guide made homemade fortune cookies!
I loved my fortune.
I also really loved Sarah’s AustralAsian Curry and her friend Allison’s Vietnamese Noodle Salad. The noodle salad was full of fresh vegetables, flavorful herbs and lightly coated with a sweet-spicey sauce. I asked for the recipe, but she didn’t have one. So I decided to attempt my own Vietnamese Noodle Salad with more winter-ish vegetables.
If I can keep bringing out the best in people and continue to challenge myself in the kitchen (and in life!), I think 2012 will be the best year yet.
that fortune was perfect
I agree with Justin. You are a natural. Thank you for attending the potluck, I want more shrimp.
I smiled when I read your fortune… PERFECTION. Your “hit or miss” comment made me smile at the event too. What I love most about these potlucks and cookie swap is the community BRINGING OUT THEIR BEST! Everyone puts a lot of thought, energy, creativity into their dishes. And some people have to muster up the courage with Chinese New Year Potluck, to cook outside of their comfort zone — I LOVE THAT S-T-R-E-T-C-H! This event was a pure pleasure to behold and to eat.Thanks for being a part of it SWEETS!
XXXOOOJAX
Maggy and Jackie you two are so right! It took major courage to cook Chinese food to begin with, let alone to cook it for a potluck full of bloggers. It forced us to bring out the best from ourselves, to challenge ourselves. Cheers to Jackie and Ken for a great event and to Maggy for her vivacious personality and delicious (and apparently easy!) Honey Walnut Shirmp.
This sounds like a fun party! You’ve enticed me to actually attempt making some Chinese dishes. My husband loves Chinese but I’ve always been too scared to try my hand at it. Thanks for the courage!
Well the fortune is telling the truth. You do bring out the best in others…You also bring out the best in delicious events such as that party. Wow, what a spread. Thanks for sharing the links to such great recipes!
Thanks so much for trying my recipe and the mention of my cookbook. So sorry that it has taken me this long to write this note here, but I just found out this link from Google.
I am glad that the honey walnut shrimp was a hit. 🙂