Happy Chinese New Year (& Giveaway Winners!)

The Bellagio in Las Vegas

I'm just a little late, but Happy Chinese New Year!

We enter the year of the dragon this year, a year that many people think is the luckiest of all the Chinese zodiac signs.

Bryan and I just came back from Las Vegas not too long ago. The Bellagio always puts out a fantastic display every year during Chinese New Year. This year, they went all out, complete with huge dragons that blew smoke out of their noses, larger-than-life firecrackers that lit up and made cracking noises every so often, and tons of flowers. There was even a pond filled with live fish!

We celebrated this weekend by having hot pot! Apparently we weren't the only ones in the city who had the brilliant idea of having a hot pot during the new year. Several Chinese supermarkets in the city ran out of thinly sliced beef. We finally "sacrificed" a couple of our USDA prime steaks from the freezer and sliced them up for hot pot (!!).

Although it was delicious, I still think thinly sliced filet mignon (which I prepare at home) is by far the best way to enjoy beef during a not pot. The New York strips were good, but the texture of filet mignon can't be beat.

Giveaway Winners!
Congratulations to our three winners who win a personally autographed copy of Nina Simonds' brand new book:  Simple Asian Meals.

Our winners said the following:

Lindsay of Eat, Knit, Grow says her favorite Asian dish is "Pho!!"

I still haven't actually made real, beef pho before, but I've attempted chicken pho!

Janice said "it's tough to pick a single favorite dish. I love all Asian food! But if I had to, I would say Ramen is my favorite dish. I could probably eat a bowl daily."

I'm just starting to learn about ramen! I've had incredible tsukemen (dipping ramen) in Japan a few times, pretty good ramen in Boston, and fantastic ramen at a pop-up restaurant. However, I have still yet to try some of New York's most well-known ramen, such as Ippudo or David Chang's Momofuku ramen!

Finally, Emily said, "my favorite is gyoza. I grew up helping my mom fold the gyoza skins - painstaking but worth the effort!"

I love gyoza (Japan's version of dumplings) as well! It's one of my favorite foods and I love making it at home or at some of my favorite dumpling restaurants!

Congratulations everyone and thanks for playing!

Here's to a wonderful new year!