Luscious and lucky.

Byline: Jim Boyd The Register-Guard

Tonight is Chinese New Year's Eve. The Year of the Sheep is ending and the Year of the Monkey is about to begin.

Li Simmons, a Chinese-American born in Taiwan, likes to invite Chinese students attending the University of Oregon to spend Lunar New Year's Eve playing mah-jongg at her home in Eugene.

She says she remembers being homesick when she first came to this country. "I try to do something to remind them of back home."

The students eat her homemade noodle soup and store-bought Chinese snacks during the evening and are invited back for more mah-jongg and an elaborate buffet the following day.

This year, because Chinese New Year's Day falls mid-week, Simmons plans to serve her traditional buffet on Saturday. However, she agreed to cook in advance four dishes that readers might like to try.

She demonstrated how to make her own version of stir-fried noodles, a tray of what Simmons calls "Chinese cold cuts," a wok-fried whole fish, and a dessert of pink-and-white rice flour dumplings in a sweet, ginger-flavored sauce.

Her delicious dishes are imbued with a richness of symbolism. The Chinese believe these foods bring good luck to the eater.

Noodles are symbols of long life and, therefore, must never be cut or broken when they are cooked and eaten, she explained.

She developed her recipe for stir-fried Asian noodles while operating Li's Custom Catering, a catering business where she served the noodles, along with rice, with every Chinese meal she served.

She closed the business a little more than a year ago in preparation for a job at the new First Baptist Church of Eugene, which was being built off Coburg Road in north Eugene.

Using the new church's commerical kitchen, she prepares weekday meals for Trinity House for women and Alpha Omega House for men, two church-affiliated student residences at the University of Oregon. She also operates the church's cafe on Sundays.

Simmons came to the United States in 1974 to attend college in Eastern Washington and later married George Simmons, now a retired Lane County corrections supervisor. After moving to Eugene, Simmons and her brother operated the China Seas restaurant in the Santa Clara area.

Simmons' stir-fried Asian noodles are flavored with soy sauce, oyster sauce, garlic, white pepper and a touch of sugar.

"I think a lot of people will like it, because I have people requesting it all the time," she said.

To make the cold plate, various meats, boiled eggs, tofu and seaweed are stewed in a broth of soy sauce, rice wine, brown sugar and water spiced with stick cinnamon, whole star anise, fresh ginger, dried Mandarin orange peel and dried chili peppers.

The seaweed on the cold plate is an appropriately symbolic food, for example, because its Chinese name relates to "property" and "wealth." The shape of a hard-boiled egg symbolizes a happy reunion. Pig's feet, another meat that could be stewed in the sauce but which Simmons didn't include out of deference to Western tastes, represent luck in gambling. The list goes on and on.

The tasty tidbits the stewing produces can be served as hors d'oeuvres or appetizers for any special occasion.

What's more, the stewing liquid gains flavor with each use and can be replenished and frozen for months between uses. Simmons said there are stories of restaurants in China with stewing liquids that, like fine sherry wines, are generations old.

No Chinese New Year celebration would be complete without a dish of whole fish. Fish is considered auspicious because the Chinese word for fish is identical to those meaning "surplus," "abundance" and "profit." A cooked fish may be displayed but is never eaten on Chinese New Year's Eve, Simmons said. This symbolizes abundance being carried over to the new year.

Ginger, garlic and green onions are the essential flavorings for any seafood in Chinese cookery, Simmons said. In her recipe, she sears a whole tilapia in oil and then simmers it in a sauce made from soy sauce, rice wine, brown sugar, white pepper, garlic, ginger and chili pepper. Chopped green onions are sprinkled on the fish after it is placed on the serving plate.

Simmons' dessert for her new year buffet consists of moon-shaped dumplings, half white and half pink, in a sweet sauce.

"We call it tangyuan," she said. "Tang is soup. Yuan is circle. Circle-soup. OK? But tangyuan also sounds almost like 'reunion.' Twan-yuan is 'family reunion.' So this is kind of a symbol that we're all family, everybody together."

Li Simmons' Noodles

For the noodles:

10 cups water

1 1/2 pounds thin Asian-style noodles

For the vegetables:

1 tablespoon canola oil

1/2 medium onion, sliced

1/2 carrot, cut into slivers

1/4 medium cabbage, sliced

For the sauce:

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 teaspoon white pepper

2 teaspoons granulated garlic

1/2 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons canola oil

For the garnish:

2 green onions (scallions), sliced

In a pot, heat water to boiling. Add noodles. Boil for approximately 2 minutes, until al dente (cooked but firm to the tooth).

Drain noodles and rinse with lukewarm tap water to remove excess starch so the noodles don't stick together. When rinsed, drain and reserve the noodles.

Heat wok over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil. Stir-fry onions until slightly browned. Then add slivered carrots and sliced cabbage. Stir-fry for about 1 minute, remove from wok and set aside. Vegetables should be slightly crunchy.

In a bowl, combine soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper, granulated garlic and sugar.

Heat wok over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil. Add sauce mixture and allow to cook briefly and caramelize in the hot oil. Turn heat down to medium high when the sauce boils.

Add the cooked noodles to the wok and toss until the noodles are completely coated with sauce. Turn noodles out onto a platter. Top with the stir-fried vegetables. Garnish with green onion.

Chinese Cold Plate

Meats, bean curd, boiled eggs and seaweed are stewed in a broth of soy sauce and spices to produce a plate of what Li Simmons calls "Chinese cold cuts," which are served at room temperature. The sauce recipe may be doubled, tripled or quadrupled, if necessary, to simmer larger amounts of beef, chicken, bean curd, seaweed or boiled eggs than are listed here. This recipe serves 6 to 8 generously as an appetizer.

1 cup soy sauce

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup rice wine

2 tablespoons brown sugar

4 or 5 thin slices fresh ginger, each about 1-by-2-inches in size

1 cinnamon stick

4 or 5 star anise

Piece of dried Mandarin orange peel

3 small dried red chili peppers

6 chicken wings

1 to 1 1/2 pounds boneless beef shank (also called heel of beef), with gristle for flavor

1 package (11 ounces) bean curd (the brand Simmons used was labeled "savory baked tofu")

1 package dried seaweed (kelp; kombu is the Japanese name)

6 eggs

In a pot, combine the soy sauce, water, rice wine, brown sugar, sliced ginger, cinnamon stick, star anise, dried Mandarin orange peel and dried red chili pepper. Break the peppers open to release the seeds as you drop the peppers into the pot. Bring the sauce to a boil to combine the flavors.

Add chicken wings to the sauce, simmer for 15 minutes, until looseness at the joints demonstrates they are fully cooked. Remove wings and refrigerate.

Add beef shank to sauce and simmer for 1/2 to 3/4 hour. Remove and refrigerate.

Place slices of bean curd into sauce. (The 11-ounce package of baked tofu that Simmons used contained 4 slices.) Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove and refrigerate.

Soak dried seaweed in lukewarm water for about 15 minutes. When rehydrated, it will look like a frond of kelp you might find at the beach. Cut the long strand into pieces about 4 or 5 inches long. Roll each piece lengthwise so each roll consists of three layers; pin the layers together with a long toothpick. Simmer the pinned rolls for about 5 minutes. Remove and refrigerate.

Prepare 6 hard-cooked eggs.

To avoid getting a green ring around the yolk, the American Egg Board recommends the eggs be placed in a single layer in a saucepan. Add enough water to come at least 1 inch above eggs. Cover. Quckly bring just to boiling. Turn off heat. If necessary, remove pan from burner to prevent further boiling. Let eggs stand, covered, in the hot water about 13 minutes for large eggs (12 minutes for medium eggs, 18 for extra large eggs). Immediately run cold water over eggs or place them in ice water until completely cooled.

To remove the shell, crackle it by tapping gently all over. Roll egg between hands to loosen shell. Peel, starting at large end. Hold egg under running cold water or dip in bowl of water to help ease off shell.

Very fresh eggs may be difficult to peel. To make peeling easier, buy and refrigerate eggs a week to 10 days in advance of hard cooking, the American Egg Board says.

Use a knife to cut 6 or 7 evenly spaced slits lengthwise around each boiled egg to allow the sauce to penetrate. Place the eggs in the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. Cool and refrigerate the eggs in the sauce for as long as possible, overnight is best, so the sauce continues to penetrate the eggs.

To prepare the platter of Chinese cold cuts, slice the beef shank and bean curd into pieces about 1/8-inch thick. Cut the eggs into quarters. Arrange the beef, bean curd and eggs on a platter with the chicken wings and seaweed rolls. Drizzle sauce over all.

Note: Freeze the unused sauce to use again. It gains in flavor with each use. Simmons said she typically adds another 1/4 cup of soy sauce when re-using a batch of sauce. After 3 or 4 uses, remove the old spices and replenish the sauce by adding all new ingredients to the old batch.

Wok-fried Whole Fish

The Chinese word for fish resembles the Chinese word for abundance, so fish are a good luck symbol for the new year. Fish are cooked with heads on because the cheeks and lips are prized tidbits to eat.

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 whole tilapia, cleaned and scales removed

2 tablespoons rice wine

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon white pepper

3 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

1 tablespoon slivered ginger

1 fresh cayenne chili pepper, slit open to expose seeds (optional)

2 green onions, chopped, for garnish

Fresh ginger slivers, for garnish

If necessary, pat fish dry with paper towel. Cut two diagonal slits into each side of the fish.

Heat wok on high. Add oil. Place fish in wok and brown approximately 2 minutes on each side.

Mix together rice wine, soy sauce, brown sugar, white pepper and water. Reduce heat to medium high. Add sauce mixture to wok.

Add chopped garlic, slivered ginger and optional chili pepper. Reduce heat to medium. Cover wok and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.

Turn fish over and continue simmering for 5 minutes more.

Remove fish from wok and place fish on serving platter. Garnish with chopped green onion and toothpick-size slivers of fresh ginger.

Tangyaun

This Chinese New Year dessert consists of moon-shaped, marshmallow-like rice flour dumplings, some pink and some white, served in a sweet ginger-flavored sauce. "Tang" means "soup" and "yaun" means "round" or "circle."

Ginger root, approximately 4 inches long

4 cups water (for the sauce)

8 heaping tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup glutinous rice flour

3/4 cup water (for the dumpling dough)

2 drops red food color

Whack the unpeeled ginger root with a large spoon or other object until it splits apart. Simmer the ginger root in a pot with 4 cups of water and the sugar for 45 minutes or longer to impart the ginger flavor to the sweet liquid.

In a bowl, mix the rice flour and water. When the consistency is correct, the dough will pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Divide the dough in half. Add red food coloring to one half; keep the other half white. Using the palms of your hands, roll the dough into balls about the size of a quarter. Reserve.

Remove the ginger root from the liquid and bring the liquid to a simmer. Drop balls of dough into liquid. When dumplings float, they are done. Serve the dumplings with the sauce.

Jim Boyd can be reached at 338-2363 or [e-mail].

CAPTION(S):

Chinese Cold Plate includes meats, eggs, seaweed. Li Simmons' Noodles are stir-fried in a wok. Wok-fried Whole Fish symbolizes abundance. Tangyuan are dumplings in a sweet sauce.