Best Beef and Lamb Ideas for Lunar New Year

Chinese New Year, also commonly known as Spring Festival, Chun Jie or Yuan Tan is descending upon us. In a few weeks, Chinese families around the world will be celebrating the most important festival of the year, and when loved ones gather together for reunion dinner, a meal of epic proportions. 

For many home cooks, this means it’s time to shop for a litany of ingredients, a process that can begin days or even weeks ahead of time. While beef and lamb do not usually make an appearance on the traditional reunion dinner menu, you can still incorporate them as part of the feast for your meat-loving family members. We take a leaf from chefs in Taiwan and Vietnam for some cooking tips and recipe ideas.

Meatballs, Dumplings & Braised Meat

Beef is, without a doubt, a popular meat staple of Taiwan - one cannot walk past a bustling street or night market without seeing local vendors selling the ubiquitous braised beef noodle soup. As such, Australian beef is also well received in Taiwan for a few reasons, one of which is safety. “Australian cattle are known to be very safe with no major animal diseases such as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), which is very important for customers and diners. There is a strict tracing system from the birth of the cattle, feeding, slaughtering, production to transportation, so consumers feel very assured, explains Calvin Gung, Technical Specialist of Meat & Livestock Australia who is based in Taiwan.

Due to the quality of Australian beef and lamb, Calvin recommends these as good substitutes to pork when preparing two popular Chinese New Year dishes - steamed or braised lion’s head meatballs with napa cabbage, and steamed dumplings or potstickers. The former is shaped to resemble the head of the guardian lion. In Chinese culture, the lion symbolises power and strength, while the shape of the meatballs signifies family togetherness. 

Dumplings or “jiao zi”, on the other hand, are made of dough and meat stuffing and typically eaten all year round. The shape of the dumpling resembles the gold ingot, which represents fortune and good luck, making it a must-have during the reunion feast.

For both dishes, Calvin advises home cooks to use any non-loin cuts of Australian beef or lamb. “For dumplings, as long as you adjust the fat and lean ratio and taste, you can wrap them in water, or roll them to make lion heads meatballs, to get two dishes at the same time,” he adds.

Another popular dish in Taiwan is “lu wei” or stewed meats, where different ingredients are braised in a fragrant soup broth infused with soy sauce and spices. For this aromatic delight, Calvin recommends three Australian beef cuts - beef tendon, shin-shank and beef tripe. To perfect it, the stew must be cooked over a small fire for hours so that the beef tendons get soft and gelatinous. Consider adding this dish to your reunion feast for a belly-warming experience.

Over in Vietnam, Lunar New Year or more popularly known as Tet, is a festival with Sino-Vietnamese origins. This day marks the arrival of spring and is celebrated on the first day of the first lunar month – usually late January or early February on the Gregorian calendar. According to Ngô Thanh Hoà, Co-founder and Head Chef of The OX Not Only OX and also the winner of MasterChef Vietnam 2013, different regions of Vietnam may share common festive dishes but they are usually prepared in different styles. 

One of them is Bò Kho (Vietnamese beef stew), which is available in all of Vietnam but features as a Lunar New Year dish in the north.“The locals use beef brisket to cook with ginger, lemongrass, chilli, star anise and five spices,” shares Hoà. I would recommend using the rib-eye cut as the meat will not be too dry. For best results, he advises home cooks to marinate the rib-eye cubes overnight and add a few splashes of beer or red wine for an added depth of flavour. This dish has a thickened gravy so it can go well with baguette, vermicelli or rice.

Slow-cooked beef shin-shank with sugarcane syrup, cinnamon, chilli & fish sauce is another signature Vietnamese dish. This dish comes from Nghe An, a province in North Central Vietnam. The locals typically enjoy this dish with pickles and steamed rice during Lunar New Year.

Hoà believes in mixing tradition with a touch of creativity to ensure a more memorable feast. “We always have some traditional dishes to celebrate Lunar New Year. These days, with access to good quality ingredients, we can create a modern feast to make it more interesting. My family enjoys steak with Asian sauces, braised beef brisket with five spices & lemongrass, slow-cooked beef cheek finished with a touch of truffle oil, and, of course, bánh mì, he shares.