It’s dark, and it’s cold, but the days are starting to get longer, and soon the endless parade of root vegetables will be joined by spring produce to bring colour and vibrancy to our meals. In the meantime, the lunar New Year celebrations this weekend will bring some joy to our tables.

If you’ve never hosted a family and friends dumpling party, this weekend is the time to do so. Get everyone around the table, participating in the stuffing and sealing/pleating. Be warned, it can get quite competitive. Here are some recipes for simple dumplings to get you started. TV chef and entrepreneur Kwanghi Chan’s pork and spring onion potstickers are simple, and he gives great instructions on how to seal them. If you prefer your dumplings steamed, try his chicken and prawn siu mai.

Chan, who has returned to his native Hong Kong to celebrate Chinese New Year with his family for the first time since the start of the pandemic, steps into The Irish Times Food kitchen as guest chef this weekend. He shares some really simple recipes for a celebratory feast, including Peking duck, steamed seabass with ginger and spring onion, and stir-fried baby bok choi with oyster sauce.

Having once found myself with a duck suspended from a modified metal coat hanger, hanging up in front of the extractor fan in my downstairs cloakroom, I was delighted to discover from Chan’s recipe that I wasn’t entirely crazy. The cold air from the fan did indeed dry out the skin of the duck and make it extra crisp, but you can skip this step if you follow his instructions instead (spoiler: you’ll still need one of those cheap coat hangers that you can easily pull out of shape).

Winner and more winners

This month we have two more brilliant prizes to be won by subscribers. Faithlegg Hotel in Waterford is offering a chance to win a luxurious overnight stay with breakfast and dinner in the award winning Roseville Rooms restaurant, prepared by executive chef Jenny Flynn. Also, Powerscourt Distillery is offering one winning subscriber and three of their guests a private tour along with a whiskey tasting, a cocktail class and a hamper of cocktail ingredients.

Congratulations to Mary Ryan who won the wine package from Oui Chef, and to Cormac O’Dea who won the hamper from Fallon & Byrne, in our December newsletter.

Read all about it

In this weekend’s Irish Times Magazine, the lunar New Year takes over the food and drink section. In addition to Kwanghi Chan’s recipes for a feast at home, Corinna Hardgrave reviews new Chinese restaurant Nan, and orders a takeaway from Xi’An Street Food. Lilly Higgins makes Chinese steamed eggs, and John Wilson has useful advice on what to drink with Chinese food.

Check in with us regularly at irishtimes.com/food for all the latest food and drink news, features and great dishes to cook. If you would like to invite family and friends to join The Irish Times Food & Drink Club, they can do so here. You can also follow us on Facebook here, and on Twitter here.

Thanks for reading.

Marie-Claire Digby