Misappropriation and Culinary Creativity for a Lunar New Year

Tomorrow, 10th February 2024, marks the start of the new Lunar Year, and I wanted to create a recipe to mark the occasion. However, I have a fear that in my rush to "try new things" what I am actually doing is rather clumsily... God forbid, carelessly misappropriating a culture.

I was raised in a pre-millennium world where we went out "for an Indian" or "for a Chinese" when we chose a restaurant. We never "went out for an English or an American." No. In those instances, we went out for fish and chips or burgers or similar. I look back on the language, terminology, and underlying association, and I feel sad and very sorry about how ignorant I was.

I do not want to make these same grotesque mistakes, so you can imagine my horror when I found myself doing what I thought was exactly that.

Just over a week ago, I took a trip to Manchester. The city is my hometown, and I love visiting it. It rolls with memories for me. I can picture my Grandad walking to the Mirror Building in Ancoats to print the daily news, see my Great Grandad in his Police uniform walking through St Peter's Square, see my Great Aunt Eliza selling papers on the corner of St Annes. I remember meeting friends in Affleck's Palace after lectures and meeting my husband (to-be) for a chess game in Shambles Square. Manchester is a city that bridges and paves roads to my heritage and my past. It is more than anywhere in the world, my home.

It is also a metropolis full of many different cultures, and I love it even more for this!

Right now, it is ablaze with the colour red. Chinese Paper lanterns hang in cherry blossom clusters from every available tree, scattered across the city in readiness for the celebration of the new Lunar Year this weekend. The warmth that trickles through the air, the anticipation of the celebration, the joy of the coming year of the Dragon is palpable. You can see it in the colours, hear it when people talk, and smell it in the street food.

(The picture above is as you reach the city at Victoria Station)

As I expected, my trip there was inspiring, and I went home full of memories and a good peppering of ideas to embrace the coming celebrations.

The first recipe I made was a noodle soup. It tasted incredible. A rich, dark broth fragranced with the tang of ginger and the warmth of chilli. I flavoured it with mushroom ketchup for extra umami and layered it with the vegetables: spring onions (scallions), broad, fleshy mushrooms, deep green kale, and shredded bright orange carrot. Then I soft-boiled an egg and placed it on top, the golden creamy yolk adding a decadent mellowness to the tasty bowl.

Yes, I thought, yes, this is perfect.

Of course, I soon realised that what I had made was not a noodle soup but Ramen, and Ramen, as we all know, is Japanese in origin. My intent to celebrate the Lunar New Year had crumbled into the realms of potential misappropriation and, potentially, at the harsher end, racism. Was the Lunar New Year, not a Chinese event!!!???

I am not proud of my ignorance, I assure you.

To appease my guilt and stop myself from adding insult to injury, I went on a research spree of the Lunar New Year. This is what I discovered from my Google search:

1.Although it has traditionally been called "Chinese New Year" in the West, the "Lunar New Year" is in fact celebrated across a 5th of the world. Many people in and from China, Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Japan (yes, Japan) celebrate the coming of the new Lunar Year.

2.Traditionally, preparing for the New Year involves starting from a "clean slate" This means that preparations include cleaning your house, paying off debts, and buying new clothes in readiness.

3.There are different traditions involved in Lunar New Year celebrations. Vietnamese believe the first person to step into your house will set the tone for the coming year. This is called Xong Dat or "first footing." In China, it is common to wish people "Happy New Year" with a balled fist into a palm salute, women with their right hand open, men with their left. The salute should be shaken three times to wish good fortune and happiness.

4.The colour red is hugely important. It symbolises the sun, which gives life, and blood, which circulates life.

5.Red envelopes with money in them are given as gifts. These are for wealth, prosperity, and good luck. It is unlucky to put only four units of currency into the envelope, as the number 4 is a bad omen associated with death.

6.Foods served at Lunar New Year celebrations are those associated with luck: whole fish, or "yu" (which has the same pronunciation as the word for abundance), Soup made with sticky rice, which symbolises togetherness, or noodles, which denote a long life.

7.The Chinese New Year animal is linked to five elementary elements: earth, wood, fire, water, and metal. This coming year is not just the year of the Dragon but, specifically, the Wood-Dragon. Last year (2023) was the year of the Water Rabbit. In Thailand, it is called the year of the Naga, a mythical snake-like monster.

8. Many consider the number 8 a lucky number. In Mandarin, it is pronounced "ba," which sounds similar to the word for wealth and prosperity. Chinese people try to incorporate the number into celebrations like the Lunar New Year.

I also learned that Ramen originated from Yokohama, a place in Japan where Chinese people settled in the early 20th Century, bringing with them noodle soups. The name was adapted from the Chinese word "Lamian. "

Now, the question is, knowing all that I have discovered. Can I justify my bowl of Ramen as a food to bring comfort and to share in celebration of the coming Lunar New Year? It does seem to be appropriate on a lot of different levels.

The truth is. I am still not sure.

All I know is that this bowl of noodles, much like a Ramen, is delicious, tasty, and warming, and I can say it "nods" to the food shared by cultures who celebrate the Lunar New Year. Perhaps it is my personal "fusion" style. Is that an exception to misappropriation? It seems to be everywhere in the culinary world. I am absolutely sure that the addition of "mushroom ketchup" is a very British addition.

Food is culturally hugely significant, yet it seems perfectly fine to take "bits" from all over the world and fuse them together. Perhaps this is because food is culturally attributed as opposed to "stolen," which is what misappropriation truly is.

I shall leave this to you to decide.

For now, here is the recipe for a good, simple, nutritious, bowl of Lunar New Year Inspired Noodle Soup (with British influences).

Westernised Lunar Ramen Soup

500ml broth (chicken or Vegetable) flavoured with ginger puree, sliced red chilli, and garlic puree.

Tablespoon of mushroom ketchup.

Slices of meaty mushrooms, spring onions, shredded carrot, handful of kale, 2 discs of dried egg noodles (see picture)

One soft-boiled egg (egg into a cold pan of salted water and bring to a boil. Leave boiling for 3 mins. Drain and run under cold water so it can be peeled without burning your hands).

Method: Put the broth and spices in a pan and bring to a boil; simmer for 5 minutes. Pass through a sieve to remove any bits of ginger and return to the pan. Add noodles, ketchup, and sliced vegetables. Decant into a bowl. Serve with a soft egg sliced on top.

Note: Keep tasting throughout to get it just right. Please feel free to experiment with different vegetables, too.

Enjoy,

CJ xx