As we celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Dragon, we're excited to share some tantalizing recipes to enrich your Lunar New Year celebrations. Lunar New Year offers an opportunity for family reunions, reflection, and of course, indulging in delicious food! Roar into the Year of the Dragon with these lucky dishes: Spring rolls symbolizing prosperity, vibrant garlic green beans for a long life, and plump dumplings for good fortune. Whether you're honoring tradition or simply seeking to explore new flavors, these recipes are certain to infuse your festivities with joy, prosperity, and the spirit of the dragon.

1. Spring Rolls
2. Garlic Green Beans
3. Dumplings

Looking for fun events to celebrate the Lunar New Year? Check out the Portland Travel Event Guide!

Spring Rolls

Ingredients

• ¼ cup canola oil, divided
• 8 cups napa cabbage, sliced thinly
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 carrots, sliced thinly
• 8 ounces bamboo shoots, sliced thinly
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 48-inch square spring roll wrappers
• canola oil for frying

Instructions

1. Add half the canola oil to a large heavy skillet on medium-high heat and add in the napa cabbage cooking 8-10 minutes while stirring until almost all the liquid it releases has cooked off.
2. Add in the garlic, carrots, and bamboo shoots and cook for 1 minute while stirring before adding in the mirin, soy sauce, and sesame oil and stirring again then let the filling cool completely.
3. Mix cornstarch with two tablespoons of water.
4. Lay out the spring roll wrapper, brush cornstarch slurry around the edges to moisten, and add about 2 tablespoons of filling in a long rectangle shape, folding in from the sides and rolling the wrappers closed tightly.
5. Heat 3 inches of oil in a Dutch oven to 325 degrees and fry the spring rolls until golden brown (about 2-3 minutes).

Garlic Green Beans

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Snap off the tough ends of the green beans. If your green beans are very long, snap them in half. 
2. Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. To check to see if the oil is hot enough, stick bamboo chopsticks into the wok so that the tips of the chopsticks are touching the bottom. You want to see tiny bubbles rapidly forming around the chopsticks. Alternatively, you can throw a green bean into the wok. If bubbles start to form around the bean immediately, the oil is ready for frying.
3. Working in batches, fry the green beans for about 2 minutes until the green beans start to wrinkle on the outside. You don’t need to cook the green beans for too long. Use a strainer to strain the oil from the beans and then transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat until all the beans are fried. Turn off the heat. If you want the beans to be less greasy, blot them with paper towels.
4. Carefully pour the used frying oil into a bowl. If you do not want to handle hot oil, let the oil cool completely in the wok. Don’t bother wiping the wok at this point because you’ll be using it to fry the garlic next, and you can use the residual oil in the wok for that. 
5. Heat the wok over medium-high heat. Add the minced garlic and cook it for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the green beans back to the wok, along with the salt. Stir to combine. Cook for another minute. Turn off the heat and transfer the green beans to a serving plate. 

Dumplings

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground pork
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped Chinese chives
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 50 dumpling wrappers
• ½ cup vegetable oil for frying, or as needed

Instructions

1. Prepare dipping sauce: Combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, chives, sesame seeds, and chile sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Prepare dumplings: Mix pork, garlic, egg, chives, soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.
3. Place a dumpling wrapper on a lightly floured work surface and spoon about 1 tablespoon of the filling in the middle.
4. Wet the edge with a little water and crimp together forming small pleats to seal the dumpling. Repeat to form the remaining dumplings.
5. Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place 8 to 10 dumplings in the pan and cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side.
6. Pour in 1 cup of water; cover and cook until the dumplings are tender and pork is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
7. Repeat to cook the remaining dumplings, adding more oil and water for each batch.
8. Serve dumplings with dipping sauce