![\"Year](\"https:\/\/marigoldonline.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Year-Horse.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This being the Chinese Year of the Horse, I was invited to join a group in Chinatown for a very late Sunday lunch.\u00a0 <\/span>So many dishes appeared I lost count but recall something with vegetables and scallops, a beef dish, saut\u00e9ed Chinese broccoli, a sweet and sour offering, noodles, a good rice dish dotted with tiny pieces of ham and laced with peas and more. <\/span><\/p>\n People born in the year of the horse are supposedly animated, active,\u00a0 <\/span>energetic\u00a0 <\/span>and love crowds. They become independent early (the way foals can walk minutes after birth) and are said to be both good communicators and great wits. Although I once met the great Secretariat and shook his hoof (so to speak), he didn’t tell jokes but went out to the race course and won the Belmont stakes.\u00a0 <\/span>It would have been impossible to ignore that horse or the way he oozed self-confidence although I didn’t find him especially witty (but then again, I don’t speak fluent horse.)<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A-list names born in the year of the horse include Sandra Day O’Connor, Cynthia Nixon, Leonard Bernstein, Rembrandt, Oprah and Harrison Ford. Emulate whom you will.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Chinese broccoli<\/p><\/div>\n If you want to celebrate your own lunar New Year, serve Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce for its beautiful, dark green color and good nutritional value. <\/span><\/p>\n 10 ounces Chinese broccoli (gai lan)<\/span><\/p>\n 1 teaspoon salt<\/span><\/p>\n 1 teaspoon baking soda<\/span><\/p>\n 1 slice ginger (about 1\/2-inch thick)<\/span><\/p>\n Sauce: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>3 tablespoons chicken broth or water<\/span><\/p>\n 2 tablespoons oyster sauce (hit the Chinese grocery aisle)<\/span><\/p>\n 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry\u00a0 <\/span>(sherry is fine)<\/span><\/p>\n 1\/2 teaspoon sugar<\/span><\/p>\n Wash the Chinese broccoli. Cut off the ends and cut into pieces about two inches long. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kung hei fat choy! Happy Chinese new year! Whinny. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 This being the Chinese Year of the Horse, I was invited to join a group in Chinatown for a very late Sunday lunch.\u00a0 So many dishes appeared I lost count but recall something with vegetables and scallops, a beef … Continue reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nIn a large saucepan, add enough water to cover the broccoli. Add the salt, baking soda and ginger. Bring to a boil.
\nWhile waiting for the water to boil, prepare the sauce. Combine the chicken broth or water, <\/span>oyster sauce<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>rice wine<\/span><\/a> or dry sherry and sugar. Bring to a boil in a small saucepan. Turn the heat down and keep warm while blanching the broccoli.
\nAdd the Chinese broccoli to the boiling water. Cook until the stalks are tender but crisp (3 – 4 minutes). Rinse in cold running water. Drain.
\nPour the sauce over the broccoli and serve.<\/span><\/p>\n