Happy Lunar New Year from Aviva

Software Engineer Apprentice, Emma W., talks about what she’s looking forward to this year and the fantastic food she will be making.

“My partner is a Hong Konger and Lunar New Year is a big part of his culture. He moved from Hong Kong in 2019 and opened a photography business here in the UK after finishing his masters in Sheffield the previous year. With the pandemic and being self-employed, travelling back to Hong Kong to celebrate LNY with his family isn’t easy, so we do our best to try keep it alive here! Our other difficulty is that I have coeliac disease, so we have to ensure the menu is fully gluten-free…

Last year’s feast was mainly cooked by my sister, although I contributed by making the dumplings! Gluten free baking is difficult with delicate dumpling wrappers so they end up a bit thick skinned but still delicious. We also have to opt for our spring rolls to be made of rice paper instead, and soy sauce traditionally has wheat in it and is used as a base in many other sauces but fortunately finding gluten free soy sauce is relatively easy now!

This year it will just be me and my partner celebrating together, on the menu will be hotpot! I am still investigating how to make a good gluten free soup base but other than that it’ll be rice noodles, thinly sliced meats, various mushrooms like enoki and oyster mushrooms and a whole lot of various leafy greens and vegetables: watercress, bok choy, lotus root, beansprouts amongst others!

 I really love exploring baking and cooking, it’s great to be able to try new recipes to help celebrate my partner’s culture and make Sheffield feel a home away from home.”

 Wow, the food looks great. Will you be celebrating Lunar New Year?