Tasting Menu Series with Chef Jing : The Taste of Early Summer at Chinese Dragon Boat Festival

Are you familiar with the Chinese 24 Solar Terms? We are delighted to announce that our very own Chinese Street Market guest chef, Chef Jing, is launching a family-friendly menu tasting series based off of this ancient calendar just in time for Father’s Day!

Chef Jing is ready to bring you along on a journey to explore a delicately curated six course tasting menu centered on traditional dishes of the Chinese Dragon Boat festival. A highlight of this segment’s tasting menu is the Zong Zi - a type of sticky rice dumpling that is quintessential to this mid year festival.

To bring in the essence of early summer, Chef Jing has expertly incorporated the Lotus plant as a strong theme throughout the menu. A long standing symbol of summer in Chinese culture, the Lotus plant leads us into this warm and sweet season!

Join us as we bask in the essence of the early days of summer, and bring a dad in your life along for this exciting new endeavor! Get ready to dip your toes into the waters on Sunday, June 16th.

                                               Summer Menu

                                                               
 
Welcome Mocktail
Asian Pear, Snow Fungus, Jasmine Tea, Mi Jiu (Fermented rice wine, < 0.05%), Rosemary

1st: Rouge 胭脂
Radish, Purple Shiso, Ginger, Salted Plum, Calamansi,

2nd: Encounter “藕”遇
Lotus Root, Shrimp, Lime, Carrots

3rd: Lotus Charm 荷韵
Lotus leaf, Chicken, Cordyceps Flower, Goji Berry, Wood Ear, Jujube Date

4th: Summer Solstice 夏至
Scallion Oil, Noodles, Assorted Vegetables

5th: ZongZi Sentiment 粽意
Sweet Rice, Mung Bean, Salted Egg, Pork Belly, Chinese Sausage, Shiitake Mushroom, Porcini Mushroom, Chestnut

6th: Inner Peace 方寸
Mugwort, Lime Leaf, Mandarin, Lemon, Sweet Rice


All are welcome to gather with us to enjoy this important delicacy in Chinese culture.
Gifts: steam baskets, and mugwort herb in burlap sacks for your DIY foot bath at home.
** Please contact us for your dietary restrictions.
                                                                                        

History :The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the four major festivals celebrated by Han Chinese. Eating sticky rice dumplings is a quintessential part of this festival. Historians say that during the Warring States period 2,200 years ago, Qu Yuan (屈Qū 原Yuán), a renowned poet and a minister for the Chu government, faced persecution instigated by jealous contemporaries, and Qu eventually drowned himself in the Miluo River. Many in the Chu State mourned him, leading to a tradition that persists to this day, where festivalgoers pay tribute on to Qu by throwing rice dumplings into the water, a gesture originally meant to prevent fish from eating Qu’s corpse. Other traditions include dragon boat racing and taking a Chinese mugwort bath, which are supposed to cleanse energies and ward off evil spirts. The dragon boats customarily have dragon heads at the front, with the bodies kept long and skinny. The boats resemble longer kayaks, and are decorated with dragon scales and adorned with colorful ribbons. Chinese mugwort is usually dried starting in April after the Qingming holiday. The dried mugwort is then used for an energy cleansing bath.

Code of Conduct: 

As a participant of this event you agree to follow the Chinese Street Market participant Code of Conduct.