\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/IMG_1900-edited-2.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBut even a pandemic can\u2019t stop us from embracing all of the traditions that make this holiday so extraordinary. One that I particularly enjoy is the way in which wordplay and homophones factor into the selection of traditional foods specially prepared to mark the occasion. For example, at festive gatherings a whole fish will be served, because the word for fish (yu)<\/em> is a homophone for surpluses.<\/p>\n Now frankly, I could use some surpluses these days and the notion of a whole steamed fish festooned with fresh ginger and scallions appealed to me. However, I knew I wasn\u2019t going to make it to any Chinatown fish markets this year and since I\u2019m cooking for one, the idea that I might find a small enough whole fish locally seemed to be a lost cause. But as I traversed the aisles of my neighborhood supermarket, what to my wondering eyes should appear (I know, wrong holiday), just lying there all alone, curiously out of place in the meat case, was this diminutive porgy, the only one to be seen. <\/p>\n Because it came from a chain operation, I expected it to be prepped and ready to face my culinary endeavors head on. But no. Removing it from its plastic wrapped Styrofoam tray, I found it very much unscaled, ungutted, uncleaned \u2013 in other words, totally intact! It\u2019s not that I\u2019m averse to prepping a fish \u2013 I\u2019ve done it plenty of times \u2013 but I was surprised that this was how it was packaged at my local white-bread American supermarket. <\/p>\n Since it was the only one if its ilk in the case and seemingly untouched by human hands to boot, it occurred to me that it might have been freshly caught, straight out of the Gowanus Canal, perhaps. (\u201cHey, let\u2019s see if anybody\u2019ll buy this!\u201d) I mused that it might lend a certain aromatic je ne sais quoi<\/em> to its flavor profile. Since this is the Year of the Ox, a bullhead catfish might be a more appropriate choice \u2013 after all, it would cover both bases \u2013 but this rogue porgy was all I could land. In any event, I obviously lived to tell the tale and I\u2019m happy to report that it turned out to be quite tasty.<\/p>\n But how that porgy got there is still a complete mystery to me. Which reminds me of another Lunar New Year tale when my inner ox was thwarted in attempting to access a particular nian gao<\/em> (the traditional sweet rice cake and a homophone for high year) no matter how much determination and strength he could muster \u2013 and what should have literally been a snap became a classic mystery. <\/p>\n Curious? Please read my very short story, \u201cThe Case of the Uncrackable Case!\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u65b0\u5e74\u5feb\u4e50! X\u012bnni\u00e1n ku\u00e0il\u00e8!<\/p>\n The Chinese observation of the Lunar New Year is upon us: it\u2019s 4719, the Year of the Ox, known for his determination and strength. And, as always, I’ve posted a New Year story or two. Read on…. Continue reading
\n
\nStay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes. \u2764\ufe0f
\n
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"