Girl Meets Farm (2018–…): Season 10, Episode 4 - Lunar New Year - full transcript

[Molly] It's Lunar New Year
on the farm,

and the family is celebrating with
a fabulous Chinese-inspired feast.

[all] Mmm.

[Molly] Deep fried,
super saucy orange chicken.

It's looking sticky and glossy.

My peanut buttery
pork dan dan noodles

with bok choy
and spicy chili oil.

That smells good.

Golden lucky baloney egg rolls

accompanied by hot
Chinese mustard for dunking.

And for dessert, my sweet,
sprinkly almond cookies



are sure to bring in
buckets-full of good fortune.

Happy New Year to my mouth.

Oh, yum.

Yay.

Hey, this is me, Molly Yeh.

This is my husband, Nick,
this is our growing family,

and this is our home, our farm, on
the North Dakota, Minnesota border,

the place where I eat,
sleep, and breathe food.

The best part
about Lunar New Year

is celebrating with family
and lots of food.

So, my dad and aunt are
coming to visit from out of town

and we're gonna party.

For dessert I'm making
my sprinkly almond cookies.

They are this
addictive combination



of crunchy, and crumbly,
and a little bit chewy,

and they're almondy flavor
but with undertones of coconut.

They're so good and also very easy
to make. They're a one-bowl-wonder.

I'm gonna start with half a
cup of softened coconut oil.

And it's unrefined coconut oil,

so I'm getting some
of that coconut flavor

which compliments almond
so nicely.

It adds this beautiful warmth.

These cookies are
traditionally made with lard,

but I love
that coconutty flavor.

Next, my sugar.
A quarter cup each

of granulated sugar and dark brown
sugar just for more depth of flavor

with those dark molasses notes.

Three quarters of a teaspoon
of kosher salt,

and I'll whisk this up
to combine.

Lunar New Year celebrates the
new year on the Lunar Calendar.

It always happens in the
coldest, darkest months,

and it's an awesome excuse
to eat a ton of good food

and celebrate
my Chinese heritage.

So, this is combined. I'll separate
a couple of eggs one at a time,

and just using the egg yolks
here will help the cookies achieve

that nice, dense, chewy texture.

And I'm gonna save the whites
for an egg wash at the end.

These are my sprinkly version
of the almond cookies

that my family and I would get at
some of the Chinese restaurants

that we would go to growing up.

And their round shape is
supposed to symbolize a coin.

So by eating these we will surely
be bringing good fortune to the farm.

Next, my almond extract.
Three quarters of a teaspoon.

You have to love almond
to be in my family.

First date with Nick,
"Do you like almonds? Okay."

This is looking creamy.

I'll sprinkle in
half a cup of almond flour,

which is finely ground
blanched almonds.

I find it in my grocery store
but you can also make your own.

It makes them dense. It
also adds some nice moisture

because almonds are so fatty.

I'll stir this to incorporate.

My dad is
a total ray of sunshine.

I'm so excited
that he's coming to town.

And also, I get to see
my Aunt Linda too

who I don't think I've seen
since I was pregnant with Bernie.

We're gonna ring in
the new year right

and we'll celebrate
the year of the tiger.

[tiger growls]

That was my tiger.

Okay. One cup
of all-purpose flour,

and then half a teaspoon
of baking soda

which I'll sprinkle evenly
over the flour.

I'll mix this now
until it's just combined.

Now that my flour is in there I do
want to be careful not to over-mix.

And it's a pretty dry,
crumbly dough.

This texture is gonna equal
a great chew on the cookie.

Okay, the last ingredient, not
traditional but totally awesome,

-my fancy-dancy Lunar New Year
sprinkle mix, -[audience applauding]

which is red, and gold,
and a little bit rainbow.

The colors symbolize good
fortune, wealth and prosperity,

plus they're pretty.

[sniffs and sighs] Almond and
coconut together are an underrated pair.

Okay. I'm ready to scoop.

I've got a baking sheet
lined with parchment paper.

This is a one-and-a-half ounce
scoop which is the perfect size,

and these only spread
a tiny bit in the oven.

So I'll flatten this out until it's a
little thinner than half of an inch.

I'll brush with a egg wash using
the whites I reserved from the dough.

This is also going to help
some extra sprinkles stick.

I mean, if that cookie's not gonna
bring good fortune to the farm

I don't know what is.

I'll keep on scooping
and sprinkling now,

and then they'll bake
at 350 degrees

for about 12 minutes
until they're golden.

Yum.

I'm about to get rich
in my belly.

Oh!

Yay. These look awesome. Just like
the cookies of my youth with sprinkles.

Okay. I want to eat one
while they're still warm.

Mmm.

I'm going right for the center
where it's still a little chewy and soft.

Mmm-hmm. Mmm.

These are sweet,
almondy perfection.

Happy New Year to my mouth.

Coming up, my peanut buttery,
porky dan dan noodles

are instantly craveable
and super comforting.

You've got to have noodles
on the Lunar New Year

because they symbolize
a long and prosperous life.

So I'm making my peanut
buttery, porky dan dan noodles,

which are spicy, and meaty,
and creamy, and bouncy.

Everything a good bowl
of noodles should be.

To start, I'm making a homemade
chili oil that I'll use in the sauce,

and I've got some
Szechuan peppercorns here

which I love
for their tinglyness.

They make your tongue feel
like the taste buds are dancing.

And they're not spicy
like a black peppercorn,

but they are a little floral
which is lovely.

I'll pour in two tablespoons to my
saucepan here, and one cup of neutral oil.

I'll heat these gently and just let these
sizzle away for a couple of minutes.

Dan dan noodles are
traditional Chinese noodles

that my grandma would actually make
for my dad when he was growing up.

Grandma Mary actually never made them
too spicy, so we'll see what my dad says.

As this finishes up sizzling
I'll get my chili ready.

I've got this coarse
chili pepper powder

which is a little
sweet and smoky.

It's not as spicy
as a crushed red pepper,

but if you don't have this you could
use a little crushed red pepper for sure.

I'll add a quarter cup and also
two teaspoons of kosher salt.

And now the heat of the oil is
gonna wake up the chili peppers

and allow the chilis
to infuse this oil as well.

It'll be really pretty and red.

Sizzling, doing its thing.
Smells good.

I'll set this aside now
to cool and steep

while I get going on my
peanut sauce for the noodles.

This sauce is salty, and sweet,

and majorly craveable
because it's got peanut butter.

I'll start with a quarter cup.

And this is
unsweetened peanut butter.

Dan dan noodles are basically peanut noodles
on steroids because they've also got meat.

Two tablespoons of soy sauce
for that good saltiness,

two tablespoons
of rice vinegar for acidity,

a tablespoon of honey for the
perfect amount of sweetness,

some black pepper,

and then I'll get my chili oil
and I'll add a quarter cup.

But first, I'm gonna
give it a good stir

so that I can get these crunchy
bits into the sauce as well.

And this leftover chili oil is awesome
in dips, or dressings, or marinades.

I'll whisk this up until it's
combined and creamy.

Growing up, we would
celebrate Lunar New Year

by going down to Chinatown
in Chicago with my family,

and we would eat a ton
of dumplings and noodles,

and my sister and I
would get envelopes,

little red envelopes
filled with money.

Cha-ching.

Now that I'm married I'm not supposed
to get those, which is super lame-o,

but I'll give some to Bernie.

Okay, this sauce is ready to go.

I'll just set it aside
while I make my meat.

Mmm.
Oh, that's good and nutty.

I've got my noods
and a pound of pork.

Pork is the signature meat
in dan dan noodles.

I'll add a drizzle
of oil to my pan.

I'll season it
with some salt and pepper.

Even though
the sauce is pretty salty,

it's important to get
the meat itself seasoned.

I'll cook this
while I break it up

over a medium-high heat
until it's browned.

It'll just take a few minutes.

I'm getting really excited
to eat these.

Okay. I'll toss in
some ginger and garlic

and let them cook
just about a minute.

Want to be careful
not to burn that garlic.

And now I'll splash in
some Shaoxing cooking wine

which is an amazing, dark,
complex, caramelly ingredient.

[exhales] It's so good.

If you don't have it
you could use sherry,

but if you cook
a lot of Chinese food

you really should
get some of this.

And then add a couple of
tablespoons of soy sauce.

As it gets down into the pan

I'll scrape up all of those
crispy bits sticking to the bottom

so this will have
a lot of flavor.

The last thing I'll toss in
is some baby bok choy.

Get some veggies in here.

I'll nestle them in. I love baby
bok choy. It's mild, it's earthy,

and it's a tasty way of
adding in a veggie to this dish

without taking away attention from the
stars of the show, the noodles and the meat.

I'll season
the bok choy with salt.

These need just a few minutes
to soften and get tender,

and that'll be the perfect amount
of time to cook my noodles.

My water is boiling. I have one
pound of fresh ramen noodles.

I'll swirl them in.
They cook up so quickly.

And, really, any long
egg noodle would work.

I'll transfer them directly
to the sauce. Mmm.

It's a good
sauce-to-noodle ratio.

These noodles
are gonna be very saucy.

I'll toss these
to get them coated.

Oh, yeah,
they're really swimming.

Okay, these noodles totally match
my overalls. They're looking so good.

I'm ready to plate these.

I'll top with
the pork and bok choy.

Right, now it's nice and crispy.

Finish with
a little more chili oil.

Get everything
glossy and party-ready.

And lastly, some crushed
peanuts for crunch.

Okay, that brought it home.

Holy buckets, that is a
lot of longevity right there.

Later, the secret
to saucy orange chicken

that keeps its
crispy, battered bite.

Oh, yeah.

For our Lunar New Year
main course

I'm making my orange chicken.

Everyone loves orange chicken.
It's deep fried, crunchy,

coated in
a sweet and sticky sauce.

What's not to love?

To start, I have two pounds
of chicken breasts

that I've chopped
into bitesize pieces,

and I'm just seasoning them
all over with kosher salt,

and letting them
sit in some salt

will ensure that they get
seasoned from the inside out.

I'll stick this in the fridge now
while I make my orange sauce.

It starts with orange juice which
gives it that sweet, tart punch,

and it's actually traditional to exchange
oranges as gifts around the Lunar New Year

because they're good luck.

I'll add a quarter-cup
of apricot jam

which compliments the
orange flavor really nicely

and helps get the sauce sticky.

A quarter-cup
of sweet chili sauce

which is a delightful combination
of spiciness, sweetness,

and it's a little briny too.

A quarter-cup of rice vinegar.

I like how sour this sauce is.

And I'll season with salt.
I love the bright color.

I'll whisk it to combine
and bring it to a boil.

Mmm, mmm, mmm.
It's smelling good already.

Orange chicken was the best
when we would get Chinese takeout.

The thing is, though,
my mom didn't always like

ordering fried food for dinner,

so whenever
we would get orange chicken

it was this
special occasion thing

which is what makes it perfect
for the New Year.

Okay, my sauce
has come to a boil.

I'll just reduce it to a simmer.

And now, to thicken it up,
I'll make a cornstarch slurry

which eliminates
the possibility of getting

cornstarch clumps in your sauce.

In my little bowl here I'll combine
one and a half teaspoons of cornstarch

with a couple of splashes
of the simmering sauce

and whisk until it's smooth.

And then the cornstarch will do
its thing and thicken up the sauce

into that sticky orange chicken
coating that we know and love.

Okay. I'm smelling that citrus and
the color of the sauce is beautiful.

I'll take it off the heat
and just set it aside

while I batter and fry
my chicken.

This is the easiest batter
of all time.

It's just two ingredients,
tempura flour and water.

Tempura flour is made of
flour, cornstarch and leavener.

You can get it
at Asian grocery stores,

or online,
or even make your own.

I like it because it gives the chicken
a light, crunchy, crispy breading,

and then it gets slightly chewy
when it combines with the sauce.

I'll toss a little on my chicken
so it adheres to the batter.

Orange chicken samples
at the mall. Am I right?

Then whisk in cold water
to the remaining tempura mix.

Cold water helps
the coating stay crispy.

I do want to be careful
not to over-whisk the batter.

That could make it
kind of gummy.

I'll get my chicken into
the bowl. Just pile it all in.

Make sure it's coated.

I'll fry this in batches at 370
degrees for just a few minutes

until it's golden brown
and crispy.

The Lunar New Year has some
customs that are kind of quirky.

For example, you're not supposed
to shower on the Lunar New Year

and wash away all the good
luck, which is nice for me.

I must be really lucky.

Okay.

This chicken is looking
golden and crisp.

I'll transfer it
to my wire rack now

so that any excess oil
can drip off.

I'll keep on frying in batches
and then put this dish together.

The chicken is fried and
it's ready for its saucy bath.

I'll pile all of it in.

You can hear how crispy it is.

I'll toss it to coat.

It's basically a big pile of chicken
nuggets in really tasty sauce.

It's looking sticky and glossy.

Yum. I'll grab a serving bowl.

Dump it right in.

Mmm.

I'll finish by sprinkling on
a few scallions.

They're so pretty and fresh.

I should taste this. Mmm.

Oh, yeah.

It's sweet, it's sour
it's crunchy.

Now this is some lucky chicken.

Still to come...

- [laughs]
- [Molly] My dad's in town

and we're making the best,
blistery, baloney egg rolls ever.

- My dad's here.
- Hi, everybody.

- Grandpa John.
- [both laugh]

We are knee-deep in
Lunar New Year celebrations

and we just have
one more thing to whip up.

-They're small, crispy
appetizers -Smells good.

That kind of
look like gold bars.

- Any guesses?
- Dumplings?

- It's a thing filled with a thing.
- Ah, let's see.

- Egg roll.
- Yes.

- Yay.
- And not just any egg rolls.

- Ah.
- Lucky baloney egg rolls.

- Baloney? [laughs] - Yes, because
we're gonna make our own luck.

They've got a sweet
and spicy veggie filling,

- and then you dip in mustard.
- [John] That is so cool.

[Molly] I've got a rainbow of veggies
for the filling sauteing in my pan.

- Mmm. Oh.
- It's carrots, onions, cabbage, scallions,

- Oh, that smell.
- Chili.

- Ginger.
- Lots of ginger.

- Mmm. All right.
- I'm gonna add a splash of rice vinegar.

Do you want to add two
tablespoons of hoisin sauce?

- Okey-doke.
- How do you describe hoisin sauce?

-Oh, it's like tangy,
-Tangy.

- Sweet, and salty.
- Really salty.

- Yeah.
- Do you want these to be spicy?

- Uh-huh.
- Okay, add some sriracha. However much you want.

- Okay. How's that?
- Perfect. That's good.

- [John] Awesome.
- A little salt and pepper.

A little salt.

-Okay, I'm gonna get
this off the heat now -Nice.

- Because we're also gonna stir in some cilantro.
- Okay.

Oh, beautiful.
Look at that. [laughs]

[Molly] Now I just need to grab the
wrappers, and then we'll roll them up,

and we'll be one step closer
to golden bars of tastiness.

- [Molly] So, grab an egg roll wrapper.
- All right.

[Molly] Okay,
now place it like a diamond,

where one of the points
is closest to you.

And then grab some baloney, and place
it a little bit below the center line.

- Okay.
- You can put some of the veggies

- right on top of the baloney.
- Mmm.

Is it okay if I put,
like, a lot?

- You can, kind of, fill these up.
- Okay.

All right, looks good. And now fold
the bottom corner up over the filling.

- All right.
- And then we'll grab our glue,

- Oh, okay.
- which is just a mixture of flour and water,

- Excellent.
- and use your finger to go around the edges.

- Right. Okay.
- Get all of the edges.

- You want it to stick together.
- We don't want these breaking.

- Fold one corner in over the center.
- Okay.

-And then fold the other
corner in -Oh, nice. I see.

- Like a little package.
- It's like a little... yes.

- [John] Little envelope.
- Yeah.

-Red envelopes filled
with money -Exactly.

- That I'm bringing you for Chinese New Year.
- Wait, wait, really?

- Yeah.
- Did you bring it?

- Hundreds of dollars.
- Really?

- Yeah.
- Cool.

[laughs heartily]

- And now you roll it up. Yeah.
- Oh, now you roll. Okay.

Look at how delightfully
packaged up this is.

- Like a...
- Your very first egg roll.

- That's pretty good.
- I think it's beautiful.

We can place them on to our
pan here that's dusted with flour

so they don't stick.

- Okay.
- Do you want to keep rolling?

- I will.
- I will fry.

- Okay.
- I have a few inches of neutral oil

heating in my pot
to 350 degrees.

-These only fry for
a few minutes -Okay.

- Until they're golden.
- Beautiful.

- [Molly] They're already getting bubbly.
- Oh, wow. Look at that.

I love how
egg rolls are blistery.

Yeah, the sign
of a good egg roll.

What did you do to celebrate
the Lunar New Year, growing up?

So, my sister and I
would always go

-and we would kind of, like,
sidle over to the buffet -Just ate?

And ate ourselves silly.

- That's how I know we're related.
- And...

- We love food.
- [Molly laughs]

[Molly] Think these are ready.

-[John] They look so
good and golden, -Yeah.

- And rich.
- Oh, this is a good one. Look at this one.

[John] Wow, look at that.

- [Molly] Shall we taste?
- Yeah.

- Okay, do you want to grab the mustard in the fridge?
- Sure.

-And then I like to cut
them on a bias, -Okay.

- So you have a spoon for the mustard.
- That is so stylish.

Oh, wow. Look at that.
Oh, it's hot.

- [both] Mmm.
- [Molly] Mmm-hmm.

This is so delicious.

- I feel lucky.
- I feel it's going to be a very lucky New Year.

- Let's keep on frying and then party.
- And rock and roll.

- Okay.
- [laughs]

- Happy Lunar New Year.
- [all] Happy New Year.

[Molly] Okay,
who wants an egg roll?

[Nick]
I'll take my second now.

- Oh, okay.
- [all laughing]

- Thank you.
- [laughs] Awesome.

- [John] Look at this. Beautiful.
- [Molly] Okay. Rice. Mmm.

[all] Mmm.

- Molly, what animal are you?
- I'm year of the snake.

- And John, what are you?
- Rooster.

What are the qualities
of the rooster?

We like to wake up early
and wake everybody else up.

- Oh, my God, that's so not me.
- [all laughing]

[Linda]
Good job I'm not a rooster

- because I'm not a morning person.
- That's right.

- Tigers like egg rolls.
- [all laughing]

- [Linda] With baloney in them.
- [all laughing]

- [Molly] We saved room for cookies, right?
- [Linda] Yes.

- [John] Yeah.
- [Linda] Yes, we did.

-[Molly] Almond cookies
-[John] Yeah.

With sprinkles.

- [John] Well, they look like the Chinese fireworks.
- [Molly] Yes.

Mmm. Oh, these are delicious.

- [all] Mmm.
- Next year in Shanghai.

[all] Yeah. [all laughing]

Cheers.