Lunar New Year Festival

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Contents

Event Captains

2009 Gloria Yang (gyang8@mit.edu)

Ginger Yang (yginger@mit.edu)

Lindsey Shi (lyshi@mit.edu)

2011 Stephanie Ku (stephku@mit.edu): Logistics

Linlin Huang (hylinlin@mit.edu): Performances

Victor Hung (vhung@mit.edu): Setup/Clean up

Emily Yang (epyang@mit.edu): Food -- made shopping list, complied recipes and added dishes where necessary, shopping trip with Ginger, Peter, and Victor to Costco, Super 88, and Shaw's the day before in rented zipcar, in charge of coordinating all volunteers and assigning time slots

Event Description

2009 This is our big annual event that we have once a year to celebrate lunar new year. For the past two years, we have been hosting this event in lobdell with about 150 attendees and the event typically lasts from about 6-10pm (but we don't usually start on time). We sell tickets for $5 & $7 pre-sale to members and non-members respectively, and for $7 & $9 at the door. During ticket sale week, we have a pastry sale to promote publicity as well.

During the event itself, we have tons of homecooked food. Exec cooks a lot but we also ask for volunteers who cook for us if we get the ingredients for them and they get to go to the event for free. Other than food, we have a wide variety of performances and mystery hunt puzzles for people to solve. Performances we had this year in 2009 included chinese instruments (solos, ensembles, duets), chinese dances, chinese yo-yo, asian a capella (syncopasian), etc. The event has been very successful in the past years.

Shopping List

2007

Appetizers

  1. Potstickers (Jennifer Huang, Chensi Ouyang)
  2. Scallion Pancakes (David Chen)
  3. Dan Bing (Steven Mo)
  4. Luo Bo Gao (Zach Sun, Jen Lai)
  5. San Bei Ji (Joseph Lee, Christine Yang)
  6. Eggrolls (Kuen-Bang Hou, Chen-Yi)

Meats

  1. Chicken Curry (Jennifer Huang, Chensi Ouyang)
  2. Grilled Salmon with Broccoli (Joseph Lee, Tiff Chu)
  3. Ginger and leek fish (white) (Justin Lo, Sharon)
  4. Tofu gan with pork and bamboo (Darren Yin, Michele)
  5. Soy Chicken (Jackie Ho)
  6. Chao Mien (Kenny Yan, Connie Yee)


Veggies

  1. Mapo Tofu (Christine Lee)
  2. Tofu Yuan (Christine Hsueh, Victor Wang, Xin Cao)
  3. Cabbage w/ Tofu (Joseph Lee, Tiff Chu)
  4. Chao Mien (Vegetarian) (Kenny Yan, Connie Yee)
  5. Stir fried Si Gua (Kathleen Cui)
  6. Green Leafy things (Kelly Chien, Lisa Nakano, Alison Chiang)
  7. Tomato and Eggs (Chensi Ouyang, Jennifer Huang)

Desserts

  1. Red Bean mochi (Jennifer Huang, Chensi Ouyang)
  2. Nian Gao (Chensi Ouyang, Jennifer Huang)
  3. Chocolate Lava cake (Jackie Ho)
  4. Mango Pudding (Christine Lee)
  5. Xin Ren Tofu (Andy Lin)
  6. Red Bean Soup??? (Mavis Li)
  7. Coconut Tapioca (Xi mi lu) (Kamyin Cheng, Katie Chang)


2011

Appetizers

  1. Potstickers (Qian Long, Stephanie Yu, Catherine Fan) -- 3 bags LingLing potstickers from Costco [1/2 bag left over because we were running out of time and getting tired of making them... make sure to get pans with lids and not to let them burn! We burned a couple batches]
  2. Dan Bing (Stephanie Yu, Emily Yang) -- 3 packages (of 10) 12" tortillas + ~40 eggs + 2 bunches of scallions [5 left over tortillas]
  3. Tea Eggs (Stephanie Yu, Emily Yang) -- 60 eggs + 1/2 bottle soy sauce + sugar + salt + 2 lu3 wei4 se4 packets (from a box of 3) + 10-12 tea bags [made these the night before in multiple pots, about 7 or 8 eggs per pot, before simmering in seasonings and letting sit at room temp overnight. We peeled and cut each egg in half so we could serve more people]

Vegetables and other random dishes

  1. Tomatoes and Eggs (Ginger Yang) --
  2. Bok Choy (Ginger Yang) --
  3. Cauliflower (Emily Yang, Qian Long, Joy Chen) -- 5 cauliflower + garlic [we had 1 cauliflower left over]
  4. Jiu cai with dou gan (Angela Chang)-- jiu cai + 6 pack of doufu gan
  5. Vegetarian Mapo Tofu (Peter Tia)-- 2 tubs (of 6 pieces) silken tofu + scallions + 1 jar soy bean sauce + 1 jar hot bean sauce

Meat and Fish

  1. Tilapia (Stephanie Chang) -- 2 trays tilapia fillets from Costco + scallions + ginger + garlic
  2. Pork ribs (Angela Chang) -- 1 really big cryovac-ed rack of spareribs from Costco + soy sauce + garlic
  3. Oyster beef and broccoli (Garret Lau) -- ~5 lbs flank steak from Costco + 7 or 8 heads of broccoli + 1/2 bottle oyster sauce + garlic + cooking wine [Garret marinated his meat and blanched his broccoli in advance because he had to leave and we put the dish together for him later]
  4. Chicken with mushrooms and bai cai (Stephanie Chang) -- 1 family pack (individually wrapped) boneless, skinless chicken thighs from Costco + 1 bai cai + 1/2 large pack of shiitake mushrooms [soaked an entire bag... so we didn't use half]
  5. Mapo tofu (Peter Tia) -- 2 tubs (6 pieces each) of silken tofu + 1/2 lb of ground pork + 1 jar of soy bean sauce + 1 jar hot bean sauce + scallions [could have used more meat because we bought 2 lbs for the dish, but we forgot about it in the refrigerator]
  6. Pearl balls (Emily Yang) -- 4 lbs ground pork + 3/4 cabbage + sesame oil + 3 cups sticky rice (soaked the night before) + scallions, ginger, garlic + handful of extra mushrooms + 1 bai cai [this took wayyyy too much time and since the steamer didn't have a lid... it was interesting and we had to use foil]

Rice and Noodles

  1. Vegetarian fried rice (Stephanie Ku) -- 1 tray of rice + 2 bags frozen vegetables + 18 eggs [didn't end up turning an entire tray of rice into fried rice. And we ended up with a couple bowls extra fried rice after the event]
  2. Nuo mi fan (Emily Yang) -- 12 cups sticky rice + 2 packages chinese sausage + 1 large pack shiitake mushrooms + 1 bag dried shrimp + 4 cups chicken stock (from bouillon) [soak the rice the night before. We did this in 4 batches. the rice tended to stick and burn on the bottom of the large wok when the heat was too high. The large wok didn't have a lid to go with it, so we had to improvise with foil, which was a hassle because we had to keep uncovering it to keep the rice from sticking. We ended up with a couple extra bowls after the event]
  3. Vegetarian vermicelli (Annie Ouyang) -- 3 packages of mi fen + 1 bai cai + 2 carrots + 2 onions
  4. White rice (Peter Tia, Stephanie Yu) -- bought a huge 20 lb bag of jasmine rice and had ~1/3 bag left over [we made about 1.25 fulls trays of white rice and then added some more when we didn't use all of the rice intended for fried rice. We only ended using less than a tray, which could have been because we put the rice at the end of the line of food at the event... bad idea...]

Desserts

  1. Nian gao (Christine Lai) -- 3 bags glutinous rice flour + 1 bag (uncooked) azuki beans + 7.5 cups of 2% milk (~half gallon) + brown sugar + baking soda [We ran out of this quickly. Make 4 or more 9x13 pans next time. Had to borrow a pan from Random Hall and Christine provided her own measuring cups. Actually started baking earlier than the rest of us started cooking.]
  2. Mochi (Catherine Fan) -- 2 bags glutinous rice flour + 2 cans unsweetened coconut milk + sugar + 2 cans red bean + potato starch (for rolling) [we ran out of these really really fast since we only made 2 batches, and the mochi was quite sticky and frustrating (time intensive). Catherine provided her own measuring cups and a 9x13 pan and we got a 9" round pan from Random, a 9x13 pan from Emily, and a 9" round pan from the McCormick Annex]
  3. Almond tofu (Emily Yang) -- 8 boxes instant almond tofu + 2 large cans of fruit from Costco [made this first thing in the morning so it could set up, but since the milk tea made the refrigerator kind of warm, it didn't set up very much. Mixed the fruit into the almond tofu at the event, so remember to bring a can opener if we decide to do this in the future]
  4. Almond cookies (Sasha Targ) -- 1 (5 lb) bag flour + 3 cups sugar + 2 (1 fluid oz.) bottles almond extract + 3 cups butter + slivered almonds + baking soda + 6 eggs [Sasha made a total of 3 batches of these at Random with a friend. Gave her ingredients and a chafing dish the night before]

Drinks

  1. Milk Tea (Stephanie Yu, Emily Yang) -- 60 bags of tea + 2 of ATS's largest pots filled with water + 4 cans condensed milk [do NOT put hot milk tea in the refrigerator!!! Boil smaller pots of water separately before combining in a large pot. Tie tea bags together close to the bag itself to minimize tangling and for easier fishing out later. We had to transfer some of the milk tea in a drink dispenser because one of the pots didn't have a lid]
  2. purchased drinks from Chinatown -- a box full of bottles...

Overall We had enough food for everyone to go through the food line at least once and some people came back for more. Performers didn't have that much to choose from =/

  • Leftovers: LOTS of white rice, less than 1/4 tray of dan bing, a couple bowls of sticky rice and fried rice (respectively), some mi fen, some mapo tofu, some chicken and bai cai, a couple pieces of pork rib, about a bowl of beef and broccoli, a couple pearl balls, and half a bottle of aloe left over. But it wasn't an excessive amount of leftovers, so exec and hungry people who stayed after were able to deal with most of the extra food (except the rice... so much rice...).
  • We did not have enough: desserts and veggies.

I think we had had about the right amount of food, considering the lowered attendance because of Super Bowl Sunday. Maybe have less dishes next year with more quantity (2 chafing dishes per dish instead of 1)

Attendance

20009 ~150-160 total (~120 tickets sold + volunteers)

2011 I have no idea you should really ask... the sheet of paper with all the ticket sales

Notes

2009 Setup

  • Decorations (streamers, lanterns, flyers, etc.)
  • Layout (moving tables and chairs) & tablecloth for serving tables
  • Getting drinks and utensils

Notes:

  • Start setup at least 3 hrs before the event starts. We have yet to start on time.
  • Get at least 4-5 volunteers to be working on setup. More would be ideal.
  • There is a lot of running around to collect all the necessary materials. A zipcar and a lot of manpower is necessary.
  • For the layout, we usually do vertical rows along the middle of lobdell in front of the stage (everybody with their sides facing the stage) and the two sides of lobdells with (nearly) identical food stations. (It's possible to meet with CAC to have them move tables for you but we've never done it.)
  • Room has to go back to the way it was at the end of the day

Performances

  • Emailing out and lining up performances
  • Getting the MCs (usually from exec)
  • A/V equipment (usually from ACF)
  • If a piano is needed, contact Tim Woods (twoods@mit.edu)


Foods

  • Getting volunteer cooks
  • Getting food servers
  • Making the shopping list & purchasing ingredients
  • Delivering ingredients to cooks
  • Need to provide MIT Campus dining with recipes and preparation methods of all foods


2011 Notes

General Notes

  • Need to advertise more! Posters... emails... Facebook... SPAM!
  • Try to get Lobdell NOT on a Sunday (especially not Super Bowl Sunday)
  • Have setup people bring plates and utensils well before the event starts

Food

  • Bring a cooler on the shopping trip even if it's cold outside
  • Try to prep as much as possible the day/night before
  • Get enough volunteer cooks (because some will inevitably cancel on you), send out lots of reminders, and make sure those signed up actually come
  • Make more people come from Next House to McCormick (so volunteers have time for lunch breaks because they started eating burnt potstickers >_<)
  • Have rice and noodles first when serving food, instruct servers on portion sizes.
  • No need to have servers after the first hour.
  • Get pots with LIDS (because steaming with a foil cover is hazardous) and oven mitts for removing filled chafing dishes from warm ovens.
  • Start at 10am means actually start cooking at 11am.
  • Don't put hot milk tea in the refrigerator because the refrigerator becomes very unhappy... it's better to put the milk tea out in the snow
  • Don't soak too many mushrooms, 1 full tray of rice is enough
  • Make sure sauces/bottles of seasoning that need to be refrigerated after opening are refrigerated so we can use them again
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