Start Year of the Rat off right
A La CarteJanuary 19, 2020
Story By: Don Robbins | Photos by: Little Village Chinese Restaurant
Custard Tapioca $4.50 (part of the 2018 Mothers Day Menu)
Little Village Noodle House welcomes guests to join in the celebration of Chinese New Year — ushering in the Year of the Rat. The restaurant on Smith Street in Chinatown will serve a sumptuous nine-course meal plus dessert Jan. 22 for dinner only and Jan. 23-25 all day.
Get ready for some extra fun for those dining on Jan. 25 as a special lion dance performance will take place inside the restaurant at 6:30 p.m.
“We wish everyone to get a good start for this Chinese New Year,” shares owner David Chang adding that his nine-course meal helps with just that. Each dish has been selected with deep meaning designed to provide the eater with good luck, wealth and health for the upcoming year.
The nine-course meal ($193 for four guests or $388 for 10 guests) features an array of delectable creations. Chang said guests should call Little Village at 545-3008 to make reservations for their Chinese New Year feast.
Steamed Black Bean Oyster on half shell
The menu commences with seasonally appropriate Imperial Seafood Winter Melon Soup, followed by Seafood Lettuce Wrap, and Live Steamed Oysters in the Half Shell with Chili Black Bean.
Chang shares, for example, dishes like the oysters and the lettuce wraps symbolize the generation of wealth and money, a very auspicious way to enter lunar year 2020. The wrap features a medley of mixed seafood, vermicelli noodles, spicy aioli, shiitake mushrooms and water chestnuts.
Other menu items include Kau Yuk with Steamed Bun, Lobster Tail Any Style, and King Mushroom with Spinach.
Good Fortune Jai (File Photos)
Kau Yuk from Little Village offers extremely tender braised pork belly that can be stuffed into puffy buns with green onion and star anise sauce for a perfect pairing.
Customers can order their lobster tail with ginger and onion, salt and pepper, or black bean sauce in this dish representing strength and great health.
For the mushroom dish, the flavorful fungi are nestled with baby spinach and bathed in oyster sauce, Chang explains.
Seafood Lettuce Wrap $9.75 (part of the 2018 Mothers Day Menu)
Next, get set for mouthwatering delights like Crispy Skin Roasted Duck, Shanghai Mochi Stir Fry and don’t forget Good Fortune Jai.
Shanghai Mochi Stir Fry represents “doing better every year,” and that you “upgrade and elevate yourself,” Chang notes.
Meanwhile, Little Village’s all-vegetarian Good Fortune Jai also happens to be one of the most significant items on the menu lineup. Chang describes it as “Buddha pasta,” and it’s served to ensure that customers have happiness and longevity in life.
Ingredients in this dish include long rice noodles, snow peas, tofu, mushrooms, carrots and more. Adhering to a vegetarian diet at the beginning of a year also reflects a Buddhist philosophy of purity and cleansing initiated by monks of the religion.
Last but definitely not least, patrons of Little Village can finish off their meals in a refreshing style with luscious, creamy Custard Tapioca.
