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Lunar New Year 2021 is the Year of the Metal Ox. Sculpture by Joe Fafard on Georgia street. Photo by Sophia Han
** LOWER INTERMEDIATE For Chinese people, the year starts with the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival. This year, Chinese New Year starts on Friday, February 12. In China, this is a holiday that lasts for one week, but it is also celebrated in places where many Chinese people live.
Every Lunar New Year is associated with an animal sign. For 2021, the animal sign is the Ox. People born in 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985 and 1997 are Ox people because an Ox year occurs every 12 years. Ox people are considered hard-working, honest and dependable.
*** UPPER INTERMEDIATE
Traditionally, the Lunar New Year is a time for families to be together and eat special foods such as fish, dumplings, and wheat noodles called “longevity noodles.” People believe that if you eat these noodles, you will have a long and happy life.
In Chinese culture, red is considered an auspicious colour, so people often wear red clothes during the holiday. People also decorate their homes with red pieces of paper with traditional Chinese sayings and give children gifts of money in red paper envelopes.
It is common for adults to give each other mandarin oranges and anything gold-coloured (such as chocolates wrapped in gold paper or sweets in gold-coloured boxes).
Some things are considered unlucky to do during the Lunar New Year. Washing your hair is considered unlucky because it suggests that you may wash away good fortune. It is also considered unlucky to sweep or break an object.
If you have a friend who celebrates the Chinese New Year, you can greet them in Cantonese by saying kung hei fat choi (“gong hay fah choy”) or in Mandarin by saying gong xi fa cai (“gong zee fah-chai”). This means “Wishing you good fortune.”
VOCABULARY
celebrate – to do things you enjoy because of a special occasion
associated – if you associate something with another thing, this means the two are connected
occurs – when something occurs, it happens
considered – thought of
dependable – a dependable person is someone who acts the same way over time
traditionally – things you do because of a custom or belief
Dami Sushi and Korean Restaurant 3280 East 22nd Avenue, Vancouver, BC Phone 604-431-8887 Delivery via Ubereats.com Open Monday to Sunday, 11 am─9 pm
Greetings food fans. Welcome to another segment of Taking out in RC, our COVID-19 version of Eating out in RC.
We’d like to remind folks that a global pandemic is no reason not to continue enjoying our incredible local food outlets. Even if dining in is not currently your thing, you can always order for pick-up or delivery. That’s what I did here with Renfrew-Collingwood’s newest addition to its culinary crown – Dami Sushi and Korean Restaurant.
Dami celebrated its grand opening this past January, and already, the reviews are coming in that Dami offers quality food at affordable prices. Their dishes are inspired by modern and traditional Korean and Japanese cuisine.
I was quite taken aback by the sheer size of Dami’s menu. There are actually two full-size menus at Dami – a Japanese menu and a Korean menu. Either one on its own would be considered quite extensive, so to be able to produce everything on both menus must be quite a feat. But, Dami did it. In just 15 minutes my order-to-go was ready.
The Gamja-Tang hot pot is a pork back bone soup with Chinese cabbage, onion, green onion, potato and perilla seed, served with rice. Photos by Julie Cheng
From the Korean menu I ordered the Gamja-Tang hot pot. This is a pork back bone soup with Chinese cabbage, onion, green onion, potato and perilla seed with rice ($29.88). This soup was HUGE and was enough for about four people. I believe you will find this soup completely delicious and the pork is of the melt-in-your-mouth variety.
Also from the Korean menu, in the griddle section, I ordered the Bulgogi – thinly sliced beef marinated in a special Korean barbecue sauce ($17.88). I have always loved bulgogi and if you have yet to try it – Dami! Really good stuff.
So what’s nice about Dami is that you can go full Korean, but then, maybe because your spouse or your kids or even you must have some sushi rolls as well – Dami! You can get it all right here.
The Fantastic Roll was, as the name implies, fantastic.
From the special rolls section, we ordered the Fantastic Roll – crab meat, avocado, prawn tempura, spicy tuna, yam flakes and spicy mayo sauce ($9.88). It was, as the name, implies – fantastic!
There is too much to you tell you about Dami, but as usual I will urge you to go taste for yourself. The service was excellent; the food was fresh, delicious and way beyond what one makes at home, affordable and within your grasp. I recommend it. Bon appetit.
Dami opened in Renfrew-Collingwood in January 2021. In addition to take-out and delivery, Dami offers a spacious space for dining in.
Renfrew-Collingwood Community News 