DCA Lunar New Year 2018 - Day 1 + Pictures
Entrance to Lunar New Year celebrations in Disney's California Adventure - Paradise Garden
On February 3rd, I went to my first day at the Lunar New Year at Disney's California Adventure.
For those that don't know much about Lunar New Year, it is the new year celebration, as based on a lunisolar calendar (taking in mind both solar year and lunar phases). This is why Lunar New Year changes dates each year (between January/February). Lunar New Year is celebrated extensively in many Asian countries/cultures (including mine - Vietnamese). It was so refreshing to see DCA continue the tradition (started only last year) of celebrating Lunar New Year and dedicating themselves to showing off different cultures. I found the celebrations all very respectable and enjoyable.
Lunar New Year Activities Booth & Wishing Wall - Paradise Garden
But, of course, I was most excited by all the new food to try! Near the entrance of Paradise Pier, there were three booths (that we pigged out on <3) to pick up Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese foods. There was live music, as well as additional activities and meals to choose from in the Paradise Garden area (next to Goofy's Sky School). Per usual, there were also carts selling merchandise specific to the celebration, including Disney + Lunar New Year themed clothing, stuffed animals, and knick-knacks.
Lunar New Year Merchandise; Ears & Shirts
I want to preface the following with that fact that all of the food I tried was relatively muted (seasoning-wise), as compared to their more authentic counterparts. I understand that it was important to incorporate flavors like kimchi, fish sauce, red bean, etc with a light hand (although I would have adored the more heavy handed use of these). I applaud the food creators for keeping in mind the palate of the typical American while remaining true to the flavors and spices of the original dish. I think they were succesful.
Lunar New Year Festival Entrance from Paradise Pier
We stuffed our faces and shared 12 different festival food items: (1) Kimchi Bokkeumbap - Korean Vegetable & Kimchi Fried Rice, (2) Yachae Mandu - Korean Steamed Vegetable Dumpling with Sesame Garlic Soy Sauce, (3) Yang Gaeng - Korean Sweet Red Bean and Raspberry Jelly, (4) Banana Ooyu -Korean Banana Milk, (5) Xiao Long Bao - Chinese Pork Soup Dumplings with Black Vinegar and Ginger, (6) Sanbeiji - Chinese Three Cup Chicken, (7) Dan Ta - Chinese Egg Tart Dessert, (8) Baixiangguo Lucha - Chinese Passion Fruit Green Iced Tea with Lychee Popping Pearls, (9) Zhurou Bao - Chinese Steamed Bao filled with Pork with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce, (10) Banh Chung - Vietnamese Sticky Rice Cake with Pork, (11) Chao Tom - Vietnamese Sugar Cane Shrimp Skewer with sweet and sour sauce, (12) Banh Khoai Lang Tim - Purple Sweet Potato Macaron.
[I didn't realize until writing this out how much I actually ate today and now I feel kinda crappy about myself hahaha. Well, not really - I'm just going to blame the fact that I'm on steroids for asthma. Please join me in assigning external blame to my inevitable weight gain xD]
Korean Food
Kimchi Bokkeumbap - Korean Vegetable & Kimchi Fried Rice
(1) Kimchi Bokkeumbap - Korean Vegetable & Kimchi Fried Rice - Honestly, this seemed like a waste of money. I make fried rice at home all the time. I could make 10 times the amount for the same price at home, easy. Still, it was pretty good - light kimchi flavor, sticky & plump rice, and a bit spicy. We actually ended up getting a second one before leaving, the BF noted that it tasted better the first time around and seemed to taste better colder than warmer. My rating: 3.6/5 stars; his: 4.0/5 stars; average: 3.8/5.
(2) Yachae Mandu - Korean Steamed Vegetable Dumpling with Sesame Garlic Soy Sauce
(2) Yachae Mandu - Korean Steamed Vegetable Dumpling with Sesame Garlic Soy Sauce - Tbh, I thought these were pretty great. I also don't have much experience with dumplings. BF thought they were fairly average. The soy sauce was pretty strong - I'd recommend dipping lightly - as it easily overpowers the dumpling. The wrapper was relatively bland but I thought the filling was moist, filling, and delicious! My rating: 4.4/5 stars; his: 3.5/5 stars; average: 3.95/5.
(3) Yang Gaeng - Korean Sweet Red Bean and Raspberry Jelly
(3) Yang Gaeng - Korean Sweet Red Bean and Raspberry Jelly - This was delicious. And I was so close to not getting it because the thought of it was so strange. I am not typically a fan of red bean, raspberry, or jellied substances. Still, I decided to give it a shot - and I'm so glad that I did. It was expecting a sickly sweet jam and instead I got a very refreshing surprise. The desert was double layered, with a ground up red bean bottom layer and a raspberry jello like top layer. I'd highly recommend this. My rating: 5/5 stars. BF didn't try it.
(4) Banana Ooyu -Korean Banana Milk
(4) Banana Ooyu -Korean Banana Milk - BF says that the Banana Milk tasted "just like a Mexican licuado - and that's good". Tastes like you would think - super banana-y though ("banana-y" may not qualify me as a detailed reviewer). If you like the taste of slightly over-ripe bananas, this is the drink for you. BF had two of them and could've probably had more. My rating: 4.6/5 stars; his: 5/5 stars; average: 4.8/5.
Chinese Food
(5) Xiao Long Bao - Chinese Pork Soup Dumplings with Black Vinegar and Ginger
(5) Xiao Long Bao - Chinese Pork Soup Dumplings with Black Vinegar and Ginger - Firstly, the Dipping Sauce tasted just like watery A1 Steak Sauce and neither me or BF used the sauce with the dumplings. However, without any sauce the dumplings seemed kinda bland. BF barely even recognized it as pork. I thought they were fine, but some better sauce would have been nice. My rating: 3.5/5 stars; his: 2.5/5 stars; average: 3.0/5.
(6) Sanbeiji - Chinese Three Cup Chicken
(6) Sanbeiji - Chinese Three Cup Chicken - I think BF said it best when he said that it tasted like something you would buy from Panda Express. The seasoning on the meat was a bit overwhelming at first, though the rice helped with that. Still, it wasn't bad so much as we felt it wasn't very special. BF thought that it didn't even really taste Chinese. Neither one of us were exceptionally fond of this nor felt like we would want it again. My rating: 2.6/5 stars; his: 2.0/5 stars; average: 2.3/5.
(7) Dan Ta - Chinese Egg Tart Dessert - I have never had an egg tart before, so I didn't have much to compare it to. I thought it was pretty good, the tart's consistency was somewhere between creme brulee and hard boiled egg. I liked that it wasn't sweet and that the egg flavor was noticeable. Also, I was impressed with the size of the tart, as I was expecting something much smaller. BF didn't try it as he doesn't like egg tarts. My rating: 4.0/5 stars.
(7) Dan Ta - Chinese Egg Tart Dessert
(8) Baixiangguo Lucha - Chinese Passion Fruit Green Iced Tea with Lychee Popping Pearls
(8) Baixiangguo Lucha - Chinese Passion Fruit Green Iced Tea with Lychee Popping Pearls - This was so refreshing. It wasn't too sweet and really helped us out on the hot day (80 degrees F - hot for Feb. Southern California). The BF doesn't typically like tea and even he thought the drink was great. My favorite part was definitely the popping pearls. They give the drink a different texture and a literal "pop" of sweetness with the lychee. BF: "I liked the flavor of the boba (popping pearls) with the tea. It worked. It felt like a refreshing fro-yo." This was probably one of the highlights of the day for me. My rating: 5/5 stars; his: 4.7/5 stars; average: 4.85/5.
(9) Zhurou Bao - Steamed Bao filled with pork with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce
(9) Zhurou Bao - Steamed Bao filled with pork with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce - This was actually the last thing that I ate. At this point, BF was pooped and so I ate all of this one on my own (theme of the day). The bao was pretty small and pastry portion kinda dry; also it wasn't filled very full. Still, the filling was pretty darn tasty. I didn't even bother with the sauce, as it seemed plenty seasoned already. I would recommend this. My rating: 4/5 stars.
On another note, I have no idea why I was holding the Bao so insanely awkwardly. The BF used portrait mode on this one too, trying to be all fancy. I ruined it. And now my claw is on the internet.
(9) Zhurou Bao - Steamed Bao filled with pork with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce
Vietnamese Food
(10) Banh Chung - Vietnamese Sticky Rice Cake with Pork
(10) Banh Chung - Vietnamese Sticky Rice Cake with Pork - This was a bit of a disappointment to me, mostly because it didn't taste very much like authentic Banh Chung. All the flavors were so muted that it pretty much tasted like nothing. Vietnamese Banh Chung is much denser and flavorful. Still, I was very surprised that this was being served, as I thought it was a bit far from conventional Americanized Vietnamese food. So, for that, I was impressed. Not with the dish though, it tasted like a bunch of nothing with different textures. BF agreed that it was bland, pork and rice could have both used more seasoning. My rating: 2.0/5 stars; his: 1.8/5 stars; average: 1.9/5.
(10) Banh Chung - Vietnamese Sticky Rice Cake with Pork
(11) Chao Tom - Vietnamese Sugar Cane Shrimp Skewer with sweet and sour sauce
(11) Chao Tom - Vietnamese Sugar Cane Shrimp Skewer with sweet and sour sauce - This was a surprising highlight for me, and not because of the shrimp. Rather, I loved the sauce; there was just a hint of fish sauce and I was so impressed to see it there. Fish sauce is such a huge part of Vietnamese cuisine and I was glad that it wasn't skirted in the booth. In addition, I loved the sugar cane skewer. I grew up with sugar cane in my backyard and chewing on sugar cane sticks. Chewing on the skewers brought me back to childhood and it was such a pleasant feeling. The shrimp itself was very good as well, but I was in love with the other parts of the dish more. BF thought that the shrimp was good alone and that the sauce was initially too strong, but with a good aftertaste. He said it wasn't something to write home about though. My rating: 4.8/5 stars; his: 3.8/5 stars; average: 4.3/5.
(12) Banh Khoai Lan Tim - Purple Sweet Potato Macaron
(12) Banh Khoai Lan Tim - Purple Sweet Potato Macaron - This was amazing. If you try one thing at this little festival, I'd say try this. Oh my goodness, I don't even typically like Macarons, but Disneyland really does them correctly. This was the perfect amount of crispy, soft, sweet, and flavorful. Both me and the BF enjoyed it. I loved the whole thing and he liked the bits with less jam. Still, I would get this again in a heart beat. Also, I was a huge fan of using purple sweet potato, as this was one of the prime flavors I grew up with. Reminded me of home. My rating: 4.9/5 stars; his: 4.3/5 stars; average: 4.6/5 stars.
Non - Food Adventures
My Lunar New Year celebrations didn't end with just food. There were so many little additions that made the experience so heart warming. Take a look through some of the pictures I took! I was able to catch the GuGu Drum Group (from Shanghai) perform some of their set - they were very impressive. More importantly (to me) though, it was great seeing so many people stop to watch them. I loved how very happy and willing my American peers were to partake in a bit of another culture - even if it was just by watching a drum group.
The main activities booth hosted activities like Chinese lettering (choosing between sounding out your name or more traditional sayings), coloring and making paper lanterns, and attaching wishes to the "Wishing Wall". Make sure to look at the picture for that! I was touched by a couple, one wishing "to be married to [their] love" and one wishing for safe return home for all the "brothers from Iraq".
I wasn't able to get a good view or picture of the "Processional" including Chinese dragon dancers, Mulan sightings, and Disney characters in festive attire. However, from my understanding, it runs a few times a day, each day, and draws a decent crowd (as seen in the 3rd to last picture).
Finally, I was touched by the signs that were posted in Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese, detailing little bits of Lunar New Year culture for each. They were so simple and yet meant the world, I loved the reminder that this is a very large holiday with many long standing traditions in different parts of the world. It was great to a variety of people stop to read about how others live.
I was so happy to partake in this celebration at the happiest place on earth.