New York’s Staten Island. With rattling dim sum trucks and sizzling bins of dumplings fragrant with star anise, the Year of the Snake made its appearance in East Pacific last Wednesday. With a sushi chef constantly moving and hanging Peking ducks on either side, Sunny Ng, the restaurant’s happy manager, scuttled across the lively room filled with chattering customers.
Dumplings are created from fluffy fortune cakes. This picture shows steaming pouches of sticky rice wrapped in pork, peanuts, scallions, and other caramelized veggies that are stuffed with five different spices. Black bean sauce is applied to chicken feet at the one-o’clock position. At three o’clock, a mixture of wood ear mushrooms, pork, and shrimp is used to crimp shut mai. (Pamela Silvestri/Staten Island Advance) Silvestri
Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello!Hello!In a sea of happy faces, Sunny shouted. With a roar of laughter, he exclaimed, “Happy New Year!”
Helen Lau, the owner, escorted customers to their tables as Laura, her daughter, took phone calls. In the mix, older customers traded scarlet envelopes containing fresh dollar bills, which are a lucky charm and a sign of wealth.
“This year is going to be fantastic,” Helen, wearing a scarlet jacket, declared. The color itself became a topic of discussion and a recurring motif in the dining room at East Pacific.
According to Helen, wearing red during the Chinese New Year is a custom that symbolizes luck and wealth.
She gestured to cards set out in an orange tree shaped like a bonsai. “The plant puts the mandarin oranges on the table and brings them into the room,” she remarked.
According to her, oranges are a symbol of good fortune.
Helen Lau with an orange plant at the bar. (Silvestri, Pamela; Staten Island Advance)Silvestri
According to Susan Juan, a frequent customer of East Pacific, vermilion menus written with golden Chinese characters conveyed sentiments like being courteous to one another and loving one’s neighbors.
East Pacific, 2025: Lunar New Year on Staten Island in the Year of the Snake. (Silvestri, Pamela; Staten Island Advance)Silvestri
A round of goodness
According to Chinese folklore, eating also evokes extremely particular feelings. They appear in long lines like noodles if the meals aren’t packed with round delicacies. The threads stand for longevity.
Aside from black bean sauce-drenched chicken feet, East Pacific’s round-looking treats, like as har gow (shrimp dumplings), were abundant. Using rolling carts or handheld trays, servers served diners shumai dumplings crimped with chopped water chestnuts, shrimp, and pork, as well as egg tartlets filled with custard.
When deep-fried, crispy spring rolls have the same color and resemble gold bars. When placed on the table during the Lunar New Year, they are symbolic of good fortune. (Silvestri, Pamela; Staten Island Advance)Silvestri
Fortune cakes were triads of steaming, fluffy, golden dough.
Helen said, “That item symbolizes how things get better every year.” “More money, too!” she added.
The secret to the deliciousness of these savory fried taro balls is their nest-like coating on the outside. And in a dim sum program, these specific dishes can be quite delicious. The palate experiences a first crunch, then a melt-in-your-mouth experience, and finally a flavorful softness from the baby shrimp and pork kibbles mixed in a gravy that has been slightly thickened with each bite. (Silvestri, Pamela; Staten Island Advance)Silvestri
“My mother and I make whole chicken, whole fish, mustard greens, dumplings, hotpot, sweet rice balls, noodles, tangerines, and nian gao at home,” said Juan, who loves to cook.
Juan describes nian gao as a chewy, steamed rice cake that differs in sweetness and texture depending on the location of China. This dessert custom dates back to the late 300s A.D. and is around 8 inches in diameter.
According to Juan, the Lunar New Year is a unique custom that is full of happiness and hope. Enjoying delicious food with lovely friends and family is the ideal way to celebrate the holiday.
Susan Juan is holding a scarlet envelope that contains a five-dollar note. Sweet feelings of kindness and affection for one another are expressed in the special menu on the right. (Silvestri, Pamela; Staten Island Advance)Silvestri
Through Sunday, February 16, the Lunar New Year is in effect. Until then, East Pacific served a few dim sum dishes every day for lunch straight from the kitchen. On weekends, the whole menu, which includes 45 different types of dim sum, is served from carts from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. East Pacific can be found on Eastpacificsi.com and in The Staten Island Mall.
Pamela Silvestri is the cuisine editor for Advance/SILive.com. Her email address is [email protected].
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