Dining with Asian Food & Wine - PEKING DUCK in the LUNAR NEW YEAR - “THE YEAR OF THE TIGER”

by

Ronald Jan, M.D.

Celebrating the NEW YEAR has been challenging in the midst of a pandemic. Still, it reems reasonable to acknowledge some of the traditions that come - paying bills before NEW YEAR’S DAY, cleaning the house before NEW YEAR’S DAY. Described by wine expert and author, Janet Z. Wang, dining with family on NEW YEAR’S EVE is a critical part of tradition “…epitomized by the scene of parents, husband and wife, siblings and children sitting around the table with steamy dumplings (especially in the North China) and NEW YEAR delicacies, accompanied by the sound of laughter and the clinking of wine cups and chopsticks. (It) is the most important family occasion of the year, charged with emotions and the symbolism of love, safety, comfort and filial piety.”

In restaurants a knife is taped to the wall to appease the Kitchen God, Zao Wang. 

kitchen God, Zao Wang (Photo from Yan-Kit So’s Classic Food of China)

So that cooks can safely use knives in preparing delicious food, for example, whole fish (homonym for bountiful), birds nest soup (for youthfulness), noodles (for long life), yuan bao (boiled dumplings for wealth), and duck (promoting happiness).

Peking Duck from Sacramento’s Hong Kong Islander Restaurant (Photo from Ronald Jan, M.D.)

And more than chicken or turkey, the Peking Duck can present more richness and texture enhanced by the crispy skin. The Peking Duck at Sacramento’s Hong Kong Islander Restaurant met the expectation with the umami savoriness of the fat and the oiliness being tempered by the acid of the Twomey Vineyards’ 2014 Pinot Noir from Russian River. The rich flavor of the Peking Duck and hoi sin sauce’s sweetness was enhanced by the fruitiness of the 2014 Pinot Noir from Russian River whose soft tannins were softened even more by the 8 years of ageing.

2014 Twomey’s Pinot Noir (Photo from Ronald Jan, M.D.)

Dining with food and wine, family and friends during the Chinese New Year Celebration helps all of us to endure this pandemic and leaves us with hope for a brighter year ahead -

THE YEAR OF THE TIGER

Embroidery TIGER (Photo from Ronald Jan, M.D.)

About the author: Dr. Ronald G. Jan who specializes in Vascular Surgery is a Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of California at Davis School of Medicine. As a hobby, he holds WSET level 3 certification in wines and has been writing and publishing wine commentaries.

Bourla, President and CEO of Pfizer. (Photo from Reuters)

(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, January 17, 2022) In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, Pfizer President and Chief Executive Bourla predicted that after two years of the epidemic, people are expected to return to normal life "soon", Bloomberg reported.

"We will soon be able to return to normal life," Borra said in an interview. "We have all the tools at our disposal: tests, very effective vaccines, oral medicines for first-line treatment at home. Prepare to reach our goals this spring.”

Pfizer manufactures vaccines and oral drugs, which have been shown in clinical trials to dramatically reduce hospitalizations and deaths. Bourla also agreed with other executives and scientists, believing that the Omicron variant is less virulent but more infectious, which means that the epidemic may soon enter the "endemic" phase, and countries will learn to coexist with the virus, just like the flu.

However, Bourla warned that this does not mean that the new crown virus will disappear. "We've been through a lot of unexpected things since the outbreak. We're going to probably have to live for years with a virus that's very difficult to eradicate," he said.

(Source: Compiled from online information)

With the rapid spread of the Omicron variant virus, the number of deaths in nursing care centers has increased, and each center has restricted visitors to prevent the tragedy from repeating. (Associated Press)

(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, January 17, 2022) The COVID-19 outbreak has seen a record surge due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant virus. Nursing homes are no exception, and the number of deaths has once again seen an increase. Although the current situation is far less severe than last winter, centers generally do not dare to neglect and take more measures such as vaccination booster, or restricting visitors, to prevent the tragedy from repeating.

Data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that in the seven days ended on the 9th of this month, 32,000 residents of nursing care centers were infected with the disease, about seven times the number a month ago, and 645 people died, 47% more compared with a month ago; 57,200 people in nursing care center employees were infected, more than ten times the number a month ago, and a record high.

The current situation is far less severe than it was in December 2020, when 6,200 residents of the nursing home died of the disease each week, but Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), said as the situation develops, the number of hospitalizations and deaths in nursing care centers will "exponentially increase".

To avoid a repeat of the tragedy, many nursing homes have begun to promote vaccination or booster shots: CDC data show that the current rate of residents in nursing care centers receiving two doses is 87%, and the rate of receiving booster shots is 63%; At the nursing care facilities, the two-dose rate of center staff was 83%, but the booster rate was only 29%.

The Biden administration also requires the vast majority of health care workers in the country to be vaccinated. The constitutionality of this order was endorsed by the Federal Supreme Court on the 13th of this month.

In addition, booster vaccinations are important for seniors who are vulnerable to the virus; in late November last year, a 100% complete vaccination rate for residents and staff at a nursing care center in New Hampshire, but the booster vaccination rate was 0%, resulting in a nosocomial infection claiming six lives.

Many nursing care centers have also begun to strengthen screening or visitors can only meet residents in public spaces, not rooms, and require social distancing, etc.; in New York State and other places, only those visitors who have tested negative and wear masks of can enter the Residential Care Center.

Ding Liang said that other measures that should be taken include wearing medical-grade masks such as N95 and increasing high-efficiency air purifiers.

We have to make the Residential Care Center safe, but we haven't seen that yet, so the number of cases keeps going up. "

(Source: Compiled from Online Information)

Experts warn that Omicron's gusty explosion and progress is enough to prove it won't be the world's last worrying version of the COVID-19 variant. The picture shows Texas motorists queuing for testing. (Getty Images)

(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, January 16, 2022) Scientists have warned that Omicron's gusty outbreak and spread is enough to prove it won't be the world's last worrying version of the COVID-19 variant. "The faster Omicron spreads, the greater the chance of mutation, potentially causing more mutation," said Leonardo Martinez, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Boston University.

Omicron makes it impossible for relatively healthy people to work and go to school, and its ease of transmission not only increases the chance of infection, but also increases the likelihood of lingering in people with weakened immune systems, giving it more time to develop effective mutations. Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University, also said, "Longer persistent infections seem to be the most likely breeding grounds for new varieties; this is only provided when the infection is very widespread."

Because the virus can evolve in more people, experts don't know what the next variant will look like, how it will affect outbreaks, no guarantees that they will be milder diseases, or whether existing vaccines will work. But experts stress that the vaccine is still effective today and that broader vaccination is necessary.

After Omicron appeared in mid-November last year, it swept the world like a prairie fire. Research has shown that it is at least twice as contagious as Delta and four times as infectious as the original version of the virus. Omicron is more likely than Delta to reinfect people already infected, causing "breakthrough infections" in vaccinated people while attacking unvaccinated people. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported a record 15 million new cases in the week of January 3-9, a 55% increase from the previous week.

Since the disease caused by Omicron does not appear to be as severe as Delta, experts believe this may indeed be the beginning of the virus's tendency to become milder than the common cold, since the virus won't spread as much if it kills the host quickly; but the virus doesn't always becomes less lethal over time.

Infection and vaccination have provided some immunity in most parts of the world. There are many possible ways for the adaptation and evolution of the virus, including animal infection and the virus mutating and then returning to humans, or double circulating infection of Omicron and Delta in humans. A mixture of these two types of traits.

To curb the emergence of mutations, scientists have emphasized continued public health measures, such as wearing masks and getting vaccinated. Although Omicron is more transmissible than Delta, the vaccine still provides protection, and the booster shot has greatly reduced severe illness, hospitalization, and death.

Rey's analogy is that vaccines are human armor, and even if they cannot completely stop the spread of the virus, they can greatly hinder the spread of the virus.

(Source: Compiled from Online Information)