OXNARD, CA - Chinese New Year is a two-week long celebration before and after the lunar new year, and to help promote the popular holiday, San Miguel Produce is gearing up with its line of Asian greens and offerings. Produce-centric dishes are often featured as families and friends gather for a fresh start to a new year, gathering for family style meals consisting of up to ten courses of culinary delights.
For this CNY, San Miguel has redesigned new packaging for its Jade Asian Greens bags. The San Miguel team found that by moving to bags, they would be able to hit a more aggressive price point and improve freshness and product quality.
Items featured are Baby Bok Choy, Baby Shanghai Bok Choy, Snow Pea Shoots (Dau Miu).
“We were also able to expand on our messages on the bag to include cooking tips and updated recipes; one of the recipes I developed to serve at my wedding a couple years ago,” Garrett Nishimori, Marketing Manager and Corporate Chef, tells me.
See the recipe below:
Garrett’s Baby Bok Choy and Salmon En Papillote Recipe
Besides working for a company that has CNY items ready to ship for retailers, Garrett notes, “I have been celebrating Chinese New Year for the past 10+ years with my wife’s family, and this is what I know… First thing you need to learn is how to say, Kung Hei Fat Choy (Happy New Year). If you say it, parents, aunts and uncles give children red envelopes that are filled with very crisp money. It is interesting to me that Choy is in the saying as Choy also means green leafy vegetable (bok choy, gai choy).”
A couple of his personal CNY favorites are whole steamed fish covered with green onion, ginger and cilantro and sea cucumber with shitake mushrooms and gai choy (Chinese Mustard Greens). Stir-fried Dau Miu (snow pea shoots) with ginger and garlic, also tops that list.
Citrus, especially oranges, tangerines and mandarin oranges play an important role in the Chinese New Year celebration. Garrett’s wife’s family buys citrus by the case during this time of the year to display in their home and eat with their family and friends.
“The tangerines are often displayed with the candy box which includes dried fruit, candies, pumpkin seeds and watermelon seeds,’ he adds.
Now is a great time to continue holiday ad planning for Chinese New Year, so stay tuned as we bring you more on the popular produce items.
