“Keep the noise down!” our neighbour shouted, knocking on the window. We were ever so slightly indignant: it was four in the afternoon, and we were chopping vegetables. Well, to be fair, there were five of us chopping, using big, strong cleavers, and I suppose we were having a bit of a chopping competition. It was Chinese New Year, and though I was living in small town England, it was with eight students from China, and one from Hong Kong. (There was also a guy from Russia and one from India, but that’s another story.)
 
We had one kitchen, and come Chinese New Year, it was buzzing. All nine rice cookers were hard at work. One team (the girls from the north) was busy manufacturing dumplings; Lazy, the representative from Hong Kong, was boiling up a sticky pot of sweet and sour pork; and vegetables and crab sticks were being chopped up with vigour for one enormous hot pot with meatballs – which turned out to be so full of chilli it was inedible. (Our fault for letting the girl from the Szechuan province take control!)
 
Chinese New Year is right around the corner. On Monday the 23rd of January the year of the rabbit will end and we’ll be launched into the year of the dragon. To help you celebrate, we’ve put together a list of our favourite Chinese restaurants around the country. (Along with some of our favourite Chinese dishes at restaurants serving a wider variety of Asian food!)
 
Johannesburg
 
Best of Asia
Try: crispy Peking duck pancakes for R68.

Chinese Northern Foods Restaurant
Try: Kung Pao chicken for R70.

Kong Tai
Try: lamb hot pot for R70.

Lai Lai Gardens
Try: crispy beef for R88.
 
The Red Chamber
Head to the Peking duck evening on Monday 23 Jan, first day of Chinese New Year. The Peking duck special goes for R280 per person, for the whole evening’s dinner and drinks.

Pretoria

Guia
Try: stir-fried duck with soya bean sprouts for R75.

Shen Zhou Chinese Dumpling Restaurant
Try: steamed pork and vegetable dumplings for R45.

Wing Hin
Try: roasted pork flank with plum sauce for R65.

Free State

Nagoya (Westdene)
Try: chicken and cashews, R39.

Durban

China Plate
Try: barbequed pork belly for R85.

Cake and Satay House
Try: curry crab, R175.

Cape Town

1890 Sushi House and Grill
Try: crispy fried tuna for R90.

Bamboo Chinese and Sushi
Try: crispy duck for R70.
 
Beijing
Try: the changing set menu special of three courses for R145.

Chef Pon’s Asian Kitchen
Try: Szechuan orange beef, R68.

Haiku
Try: barbeque duck steamed roll with hoisin for R65.

Kitima
Try: wonton soup,  R38

South China Dim Sum Bar
There will be special items on the menu to celebrate the new year, including stuffed pancakes, prawn wontons and mango pudding. Prices to be confirmed.

Wakame
Try: confit of Peking duck with noodles, R135.

Wasabi
Try: Penang chicken, R76

By Katharine Jacobs and Emma-Kate Liebenberg

Photographs: The Bitten Word, and supplied by restaurants