My first taste of Asian food like most Irish people was from our local take-away, in our case, the Dragon Boat in Howth (who amongst plenty of the classics, do a cracking salt & chilli prawn dish). Prawn crackers that fizz and melt in your mouth, fried rice and sweet and sour chicken from little metal boxes was the height of novelty in our house when I was growing up and real treat. If I was lucky and I got the request in early, birthday dinners were celebrated at the local Chinese restaurant, The Pagoda in Sutton Cross. Dark lighting, white table cloths, Chinese instrumental versions of classic hits made the perfect setting for a Chinese feast. Crispy duck pancakes, hot and sour soup, and beef in black bean sauce served on sizzling plates dramatically rushed to the table complete with a lazy susan- it was fierce fancy!  It didn’t end there, the pomp and ceremony of being handed hot towels was not lost on me before devouring a dessert of deep fried ice-cream. Eating spag bol or shepherds pie the next day for after school dinner didn’t quite cut it and so began for me a love of Asian food that has endured. 

There are plenty of reasons that the New Year is a good time to kick start a fresh take on eating, in my case it’s the relief after the copious amount of grub that was devoured over the festive period. In our house, just as life comes in waves, so to does our eating habits and after all that indulgence, stocking up on plenty of good greens, whole grains and pulses, is always a good idea. It’s less about a diet plan and more about a focus on food that just so happens to be good for you! There’s no need to jump on the bandwagon of whatever fad diet is doing the rounds and instead think of it as a little reboot after all that Christmas fun!

With the Christmas festivities well and truly done and dusted, I always feel the focus moves far too quickly towards dickying yourself up again to ring in the New Year. After the mad rush of shopping for presents, getting the tree sorted, the dinner to the table and tending to a festive hangover, the only thing I want to do when it comes to New Years is hibernate with some good food and family (particularly with a toddler and a newborn in our house)!