The Recipes You Should Cook This February

One large dumpling per diner tastes just as good as many smaller ones, but it’s faster to make and looks more dramatic for your Lunar New Year feast.

Cheese fondue is a fun and unique appetizer that’s perfect for a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner. This fondue recipe features Swiss and gruyère cheeses and is served with baguette cubes.

Chef Meeru Dhalwala adds a bit of brown sugar to this curry since she developed it to accompany a tart tamarind chickpea curry. “I believe in the ultimate pleasure of a dish that is sweet, sour, salty, and bitter,” she says.

Billy Ngo, now chef at Kru, a Japanese restaurant in Sacramento, shared this dish inspired by his previous restaurant, Red Lotus. He deep-fries these, but at home it’s easier to brush them with oil and bake them until they’re crisp.

Chef Ari Kolender of L.A.’s Queen Street Raw Bar & Grill recommends broiling larger oysters and shucking and eating the smaller ones raw. “While you can broil any oyster, they will shrink in size when they cook, so you should take that into account,” says Kolender.

When he’s cooking in the wild, Elias Cairo, head salumist of Olympia Provisions in Portland, likes to make a hardier salad using ingredients that stay beautiful even if they get banged around a bit in the cooler.

This beautiful make-ahead recipe is perfect for Lunar New Year parties. You can prepare and tie up these bundles in the morning and store them in the refrigerator until cook time while you tend to other party preparations. Not only do the banana leaves add flavor, but they also make for a stunning presentation.

Attention, citrus lovers: This dish includes zest in the lemongrass-chile rub, juice in the refreshing dressing, and peeled segments in the crunchy cucumber and shallot topping.

We’ve balanced sweet corn and rich cream here with earthy cumin and a splash of bright Champagne vinegar for a delicious addition to your V-Day dinner. You can make the soup a day ahead and chill. Also chill bowls for serving to keep the soup cold. 

Meaty and less expensive than lamb loin chops, shoulder chops need to cook a little longer to soften. They’re slightly gamey (in a good way!), which makes them a great match for the bold, Moroccan-style flavors here. Serve with fluffy couscous to soak up the sauce. 

Tiny florets of cauliflower mimic rice in this rich, creamy dish. Golden cauliflower adds appealing color, but the recipe works just as well with the white variety. Try it with pan-roasted brussels sprouts.

For a healthier take on ramen, substitute sweet potato zoodles for the traditional wheat noodles. You can create the zoodles with a spiralizer or mandoline. The shortcut broth also has loads of flavor without taking hours to cook.

The tender star of your Valentine’s Day dinner. If desired, substitute USDA prime or choice beef for the Kobe.

Hard cider—low in alcohol, not too sweet, and gently flavorful—works beautifully in savory dishes. Here it adds a subtle apple note and keeps the meat juicy. Serve with egg noodles or mashed sweet potatoes.

For pho, a rich-tasting broth is crucial. But how do you produce one quickly? Simmer whole pieces of chicken in chicken broth.

Bake this silky, rich chocolate mousse straight out of the freezer. It couldn’t be easier and you can make a half-batch without compromising the results. Needless to say, they make a killer Valentine’s Day dessert.

We reached back into our files of all-star recipes for this one submitted by reader Ruth Greene. Lining the crust with toasted walnuts gives the pie a delectable crunch.

For this gorgeous combination of green tea ice cream and ripe red plums poached in sweet sake, be sure to use fresh matcha and keep it tightly covered in the fridge—it oxidizes very quickly.

One more fondue recipe to finish off your Valentine’s Day dinner. Choose two to four kinds of fruit—apples, bananas, dried apricots, pears, grapes, pineapples, strawberries—or any other foods you like to dip, such as marshmallows and pretzels.

This creamy, brightly flavored dessert is delicious served with your favorite cookies, but for a more festive presentation, alternate scoops with vanilla ice cream and pour Champagne over the top.

With a buttery shortbread-like texture, these almond-flavored cookies are guaranteed to be family favorites for Lunar New Year and beyond. Let kids help by “painting” glaze on the dough and putting almond “eyes” in the cookie’s center.

Deep, rich, and luxurious, this mousse, inspired by a recipe from Isabel Allende, is a grand finale to your V-Day meal. Use good-quality chocolate for the best flavor.