by Astrid Bouwman
For the sixth edition of the VNC Dining Club, January 23, 2026, we returned to Amsterdam, its bustling De Pijp district – a neighborhood that undoubtedly boasts the highest concentration of restaurants from every corner of the globe. Our choice for the evening was the cuisine of Northeast China, a vast and somewhat loosely defined region. Its foundation lies in ‘Lu cuisine’ (from Shandong province), enriched by influences from Beijing and the northern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning. Additionally, traces of Russian, Mongolian, and Korean cuisines can be found. The flavors are somewhat bolder than those of southern Chinese cuisines, offering a rich and diverse palette of tastes and aromas. It was a promising prospect that piqued the curiosity of 18 guests eager to discover this relatively unknown culinary style.
But first, the evening featured a perfectly timed cultural component. Situated precisely between the Western and Chinese New Year, our host, OEY Toen Ping, introduced us to the Chinese tradition of New Year prints (nianhua). Unlike the cards we send in the Netherlands around Christmas and New Year to wish family and friends happy holidays, these prints are intended to be hung in one’s own home. Some are for decoration, featuring proverbs or cheerful, sweet-colored imagery; others serve to ward off evil spirits or warn them not to follow into the new year. Ping showed us two heavy volumes filled with various types of prints. While the variety is immense, the symbolism within the illustrations is usually easy to spot.
In earlier times, the prints were handcrafted, unique painted works of art and therefore quite costly. With the advent of block printing and screen printing, replicas became easy to produce. These could be purchased at bookstores through catalogs. Ping brought along a small selection from his collection of these ‘poster catalogs.’ Looking through them today, we can see which types of New Year prints and posters were popular in specific years, providing a fascinating snapshot of popular taste in China. Each year, publishers released a new version of these catalogs. Even today, New Year prints remain popular and, like everything else, can be ordered online.
As a highlight, Ping displayed a framed New Year print (a woodblock print) that was so popular it was eventually turned into a postage stamp. This stamp was pasted just below the image. While the New Year print itself lived a brief, domestic life, this miniature version may have traveled across the country for years.
In China, one wouldn’t dream of removing the prints prematurely before the start of the new year, as that would surely bring bad luck—one of the many customs and traditions (or “superstitions,” to put it irreverently) surrounding the Chinese New Year.
During the meal, I was confronted with another such piece of wisdom: wanting to take a piece from the underside of the fish, I flipped the whole fish over. My Chinese tablemates advised me not to get behind the wheel of a car for the rest of the evening, as it might—just like the fish—end up upside down. I was glad I had come by bicycle.
On the menu:
- Pork strips in sweet bean sauce: To be wrapped by hand in tofu sheets
- Braised and fried sliced pepper beef: With onion, bell pepper, and carrotot
- Muxurou: egg dish with cucumber, carrot, pork, and Chinese mushrooms
- Braised eggplant in black bean sauce: with pieces of bell pepper for color
- Noodle salad: with julienned carrot and cucumber, mushroom in peanut sauce
- Kobaro: small pieces of crispy fried chicken with sesame seeds
- Guobarou: Pork – breaded and deep fried to a crispy coating – with sweet and sour sauce
- Mapu tofu: with Szechuan pepper and the traditional addition of minced meat
- Braised sea bass with pancakes: served with glass noodles and tofu, swimming in soy sauce
- Caramelized sweet potato: served piping hot with a bowl of cold water on the side to quickly cool and eat the ‘candy’.
For the Dutch guests, this Dining Club gathering was a great start to 2026; for the Chinese guests, it was a wonderful conclusion to the Year of the Snake. For everyone, it was a flavorful and convivial evening in what has become a steadfast VNC tradition.
