CHINESE New Year is a lavish affair for the Yu family who own Yu &You, the Ribble Valley restaurant that so impressed Gordon Ramsay.

On Friday night before the doors of the Copster Green eaterie are thrown open to the public for a sumptuous £49 a head banquet, four generations of the family will sit down to welcome in the new year.

Restaurant manager Vinny, who was born in 1979, The Year of the Sheep, says: “This year we are celebrating the Year of the Horse, which represents prosperity and the free-flow of positivity for health and business.”

The Yu children will receive “lucky money” — traditional red envelopes filled with cash by the elders of the family.

The meal will be the highlight of the festivities with roast duck, chicken, lobster and king prawns on the menu.

Traditionally the martial-arts inspired Dragon or Lion Dance would be enacted to ward off evil spirits and negativity, but English clients were treated to that spectacle on December 31.

Recent winners of two awards from Tsingtao Chinese Beer’s Legacy of Taste in 2013, Yu&You featured on Gordon Ramsay’s Best Restaurant programme on Channel 4, beating fashionable Michelin star London restaurant Kai in the Chinese category to become the Winner in the best Chinese in 2010 competition.

The restaurant and bar is a family affair, with head chef Victor joined in the kitchen by his father and sous chef, Charlie. Meanwhile, front of house, siblings Victoria and Vinny share the management of the restaurant.

Using only the freshest handpicked ingredients, locally sourced wherever possible, the Yus pride themselves on serving some of the finest Cantonese cuisine in the UK. Says Vinny: “We only use the freshest ingredients. We don’t use monosodium glutamate and we don’t have gloopy sauces. That is what sets us apart.”

The family has recently formed a partnership with the Authentic Food Company. Victor and Vinny oversee the production and development of the national food supplier’s rapidly expanding Oriental Range.

Authentic Foods customers include the Co-operative Group, Asda and Iceland.

Yu & You were voted amongst the UK’s Best Chinese Restaurants by MSN UK Food for both 2011 and 2012 and their Dim Sum were recently rated in the UK’s top three by Sainsbury’s magazine.

Sounds like the Year of the Horse could bring further good luck and prosperity.

Victor Yu’s Stir-fried Tiger Prawns with Oyster Mushrooms, Ginger and Spring Onion

INGREDIENTS

Black tiger prawns, cleaned and butterflied Half a red chilli chopped finely.

Spring onions, chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed Oyster mushrooms Rice wine Sesame oil Light Soy Sauce Vegetable oil

METHOD

Sear mushrooms in the wok with a little vegetable oil until golden brown, then add a splash of rice wine.

Heat wok, fry off prawns until cooked through and put to one side.

Fry garlic, chilli and spring onions then add mushroom and prawns.

Add five dashes of light soy sauce and a drop of sesame oil to finish off the dish.

Follow Ken Hom’s tips to the big event

HERE are some top tips from TV chef Ken Hom on how to host the perfect Chinese New Year banquet.

Friday sees  the start of the Year of the Horse and a treasured social event as families always love to eat together. That is why a round table is used, so that food and conversation can be shared. Key banquet ingredients to include are:

Chicken for fortune
Fish for prosperity
Noodles for longevity (never cut noodles)
Duck is a symbol of fidelity
Vegetables represent cleansing of the system
Wontons represent gold ingots (wealth)
Seaweed for wealth


Chinese New Year is steeped in superstition – here are just some of them.

The house should be cleaned before New Year's Day. On the eve of Chinese New Year, all cleaning equipment should be put away.

Sweeping or dusting should not be done on New Year's Day for fear that good fortune will be swept away.

On the stroke of midnight, every door and window in the house has to be open to allow the old year to go out.

All debts have to be paid by this time.

Nothing should be lent on this day, as anyone who does so will be lending all the year.

Back when tinder and flint were used, no one would lend them on this day or give a light to others.

On New Year's Day, hair should not be washed because it signifies washing away good luck.

A home is thought to be lucky if a plant blooms on New Year's Day, as this foretells the start of a prosperous year.

While many Chinese people today may not believe in these dos and don’ts, the traditions and customs are still practised.

Most families say these traditions bringe continuity with the past and provide the family with an identity.