8 Unique Foods To Eat on Chinese New Year
- Whole Suckling Pig
- Dumplings (Jiaozi)
- Whole Fish
- Spring Rolls (Chun Juan)
- Cured Meats
- Sweet Rice Balls (Tang Yuan)
- Eight Treasure Rice (Babao Fan)
- Fruit (Oranges, Tangerines)
What foods are eaten on Chinese New Year?
Top Lucky Foods to Eat for the Chinese New Year
- Dumplings. Dumplings, a staple of Chinese cuisine, are associated with the wealthiness: according to tradition, the more dumplings you eat during the New Year celebrations, the more money you ...
- Spring Rolls. The name Spring Rolls refers specifically to eating this dish during the Lunar Year (also called the Spring Festival).
- Niangao. ...
- Sweet Rice Balls. ...
What fruits are used in Chinese New Year?
What fruits are used in Chinese New Year? Oranges, kumquats, tangerines, pomelos … these are all fruits that the Chinese frequently offer as presents to bring somebody best of luck and also joy throughout the year. Both words for oranges and also tangerines very closely look like words for good luck and also riches.
What is the traditional Chinese New Year meal?
Chinese New Year traditions
- Wear red, not white. White symbolizes death in the Asian culture so wearing predominantly white is a no-no. ...
- Forget greeting cards. Give red envelopes instead! ...
- Don’t cut or wash hair on New Year’s Day. Do these in the week or so leading up to New Year’s Day, but don’t do it on the day ...
- Avoid using a broom. ...
- Open windows. ...
- Eat traditional food. ...
What are some recipes for Chinese New Year?
Regional Chinese Recipes
- Shanghai: Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings) Add a comment... ...
- Beijing: Peking Duck. ...
- Sichuan: Mapo Tofu. ...
- Taiwan: Gua Bao (Pork Belly Buns) Have you tried Gua Bao? ...
- Hainan and Singapore: Hainanese Chicken Rice. ...
- Guangdong: Pan-Fried Thin Crispy Noodles. ...
- Yunnan: “Crossing the Bridge” Noodles. ...
- Hunan: Mala Chicken. ...
What foods are eaten on Chinese New Year?
These are the most important Chinese New Year Foods and their meanings:Dumplings. ... Spring Rolls. ... Niangao. ... Sweet Rice Balls. ... Noodles. ... Fish. ... Steamed Chicken. ... Fruit and Vegetables.More items...
What is a traditional Chinese New Year dinner?
Chinese New Year food traditions are hugely symbolic. Traditions include serving two whole fish and saving one for leftovers to represent surplus in the new year, serving a whole chicken to represent wholeness and prosperity, and serving items like spring rolls, which resemble gold bars and symbolize wealth.
What food is good luck for Chinese New Year?
Oranges, kumquats, tangerines and pomelos are common Chinese New Year gifts because they're believed to bring good luck and happiness. The Chinese words for “orange” and “tangerine” closely resemble the words for “luck” and “wealth.” The gold color of these fruits also symbolizes prosperity.
What can you not eat during Chinese New Year?
To ensure an auspicious New Year, there are specific dishes that most families tend to avoid. Man says they never order squash. "Because squash, or gwa, sounds like death," he says. Squid and crab are also foods to stay away from.
What do you eat on New Year's day?
Black-Eyed Peas, Greens, and Cornbread Even folks who aren't from the Southern United States go all in on eating black-eyed peas and leafy greens for good luck on New Year's Day. Add a slice of cornbread, and you've got "peas for pennies, greens for dollars, and cornbread for gold."
What do you eat on 7th day of Chinese New Year?
Whereas loh hei yee sang is eaten anytime from Chinese New Year Eve to the 15th day of CNY, the Teochew 7 Vegetables dish is eaten only on the 7th day which is 人日 or Renri / Humans Day (the day human beings were created according to Chinese legend). Renri is celebrated as the birthday of everyone.
Can you eat meat Chinese New Year?
6. Don't eat meat on the first and 15th day of the new year, go vegetarian. (This is to ensure a long and happy life). On the 15th day is the first full moon of the lunar new year.
Why do we eat Chinese food on New Year's Eve?
Certain dishes are eaten during the Chinese New Year for their symbolic meaning. Lucky food is served during the 16-day festival season, especially on Chinese New Year dinner on New Year's Eve, which is believed to bring good luck for the coming year.
What is the Chinese New Year?
The Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year, is the most important festival in China: it lasts up to two weeks, and it's the only time of th...
When is the Chinese New Year 2002?
Chinese New Year 2022 will fall on Tuesday, February 1st, %year, on February 12 and, according to the Chinese zodiac, it is the year of the tiger.
What is bad luck for the Chinese New Year?
Celebrations mean there are some taboos that are part of the Chinese culture. Among them:
How to say Happy New Year in Chinese?
If you want to impress your Chinese friends, you need to know how to say Happy New Year in Chinese! We don't know a word in Chinese but we've learn...
What are the most popular foods to eat for Chinese New Year?
These are the most important Chinese New Year Foods and their meanings: 1. Dumplings .
What are the rituals of Chinese New Year?
If vibrant red lanterns and colorful lights are the major symbols of the Chinese New Year for Western people, there are a few rituals and customs to celebrate the arrival of the Lunar New Year for Chinese people. 1. House Cleaning and Decorating.
What is the first day of the new year?
The 1st day of the New Year is spent at home, and a half-month then follows it spent visiting relatives. People bring gifts to one another’s homes and give red envelopes to the kids. 6. Folk Shows and Temple Fairs. Folk shows, fairs, and events are carried around till the 15th day of the 1st lunar month.
What do dumplings mean in Chinese?
Dumplings. Dumplings, a staple of Chinese cuisine, are associated with the wealthiness: according to tradition, the more dumplings you eat during the New Year celebrations, the more money you can make in the New Year. It’s all more complex than this: in fact, different dumplings have different meanings.
How long does Chinese New Year last?
The Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year, is the most important festival in China: it lasts up to two weeks, and it’s the only time of the year when China literally shuts down. Unlike Western countries, the Chinese New Year generally falls on a day between January 21st and February 20th in the Gregorian calendar, ...
What do Chinese people offer to their ancestors?
A whole chicken is another symbol of the family; that’s why, once cooked, Chinese people first offer the chicken to the ancestors asking for blessings and protection. 8. Fruit and Vegetables. Vegetables play an important role in a Chinese dinner table, and each of them symbolizes something specific.
What fish do you eat for luck?
Different types of fishes can be served, based on the family’s wishes: Crucian carp: eating crucian carp brings good luck for the next year; Chinese mud carp: eating Chinese mud carp brings good fortune; Catfish: eating catfish is a wish for a surplus in the year.
What is the Chinese food that is traditionally eaten on New Year's Eve?
Dumplings . This traditional Chinese food dates back almost 2,000 years. During the Lunar New Year, dumplings are an essential New Year’s Eve food to enjoy during the celebrations. “The classic fold of a Chinese dumpling is shaped like a silver ingot, a currency in ancient China,” explains Chef Thach Tran of Ace Eat Serve in Denver.
Why do people eat noodles on Lunar New Year?
People will often eat noodles on the second day of the Lunar New Year for longevity. “They represent your hopes and fears wrapped up in the long strand of a noodle,” according to Chef Han Lijun of Z&Y Restaurant in San Francisco. Be sure to slurp your noodles or the symbolism could work against you, warns Chef Lu.
What does "fish" mean in Mandarin?
Whole fish. “Fish in Mandarin sounds like the word for ‘surplus’—a representation of prosperity,” Chef Lu explains. Eating the whole fish is supposed to consolidate your surplus from the past year and allow you to turn it into even more prosperity the following new year, he says. “It also symbolizes wholeness and completeness.”.
What is the Chinese New Year cake made of?
New Year Cake can come in different forms or flavors, but the most traditional one is made from rice flour. It’s typically pan-fried or steamed until well done. Don’t miss the 8 Chinese New Year celebrations we can all celebrate. TalyaAL/Shutterstock.
Why are grapes used in Chinese New Year?
Grapes are sometimes displayed for feng shui—design harmony—to bring success and good fortune to the family. Next, find out more facts you didn’t know about Chinese New Year. Originally Published: January 25, 2019.
What is the significance of Lunar New Year?
The Lunar New Year is celebrated with a feast of foods that symbolize prosperity, good luck and new beginnings for the year ahead. Here are the top foods to enjoy for Chinese New Year, the symbolism behind them, and the most delicious ways to prepare and enjoy them.
What does chicken symbolize?
“Chicken represents happiness, health, and purity, and serving it whole symbolizes completeness and family unity, ” says Wesley Radez, creator of the cultural parenting web site Chinese American Family. Radez recommends gently poaching your chicken in water scented with ginger, green onions, and sesame oil, and serving it with ginger-scallion dipping sauce.
What is the Chinese New Year?
For many Chinese, the annual Chinese New Year holiday is all about the food. From potstickers to noodles to citrus fruit, the foods eaten hold meaning and significance for the year ahead. The foods enjoyed during New Year are similar to those consumed during the rest of the year, but with a special emphasis on bringing luck in the coming year.
What is the meaning of "whole" in Chinese New Year?
Wholeness is an important concept during Chinese New Year. Not only does it mean a good beginning and end to the year, it signifies completion in work and life. Many foods are cooked and served whole at New Years—fish, chicken, duck and crab.
Why do citrus fruits have a place on the New Year's table?
Citrus fruits hold a place of honor on the New Year table, since they bring wealth, luck and status. This is because the Mandarin words for many types of citrus sound similar to these prosperous words: gold and orange sound alike, as do tangerine and luck.
Why is Pomelo celebrated in Chinese New Year?
A pomelo is a close ancestor to the grapefruit that we don’t see much in America, but is enjoyed during Chinese New Year because the Cantonese word for it sounds the same as the words for prosperity and status. Wholeness is an important concept during Chinese New Year.
Why do people put peanuts in potstickers?
But New Year potstickers are special, shaped to resemble gold and silver ingots to bring wealth in the year ahead. Peanuts are said to bring long life , so during New Year celebrations some cooks will add peanuts to potsticker filling.
What does it mean to eat fish in Chinese New Year?
So fish symbolizes of abundance. Eating fish during Chinese New Year time symbolizes having an abundant year ahead in the coming year.
What is a Chinese New Year cake?
New Year cake or nián gāo 年糕 in Chinese is glutinous rice cake or something like a sticky rice pudding. Its name literally means getting higher position year after year.
What does Tangyuan symbolize?
Tangyuan symbolize reunion for their pronunciation of it is similar to reunion or together in Chinese. This is the reason they are poplar national wide during spring festival time, though people in south and north china have different favors of Tangyuan fillings.
Where to winter fish in China?
In the northeast china, Jilin province, winter fishing in icy chagan lake is a traditional tour scene there. The biggest fish of their fish net can be bid to a very high price by the locals for bringing the luckiest “abundance“ home for their families around spring festival time.
Why do people eat dumplings?
Usually, families will sit around the dinner table and wrap dumplings together in the afternoon on Spring Festival eve. The reason Chinese people eat dumplings is because of their shape like the ancient sliver & gold ingots which symbolize wealth. People saying that more dumplings you eat during New Year time, the more money you will make next year. They will also wrap a few dumplings with gold coin in it and the person who gets the coin-dumpling is supposed to have good luck in the coming year. Nowadays, coins are gradually replaced by candy or peanut for sanitary reasons. Traditionally, dumplings are eaten at midnight and throughout the Chinese New Year holiday.
What does it mean to eat dumplings on New Year's Eve?
Because it is shaped similar to a gold ingot, eating dumplings on New Year’s Eve also has the meaning of “ushering in wealth and prosperity”.
What does "fish" mean in Chinese?
Fish is one of the main dishes commonly eaten for the New Year dinner throughout the whole country; fish is “余yú” in Chinese, a word symbolizing surplus. so eating fish stands for: “always have more than you wish for”.
What is tang yuan?
Tang Yuan- sweet soup with balls- is a symbol of family reunion in Chinese culture. Corresponding to the Northerners eating dumplings, the Southerners are used to eating Tang Yuan on New Year’s Eve, which shows the wishes of happiness and reunion.
What does Nian Gao mean?
Nian Gao, New Year’s cake or rice cake, sounds like “getting higher year by year” in Chinese. The higher you are, the more prosperous your business is. Hence the Year Cake symbolizes achieving new heights in the coming year.
1. Dumplings and Potstickers: Wealth
The first foods we want to cover are dumplings and potstickers because they are beloved dishes that anyone from anywhere will enjoy. The reason that dumplings are a lucky food for Chinese New Year is because they symbolize wealth. Why? They look like boat-shaped Chinese gold and silver ingots!
3. Noodles: Longevity
Noodles aren’t only a staple of Chinese cuisine, they also have the symbolism of long life. This has secured them a key spot on a traditional Chinese New Year food list. And since there are so many delicious Chinese dishes that use noodles, it is easy to incorporate them in your celebratory plans this year.
4. Mandarins and Tangerines: Luck
It is super common to see mandarin oranges, tangerines, and pomelos everywhere during Chinese New Year because they are lucky on all accounts. Not only do their Chinese names each sound similar to a word with a lucky meaning — like ‘to have’ (jùyǒu) — they also are goldish colored and have circular shapes.
5. Fish: Surplus
The next stop on our little Chinese New Year food and meaning tour is fish. In Chinese, the word for ‘fish’ (yú) is in the word for ‘surplus’ (shèngyú). This has led to fish symbolizing abundance and hope for surplus in Chinese culture and makes fish dishes the perfect candidates for Spring Festival celebrations.
6. Tang Yuan Rice Balls: Reunion
Another food you definitely want to put on your Chinese New Year food list for this Year of the Tiger is tang yuan — black sesame filled sweet rice balls that are typically served in a sweet soup. These little balls of joy symbolize a happy family reunion because their name sounds like a Chinese phrase for ‘reunion’ and ‘togetherness’.
8. Fortune Candy: Luck, Happiness, and Prosperity
The last stop on our little Chinese New Year food and meaning tour is candy. But before you put your kid’s dentist on speed-dial, candy in Chinese culture doesn’t have to be cavity-inducing. Here are 8 (because: luck!) examples of fortune candies that you can try, some of which you can find at any grocery store and others at a local Asian market.
Guide to Chinese Pantry Staples
Keep your pantry stocked with many of these core ingredients of Chinese cuisine, and you'll be able to easily make Chinese dishes at home.
What is the main dish of Chinese New Year?
In Northern China, meat-packed boiled dumplings known as jiaozi form the basis of a central dish of Chinese New Year. For many Northerners, a hearty bowl of wheat dumplings, buns, and noodles are preferable to rice. Families will often gather around on Chinese New Year to make dumplings from scratch.
What is the Chinese New Year?
Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year) is a holiday celebrated throughout Asia. In China, it’s known as the Spring Festival and like any holiday, special-occasion food is a major part of the festivities. Families will often hold an extravagant dinner featuring special-occasion dishes such as seafood or hot pot, ...
What are Chinese dumplings made of?
Chinese dumplings generally do not include garlic and usually feature only one type of vegetable (for example, cabbage is not mixed with leeks. That combination is more common in Japanese dumplings, known as gyoza). Vegetarian fillings can include a mix of mushrooms, tofu, leeks, radish, or eggs.
What are the most popular cured meats in China?
Two of the most popular cured meats are salted, air-dried pork ( larou) and sausage.
What is the Chinese sausage?
Chinese sausages resemble salami and are best served sliced thin. In the central province of Sichuan, sausages are a popular component of Chinese New Year, filled with a combination of pork, ground chilies and mouth-numbing Sichuan peppercorns.
What is the Chinese celebratory meal?
In China, celebratory meals feature the dining philosophy of da yu da rou (“big fish and big meat”). Traditionally, animal protein was used sparingly in the average Chinese meal. Many Chinese dishes utilize small pieces of meat and seafood, mostly for flavoring or stir fried with vegetables.
What are tang yuan balls?
Sweet Rice Balls (Tang Yuan) Bertram Ng/Flickr. Made from glutinous rice flour and stuffed with an assortment of sweet fillings, tang yuan symbolize togetherness and family reunion, perfect for Chinese New Year. The actual rice balls are relatively mild, similar to Japanese mochi in both flavor and chewy texture.
