Chinese New Year Food Delicacies

Happy Chinese New Year to you all. We welcome the year of the Ram, hope this year brings you all the prosperity and luck. I will be giving you a quick insight on all the Chinese delicacies we devour on this joyous occasion.

Banquet

During the banquet, there is always the guarantee of fish. One of the most common dishes there are to any Chinese meal. The pronunciation of fish sounds very similar to the word “surplus” in Chinese, this gives people symbolisation of having more.  The most popular way to cook fish is steam with ginger, spring onions, soya sauce a touch of oil.

Another popular dish on the table is a plate full of dumplings. Dumplings are very popular and contain mince meat, spring onions and usually dipped with Chinese vinegar. They symbolise wealth and treasure building on great fortune.

Sweeter Tooth

Glutinous Rice Cake, aka Niangao is a thick, sweet, sticky pancake depending on how it is cut. Pronounced in Chinese, it has the sound of “Getting higher year on year” giving the mind frame of improving ones wealth and prosperity. This is usually pan fried and can be eaten hot or cold once prepared.

The other popular sweet is Glutinous Rice Balls aka Tangyuan. The round shape symbolised being together and reunion with the family. The rice balls are soaked in a runny syrup, sugar water and usually have a filling of red beans or black sesame seed depending on the chef.

Food to avoid on the New Year

It tends to be bad luck to have Plain Congee on or after New Years Day. As this is just rice and water, it is plain and back in the day when people were unable to afford food they make this to survive. Nowadays, people save money and spend a bit extra to fill this with rice, nuts and beans.

To wrap this up, we will be enjoying a large selection of food and eating amongst our loved ones. Hope everyone enjoys the upcoming festivities!