Traditional Foods for a Chinese News Years Celebration

Traditional Foods for a Chinese News Years Celebration

Tradition is how we have gotten many of our menu items for holidays. Chinese New Year is no different. Delicious Asian delicacies form a big part of Chinese New Year, and here are just a few ideas:

Some items you may find during Chinese New Year are a vegetarian dish called jai, whole fish, chicken, nian gao, rice pudding, and man tou. The menu items have more meaning than most foods available at a traditional New Year in the United States. The Chinese believe their food symbolizes many things. Among the symbolization of food is the attitude that the amount of food prepared shows abundance and wealth for the household.

Spring rolls are another traditional and symbolic food you may find on the menu for Chinese New Year. To make spring rolls you need 1 cup shredded cabbage, ¼ cup shredded carrots, 2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 4 Chinese garlic chives, 1 cup bean sprouts, ½ bell pepper, ¼ pound pork, 1 teaspoon chopped ginger, 1 teaspoon chopped garlic, and a pinch cornstarch to create 24 spring rolls. You will also need 24 wrappers.

Other menu items you may find at a traditional Chinese New Year celebration include lettuce wraps, Lion’s Head Meatballs, Pecking Duck, Sweet & Sour Pork, and Tea Eggs. It is important to note that most of the menu items will have some significance to their culture and that is why it is made on the Chinese New Year. Rice pudding is considered a dessert among the Chinese and will complete the meal for you and your friends.

Whether you use these ideas or throw in some of your own, with a bit of preparation and creativity you can serve up a Chinese New Year feast that will have your guests coming back for more.