When Celebrating Chinese New Year, These are the Food Menu that Must Be on the Chinese People's Dinner Table

Chinese New Year food (Van Thanh/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Chinese New Year celebrations are not only about angpao and all the red trinkets. But, this also talks about the menu. During the Chinese New Year celebration, there are several typical Chinese New Year foods that are mandatory menus and should not be missed.

In addition to being delicious, these Chinese New Year specialty food menus also have their own meaning for those who celebrate.

If you are not familiar with these menus, VOI will discuss 10 typical foods for the Chinese New Year celebration and their meanings.

Kue Keranjang

Kue keranjang or nian gao is a mandatory food menu during Chinese New Year. Kue keranjang means a more prosperous year. Usually, kue keranjang is arranged on a red bowl or on a large tray. This presentation indicates that the host is ready to receive prosperity for a full year.

Jiaozi

Having a shape similar to dimsum, Jiaozi is often served as a typical Chinese New Year food in the hope of bringing abundant wealth and harmony in the family.

Fish

The mandatory food menu during the Chinese New Year celebration is fish. Fish symbolizes good luck. When serving fish on the dining table, the fish head should face the honored guest or parent. Other family members can only eat fish after the person facing the fish head has started eating first. The position of the fish should not be moved and the fish meat should be left a little to eat the next day.

Jeruk Santang

As a dessert, tangerine or mandarin orange is mandatory to be on the table during the big meal on New Year's Eve. Oranges symbolize abundance, prosperity, and well-being.

Siu Mie

This fried noodles are served without being cut into pieces. The noodles are deliberately left long as a symbol of longevity. Some Chinese people call it Changsshou Mian or long life noodles.

Manisan

There are two types of special sweets served during Chinese New Year. First, white round-shaped sweet rice balls. Second, eight-square sweets with eight different variants. Eight-square sweets are often referred to as prosperity boxes, because this food is a typical Chinese New Year food that has the meaning of prosperity.

Legit Lapis Cake

Not only present during Lebaran, lapis legit cake is also apparently a mandatory food menu during Chinese New Year. Lapis legit has a special meaning, namely the hope that rezeki will come in double, like the shape of a layered cake.

Fried Lumpia

In Cantonese, lumpia is also called chun juan. The color and shape of lumpia are considered similar to gold bars that symbolize wealth.

Stir-fried Green Vegetables

Green vegetables must also be present during the eating event during Chinese New Year. Green vegetables are usually cooked by sautéing with meat or just sautéed with vegetable oil. The vegetable menu symbolizes harmony and luck.

Green vegetables also signify prayers for parents to be healthy and long-lived.

Boiled Eggs in Soy Sauce

Eggs boiled in a solution of salty soy sauce and tea are the last menu served by Chinese families when celebrating Chinese New Year. This boiled egg has the meaning of fertility. So, hopefully anyone who eats boiled eggs during Chinese New Year can have many children.