Iconic, These Are 6 Types Of Chinese New Year Foods That Can Be Tried

Illustration (Senuspace/Pexels)

JAKARTA - During the Chinese New Year celebration, there were a number of special Chinese New Year foods that were served with the belief that the dish would bring good luck in the new year.

The following is a list of six iconic Chinese New Year foods commonly served in the new year:

The glutinous rice cake is believed to be a dish that symbolizes "winning a high position in work or luck every year," said Lee Man Sing, executive chef of the Mott 32 restaurant, quoted by ANTARA from Asia Tatler.

With a history of more than 1,000 years, glutinous rice cakes have many variations due to differences in customs in various regions in China. In South China, there are choices of sweet and savory rice cakes, while in Hong Kong, sweet cakes are more common.

"Canton-style glutinous rice cake is just a mixture of glutinous rice flour with liquid slab sugar," explained chef Lee. Donan was then steamed and silenced until it cooled at room temperature. Although the cake can be served as it is, frying the cake is also popular among the family.

For the presentation, chef Lee likes to slice rice cake into a once-bit size, then begs with one egg beating. Eggs add layers of extra texture, make the cake slightlyEZy on the outside, but still chewy on the inside. In Indonesia, it is known as basket cakes.

"The oxeque cake in the Taiwanic dialect is called ci tu go() and is a homophone for "lucky" in Taiwanese, ho ci tu ()," said chef Jowett Yu from the Ho LeeBook restaurant.

The most important ingredients include dried shrimp, preserved sausages, and mushrooms, said chef Lee. The ingredients are mixed with boiled parut ox; rice flour and Maizena to makeass doughs. After that, the dough is put in the nail to harden, and it is left cold to harden.

In addition, for the Chinese New Year,ILLe cakes, pasty cakes, and sweet snacks are foods that must be eaten in Chinese culture.

Originally from 3,000 years ago, this food marks a good harvest and means good luck for the coming year. The most popular type of radish cake comes from southern China and is exhibited in Canton cuisine. Modern versions include ingredients such as dry seafood, dry meat, cabbage, dried shiitake, rice flour, and starch.

Of course, texture depends on personal preferences and what factors a person raises. Some like it denser and coarser while others prefer softer cakes.

"As a sign of prosperity, wealth, and abundance, dumplings are eaten during the Chinese New Year because of its shape that resembles gold bars," explained chef Lee. Therefore, Chinese people believe that having a sickle during the Chinese New Year will attract wealth throughout the year, he added.

Pangsit is usually made with meat and sayet wrapped in a piece of dough skin. Traditionally, boiled dumplings are eaten during the Chinese New Year and sometimes coins are placed in a sickle to attract wealth.

Despite being mostly eaten in Hong Kong, this dish is rarely eaten to celebrate Chinese New Year in Hong Kong. On the other hand, dumplings are more popular in North China during periods of celebration and different fillings represent different meanings. For example, filling in celery ingredients means hard work leads to a rich life, while cabbage filling means hundreds of ways to attract wealth.

Tangyuan or spherical rice ketan, plays the phrase yuen yuen moon moon () in Kanton, which means "something complete and complete, which signifies completeness and satisfaction in life," explained chef Yu.

Likewise, when the crowd is said with a slight change in tone, it means it turns into a "family reunion", that is the reason behind the passing as a dessert at the reunion dinner.

The traditional contents of glutinous balls are black wijen, peanuts or red peanut paste. Because it is usually served in the Chinese sweet mouth wash (tong sui) soup, chef Lee recommends making saggy with classic ginger sweet soup.

Eating whole fish during Chinese New Year is important because it retains

heads and tails mean there's a complete start and end. It's also a desire to save a lot and make more money in the coming year, as the fish also refer to the idiom leen kin yu yu (), a phrase meaning "hopefully there is a [a] surplus [income] year after year".

The last character of the phrase, "yu", means "surplus" in Chinese, but his pronunciation is similar to the word "fish", therefore eating fish is very important to attract wealth during the Chinese New Year.

Kucis fish are usually served during celebrations, but remember to choose the type of fish wisely because different fish represent different meanings. catfish are a clear choice, because their name sounds like a "year surplus" in Mandarin. For luck, try the Crucian goldfish, while those who after luck must get Chinese goldfish. In Indonesia, Chinese New Year is usually celebrated with milkfish dishes.

Noodles are usually eaten on birthdays with long hopes of living because of the length of the noodles. In some places, long-lived noodles are made longer than normal and uncut noodles. Canton dishes are popular to celebrate special events such as weddings or birthday parties with long and healthy hopes, this iconic noodle dish traditionally features e-fu noodles (oryi mein) with the highest crab meat in the soup, said chef Lee.

"The reason for using e-fu noodles is because the price of noodles is more expensive than other choices and crab meat is usually seen as premium material in older generations," he added.