Chinese New Year is a celebration full of symbolism of good fortune and blessings for the year ahead. Each dish served and eaten during Chinese New Year has its own auspicious meaning based on their appearances, pronunciation of their names or the ways of preparation and serving.

Looking to serve your family and friends well-meaning and lucky foods this Chinese New Year? Read on to find out more!

Dumplings: Making Money, Amassing Fortune

A staple of Chinese cuisine, dumplings are associated with wealth because they look like Chinese gold ingots—boat-shaped, over and turned up at the ends. According to tradition, the more dumplings you eat on the eve of Chinese New Year, the more money you can make in the new year.

Dumplings are typically made with minced meat and finely-chopped vegetables wrapped in a thin, elastic dough skin. Make sure to include cabbage and radish for the prosperity of the body and mind!

When serving up Chinese New Year dumplings, arrange these delicious ingots in lines to symbolise your hope of getting somewhere in life. Arranging dumplings in circles is interpreted to mean that your life will go in circles and you will get nowhere.

In some areas of China, people put a white thread inside one of the dumplings and the person who eats that dumpling is said to possess longevity.

Chicken: Good Luck and Prosperity

Chicken is a homophone for ji (吉, meaning ‘good luck’ and ‘prosperity’) which is why it’s such a popular dish at reunion dinners. They are usually served whole, with its head and feet included to symbolise family unity and togetherness.

Since chickens are high in protein, some believe that they also represent rebirth, a pleasant end to the past year and a fortuitous beginning of a new one. Traditionally, the chicken’s feet are reserved for the breadwinners of the family to help them grasp wealth.

A common method for preparing a Chinese New Year chicken is to steam it with ginger, light soy sauce, cooking wine and green onions.

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Niangao: Getting Higher Year After Year

A traditional glutinous rice cake made of sticky rice, sugar, chestnuts, dates and lotus leaves, the name ‘Niangao’ directly translates into ‘Year Cake’. The character for cake, 糕 (gao), also shares the same pronunciation as the character 高 (gao) meaning ‘tall or high’, thus eating niangao during Chinese New Year is considered good luck and symbolises a higher income, higher position, the growth of children and the general promise of a better year.

The niangao is believed to have been created as a cunning offering to the kitchen god, who is believed to reside in every house. At the end of every year, the story goes that the kitchen god makes his yearly report to the jade emperor. To prevent him from bad mouthing their house, people offered him niangao, which would seal his mouth shut.

Thus niangao is traditionally prepared as an offering in the days leading up to Chinese New Year.

Fish: May You Always Have More Than You Need!

The Chinese word for fish sounds like surplus which is why fish is always on the menu during Chinese New Year.

It is said that if you have managed to save something at the end of the year, then you will be able to make more in the following year. Thus, the fish should be the last dish left with some left over, to symbolise surpluses in every year. Other traditions include leaving the head and tail of the fish uneaten until the first day of Chinese New Year, in order to express the hope that the year will start and end with surpluses!

Different types of fish also have different auspicious meanings. The crucian cup is considered to bring good luck for the new year while the Chinese mud carp symbolises receiving good fortune.

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Spring Rolls: A Ton of Gold

Fried spring rolls look just like golden bars, which makes them perfect as a dish for prosperity. These cylindrical-shaped rolls are thin dough wrappers filled with vegetables, meat or something sweet and then fried until golden-yellow.

Spring rolls get their name because they are traditionally eaten during the Spring Festival (also known as Chinese New Year). There are no specific rules to follow regarding the eating of spring rolls but it’s common to wish fellow diners “黄金万两 (huáng jīn wàn liǎng)—a ton of gold” in the year ahead!

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Vegetables: An Array of Blessings

Vegetables are also a must-have for Chinese New Year. Not only are greens healthy and nutritious, different vegetables represent different blessings and are symbolic of spring, renewal and progress.

Lettuce in Chinese and Cantonese sounds a lot like ‘becoming wealthy’ while baby bok choy signifies wealth and good fortune for the future. Bamboo shoots represent longevity while seaweed represents wealth and fortune.

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Looking to bulk buy these lucky foods for your Chinese New Year feasts? Contact us to bring these good fortunes to your doorstep today!