Celebrating the year of the snake

While there are numerous regional differences in how ethnic Chinese celebrate the new year, the common denominators are gifts of money in red envelopes and traditional foods that are deemed lucky because they sound like words for wealth, good health, and other desirable features. We should note that fresh bean curd or tofu is not included as it is white – that color signifies death and misfortune. 

Some traditional dishes include fried chicken (although the chicken must be presented with a head, tail, and feet to symbolize completeness) and  a whole steamed fish. The word for fish is “yu” and sounds like the words for “wish” and “abundance,”  symbolizing the wish for abundance for the coming year.

Vegetarian dishes are also common – here are some popular ingredients with their symbolic meanings:

• Lotus seed – signify having many male offspring
• Ginkgo nut –  silver ingots
• Black moss seaweed – abundant wealth
• Dried bean curd – fulfillment of wealth and happiness
• Bamboo shoots – the word sounds like “wishing that everything would be well”

And there is also the dumpling. The classic dumpling, Jiaozi*,   is served right after midnight with only some garlic-soy sauce. The name “jiaozi” means money – and usually a coin is hidden in one of the dumplings. The person who finds or bites the coin will be the luckiest one in the new year.

• China Moon Cookbook by Barbara Tropp (383)
• Simple Chinese Cooking by Kylie Kwong (301)
  
• Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking by Fuchsia Dunlop (280)
• Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province by Fuchsia Dunlop (289)
• The Breath of a Wok by Grace Young and Alan Richardson (268)
  

But if you own something not on this list – don’t worry – we have over 50 books indexed in this category and over 260 for Asia overall. So if you’re looking for a recipe, the easiest place to start is right here.