various chinese new year cookies

February 14, 2010 is not just Valentine’s Day but also Chinese New Year or Spring Festival. For the Chinese all the world over, the New Year is the time to sweep out the “old” and usher in the “new”. As typical of any Chinese event, the celebration of New Year is marked by a lot of food and desserts. Part one of this series focused on traditional Chinese New Year main dishes. For part two, focus will be on desserts – cakes, cookies and fruits.

Oranges and tangerines are “must” fruits on Chinese New Year. The round fruits are said to bring luck and wealth. The tradition is rooted on the fact that the Chinese words for gold and orange sound alike. The Chinese word for tangerine sounds like “luck” too. Most traditional Chinese bring presents of oranges and tangerine when visiting friends and family on New Year. It’s important that the number of fruits be even but make sure it is not divisible by four as four is the number of death. Pomelo is a popular Chinese New Year fruit too as it signifies “continuous prosperity and status.” As with almost all traditional New Year food the Chinese word for the fruit sounds like “prosperity” and “status”.

Nian Gao is a traditional Chinese sticky cake that is offered to the Chinese Kitchen God for favors when he returns to heaven before the start of the New Year season.  Cakes are symbols of a rich life and family togetherness in Chinese culture. Nian Gao is a type of food made of glutinous rice pounded into a paste and moulded into shape. There is a picture of Nian Gao at part one of this series.

Jin Dui (Sesame Balls)

Another popular dessert is the sesame seed balls or jin dui. This dessert is staples in most dimsum houses but on New Year’s Day, this delicious dessert takes on a special meaning. The dessert is round and golden and therefore considered very lucky by the Chinese.  The dessert is made of dough that virtually swells when fried. This is a metaphoric for Chinese in the line of a small business venture growing to bring returns many times over.  The sweet dough is typically filled with sweet red bean paste and are quite savory.

kue lapis - tedious to bake, delicious to eat

Various cookies and snacks such as pineapple tarts, love letter (egg roll), kue lapis and kue bangkit are typically presented to guests who come visiting. Kue bangkit is a coconut milk-based cookie, sometime flavored with pandan. This delicacy is said to “melt” in the mouth.

Kue lapis is layers of thin sponge cake made of butter, eggs and sugar carefully baked per layer to perfection. There are many layers and each has to be baked separately so it is very tedious to bake. Many families would just purchase ready made one from bakery.

A round tray filled with fruit preserves and melon seeds is a must on the dining table for it will bring luck and prosperity in the new year. There is also a tradition in Chinese homes to serve a round platter filled with candies during the New Year.  The candies represent “sweet” while the round tray or platter represents “togetherness”.

If you don’t feel like sweating it out in the kitchen mixing and baking those yummy treats, just drop by the nearest modern bakery and have your fill of modern chinese new year snacks such as seaweed cookies.

There are so many types of desserts, cakes and cookies for Chinese new year, be it traditional or modern kind that it is impossible to describe all in this post. Which is your favorite? Has it been mentioned in this post?

Chinese culture is steeped with traditions and superstitions. On the New Year here are some traditions that may well pave the way (or not!)  on your road to prosperity. Don’t sweep the floor. Don’t wash your hair. Don’t drop your chopsticks. Don’t say the number four. Don’t borrow or lend money. Most of all greet everyone (except those in mourning) Gong Xi Fa Cai!

The Chinese New Year rotates around a twelve-year cycle, each year represented by a different animal.  The legend goes on to say that Lord Buddha summoned all the animals in the world to come and say farewell to him before he departed from the earth.  Of all the animals, only twelve turned up.  He rewarded this animal by naming a year after them, in order in which they arrived.  These animals are the following: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and the boar.

Are you a rat, a monkey or a tiger?  Depending on your sign, there are certain rituals one must do every time Chinese New Year begins.  It’s not actually the same for each animal sign.  Some animal signs may have auspicious foretelling for them on particular years while other years would be unlucky for them.  But there are Chinese New Year traditions and customs that are followed each year no matter what animal sign it corresponds to or represents.

Chinese New Year celebrations can normally last up to fifteen days, and as with most major events throughout the world, preparations begin way in advance.  There is the Chinese New Year spring cleaning to sweep away any traces of bad luck.  The Chinese and most devotees often go to temples before the New Year to minimize the impact of bad luck when the year seems unlucky for them. Those who take these traditions by heart would also give doors and windows a fresh coat of paint, normally in red because red for the Chinese is a lucky color.  These doors and windows are also heavily decorated with paper garlands with verses written on them asking for happiness, prosperity and long life.  New sets furniture are bought and minor repairs are undertaken.

Eating and the food placed on the dining table play significant part in the celebration.  Seafood is highly revered because it brings different blessings.  For instance, prawns are believed to promote happiness, oysters bring all things well while fish represents good luck and prosperity.

Hong Bao

On the day of the Chinese New Year, red envelopes are given to children and unmarried adults by their parents, married relatives and the elderly.  These red envelopes are called “Hong Bao” in Chinese.  They contain money.  This is an ancient custom and families are expected to go from door to door paying visit to the elder relatives (Bai Nian). They will get the red envelopes during this visit. This practices signify not on the money but the wish of long life and prosperity behind the visit and giving.

Nian Gao

For most Asians, the Chinese included, celebrating an occasion is all about food. New Year dinners are elaborate and it is marked as a reunion of some sort. At exactly before midnight at the threshold of the old and new year, a delicacy called nian gao (sticky rice) and jiao zi (a dumpling) are eaten by the family members to ensure financial gain in the New Year. These foods are eaten primarily because their Chinese names sound like “money”.

Food served during the Chinese New Year are, more often than not, are chosen not specifically because of their gastronomic qualities but also because their Chinese names are phonetically encouraging. Take the dish Hoe see fat choy – which when translated to English is hair seaweed with dried oyster. Pretty uninteresting isn’t it. However in the Chinese vernacular hoe see fat choy sounds like “wealth and good business”. The lotus roots are also served as its Chinese name lin ngau sounds like “abundance year after year”. Lettuce is also a staple during the festivities as its Chinese name sounds like “growing wealth” and a pig’s tongue is “profit”.

Fish (yu) is served during the Chinese New Year dinner as it means “having enough to spare”. The fish should be preferably carp as it symbolizes a very prosperous year ahead. The fish should be served whole and uncut from head to tail. The superstitions adhered to this is that if you cut the fish, your good fortune will likewise be cut. It is customary not to eat all the fish to ensure that the family will enjoy an excess of good will and fortune.

Noodles are served too during the Chinese New Year. The noodles are never cut to ensure longevity for those who are eating the food. Any vegetable dish will do as all green vegetables are the essence of stored wealth at the roots.

A platter with five dishes is seen on most homes as the five dishes of either all meat or all vegetables epitomizes the five blessings of the new year namely: riches, wisdom, longevity, peace and virtue. Fish balls (yu-wan) and meat balls (jou-wan) are symbols of togetherness. The dishes serves should be even in numbers to ensure “double happiness” to the family.

A chicken or duck dish is also a common dish at this time. Like the fish, fowls are served with uncut feet and head (web and beak included). It is an omen for the Chinese not to use any knife or cleaver when preparing for dishes during the Chinese New Year. This holds true for any ingredients that are to be used for the meal. If there are cuttings and slicing to be made, one can do so before the festivity.