Chinese New Year Ⅴ

Chinese New Year Foods are very important to Chinese people. All family members come together to eat at this time. Chinese New Year foods are not only delicious but it is traditional to eat certain foods over this festival. Chinese Dumplings, Fish, Spring Rolls, Nian Gao are usually seen as delicious and eaten at this time.

Fish 鱼 /yu/

In Chinese, Fish sounds like "save more". Chinese People always like save more money at the end of year because they think if they save more, they can make more in the next year.

Lucky Sayings for Eating Fish

年年有余 (/nian-nian you-yu/): May you always get more than you wish for

鱼跃龙门 (/yu-youe long-men/): A fish leaping over the dragon gate — implying successful passing a competitive examination

Chinese Dumplings 饺子 /jiao-zi/ 

With a long history of more than 1,800 years, dumplings are a traditional food widely popular in China, especially in North China such as in Zhengzhou, Chengde, Dalian, Harbin, etc. Dumplings generally consist of minced meat and finely-chopped vegetables wrapped into a thin and elastic piece of dough skin. Popular fillings are mince pork, diced shrimp, fish, ground chicken, beef, and vegetables. They can be cooked by boiling, steaming, frying or baking. Dumplings are the symbol of Chinese food, and a traditional dish eaten on Chinese New Year’s Eve.

Chinese Dumplings look like silver ingots. Legend has it that the more dumplings you eat during New Year celebration, more money you can make in the New Year. Almost all Chinese people can make dumplings, first mix the dough, second make the dough into wrappers by a rolling pin, third fill the wrappers with pork, beef, vegetable, fish or anything else can be used as stuffing.

Lucky Saying for Eating Dumplings

招财进宝 (/Zhao-cai jin-bao/): Bringing in wealth and treasure — felicitous wish of making money; amass fortunes

Spring Roll 春卷 /chun juan/

Spring rolls are a Cantonese dim sum dish of cylindrical shape. The filling of spring rolls could be vegetables or meat, and the taste could be either sweet or savory. After fillings are wrapped in spring roll wrappers, the next step is frying. Then the spring rolls are given their golden yellow color. It is a dish especially popular in Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Fujian,Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, etc. They get their name because they are traditionally eaten during Chinese New Year Celebration.

Lucky Saying for Eating Spring Roll

黄金万两 (huang-jin wan-liang/): A ton of gold (because the fried spring rolls are all with golden color, which makes them looking like gold bars, the symbolism of treasure)

Nian Gao (Glutinous Rice Cake)年糕/Nian gao/

In Chinese, Nian Gao sounds like "getting higher year by year". In Chinese people's mind, the higher you are, the more prosperous your business is. Main ingredients of Nian Gao are sticky rice, sugar, Chestnuts, Chinese date and lotus leaves.

Lucky Saying for Eating Nian Gao

年年高 (nian-nian gao): Getting higher year by year, can imply children's height, business, study, work, etc