Celebrate Chinese New Year 2019 with traditional cuisine
Celebrate Chinese New Year 2019 with traditional cuisine
Food is one of the things that the Chinese take the most pride in. And of course, lot of care and thought is put into the menu for the most important holiday of the year.
Though every region (even household) have different customs, there are some common dishes seen on every table. Let’s have a more close look at it!
Spring rolls 春卷 (chūn juǎn)
“Eggrolls are probably the most well-known of Chinese cuisine. However, they’re actually “spring rolls.” They are eaten during the Spring Festival in Southern China to celebrate the coming of spring. More specifically, they are eaten on the first day of spring (立春—lì chūn).
They can appear on the table as a dinner dish, appetizer or snack.”
Dumplings 饺子 (jiǎo zi)
“In Chinese, dumplings (饺子—jiǎo zi) sounds like 交子(jiāo zi). 交 (Jiāo) means “exchange” and 子(zi) is the midnight hours. Put together, jiāo zi is the exchange between the old and new year. All dumplings should be wrapped at this time.
By eating dumplings, you are sending away the old and welcoming the new.”
Noodles 长面 (cháng miàn)
They are also called 长寿面 (cháng shòu miàn), which means “longevity noodles.” You aren’t allowed to cut them and should try not to chew either. The longer the noodle, the longer your life will be.
Steamed Fish 蒸鱼 (zhēng yú)
Fish is a must for the Chinese New Year. Why does fish symbolize surplus and wealth? In Chinese, fish (鱼—yú) has the same pronunciation as 余, which means “surplus” or “extra.” The typical blessing is 年年有余 (Nián nián yǒuyú), wishing you to have a surplus (or fish) of food and money every year.
Of course, there are many more snacksand desserts throughout the duration of the Spring Festival. As the TV Show “A Bite of China” (舌尖上的中国—shé jiān shàng de zhōng guó) said, even if the other ancient traditions of the Spring Festival are modernized, the food culture will never disappear.
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