Chinese New Year Recipes: Sesame Noodles with Chicken (left), Shrimp and Snow Pea Salad (top right), and Zesty Chile Tiger Prawns (bottom right)
I’ve never been the lucky sort, lottery tickets aren’t my thing and I can’t even recall winning a single game of Bingo. Las Vegas is all about the food, not the slots and I don’t even bother entering sweepstakes. That’s why when Chinese New Year rolls around the beginning of each year, I don’t count on luck to carry me through 12 months, but rather go the Chinese route — eat my way to please the gods of good fortune.
This year, Chinese New Year begins on February 3 and goes on for 15 days — I can’t think any other holiday that lets you feast for that long! I’ve hand-picked a big list of recipes for you to try — and since the Chinese are incredibly superstitious, there are rules of what to eat and what not to eat. One of them (on the not-eat list) is squid, called “Yow Yu.” In the olden days, workers would have to travel far from home to work, often bringing personal belongings rolled up in a blanket. When a worker was fired, he was ordered to “yow,” or roll up his blanket, packing his stuff to go home. Serving squid symbolizes being fired in the coming year. If your co-workers or subordinates pleasantly surprises you with a dish of succulent squid on February 3th, be very suspicious.
Gong Hay Fat Choy! (in Cantonese)
Gong Xi Fa Cai! (in Mandarin)
Happy Chinese New Year!
This will be the year of the Rabbit – and according to The Holiday Spot, here’s the horoscope for 2011:
A placid year, very much welcomed and needed after the ferocious year of the Tiger. We should go off to some quiet spot to lick our wounds and get some rest after all the battles of the previous year.
Good taste and refinement will shine on everything and people will acknowledge that persuasion is better than force. A congenial time in which diplomacy, international relations and politics will be given a front seat again. We will act with discretion and make reasonable concessions without too much difficulty.
A time to watch out that we do not become too indulgent. The influence of the Rabbit tends to spoil those who like too much comfort and thus impair their effectiveness and sense of duty.
Law and order will be lax; rules and regulations will not be rigidly enforced. No one seems very inclined to bother with these unpleasant realities. They are busy enjoying themselves, entertaining others or simply taking it easy. The scene is quiet and calm, even deteriorating to the point of somnolence. We will all have a tendency to put off disagreeable tasks as long as possible
Money can be made without too much labor. Our life style will be languid and leisurely as we allow ourselves the luxuries we have always craved for. A temperate year with unhurried pace. For once, it may seem possible for us to be carefree and happy without too many annoyances.
Chinese New Year Recipes: Pork Egg Rolls with Sweet and Sour Sauce (bottom left) and Chinese Dumpling Soup (right)
Recipes from Cooking Channel and Food Network
Ellie's Shrimp and Snow Pea Salad
- Zesty Chile Tiger Prawns – Ching-He Huang
- Shrimp and Snow Pea Salad – Ellie Kreiger (shrimp for happiness and laughter)
- Sesame Noodles with Chicken – Food Network Kitchen (noodles for long life, but don’t cut the noodles, which would mean “cutting your life short”)
- Lettuce Wraps with Tofu and Beef – Ellie Kreiger (lettuce wraps for rising fortune)
- Chinese Dumpling Soup – Food Network Magazine (dumplings for prosperity)
- Prawn and Pork Dumplings – Ching-He Huang
- Chinese Dumpling Feast – Tyler Florence and Martin Yan
- Pork Eggrolls with Sweet and Sour Sauce – Emeril Lagasse (egg rolls for prosperity)
- Steamed Whole Fish – Ming Tsai (whole fish for having more than enough this coming year)
- Chinese-Style Whole Fried Black Bass over Wok-Sauteed Bok Choy, Ginger, and Spring Garlic – Emeril Lagasse
- Tea Smoked Duck – George Chen and Shirley Fong-Torres (cook your duck whole and carve at table to represent health, if you carve before serving, it means to “cut” your health)
- Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry – Food Network Kitchens (broccoli – for “blossoming” new year, but make sure not to overcook broccoli, as you want bright, vibrant broccoli)
- Tea Eggs - Emeril Lagasse (whole eggs for prosperity)
- Lion’s Head Meatballs – Ching-He Huang (big round “lion” meatballs signifies strength of family togetherness)
Recipes from Steamy Kitchen
My Mother’s Famous Chinese Egg Rolls
- My Mother’s Famous Chinese Egg Rolls (egg rolls look like gold bars, which symbolize wealth)
- Chinese Boiled Pork Dumplings (also symbolize wealth)
- Pan Fried Shrimp & Pork Potstickers (wealth)
- Fresh Pear and Shrimp Stir Fry (shrimp for happiness and joy)
- Shrimp Fried Rice (shrimp for happiness and joy)
- Hainanese Chicken Rice (for Chinese New Year, serve chicken whole and cut at table)
- Chinese Broccoli Beef Noodles (noodles for longevity)
- 100 Flower Blossoms Dish (broccoli and cauliflower look like blossoming flowers to represent blossoming prosperous new year)
- Long Life Fertility Noodles and Happy Shrimp
- Chinese Lettuce Cups (lettuce = rising fortune)
- Stir Fried Beef with Nectarines (nectarine = happiness, health)
- Chinese Whole Steamed Fish (having more than enough for this coming year)
- Chinese Tea Eggs (for prosperity)
—> More Chinese New Year Recipes on Steamy Kitchen
Recipes from New Asian Cuisine
Prosperity Cakes (Fatt Gou) from New Asian Cuisine
- Prosperity Cakes
- Singapore Pineapple Tarts
- Chinese Pork Ribs with Daikon and Dried Oysters
- Tangerine Pie
- Red Roast Duck with Baby Bok Choy
- Teochew Braised Duck
Chinese New Year Recipes from Around the Web
Steamed Chicken in Lotus Leaf from Rasa Malaysia
- Steamed Chicken in Lotus Leaf – RasaMalaysia
- Stir Fried Pine Nuts with Corn and Peas – RasaMalaysia (dish means “full of gold and jade”)
- Stir Fried Broccoli and Scallop – RasaMalaysia (“richness and abundance”)
- Baked BBQ Pork Buns – RasaMalaysia
- Soy Sauce Chicken – RasaMalaysia (though serve your chicken whole & cut at table for Chinese New Year)
- Chinese Almond Cookies – Simply Recipes (beautiful, Garrett, just beautiful!)
- Fortune Cookie Recipe – Martha Stewart
- Fortune Cookie Recipe video – Cookbook Maniac (love her tips for fortune cookies)
- Chocolate Fortune Cookies – Martha Stewart
- Vegetarian Buddha’s Delight – Epicurious
- Orange Peking Duck – recipe from Ken Hom, author of Ken Hom’s Top 100 Stir Fry Recipes
- Sweet & Sour Pork – recipe from Grace Young, author Breath of a Wok
- Buddha’s Delight with Tofu & Brocooli- Cooking Light
- Peanut Sesame Noodles – Appetite for China
- Water Chestnut Cake with Ginger – Appetite for China
- Dragon Well Tea Shrimp – Appetite for China
- Dan Dan Mian – Appetite for China
- Scallion Pancakes – Tigers and Strawberries (perfect recipe. we made these many times)
- Chinese White Cut Chicken – Sunday Nite Dinner (serve your chicken whole & cut at table for Chinese New Year)
- Tea Smoked Duck – Cooking Channel
- Nian Gao Cake - Asian Grandmother’s Cookbook
- Shanghai Style Nian Gao – Donna Cooks (“rising higher each year” This dish is a must for our table – I love the soft, chewy noodles. This is also one of my Dad’s hometown dishes)
- Stir Fried Shanghai Nian Gao – mmm-yoso
- Lion’s Head Meatballs – NY Times (lion = strength; big round meatballs = family togetherness)
- Fuscshia Dunlop’s Braised Pork Belly – Cookbook Maniac
- Year of the Rabbit Cookies – Lily’s Wai Sek Hong (cookie with rabbit cutout – you can find rabbit cookie cutter usually as part of big box of 100 cookie cutters, like this one or this)
- Chinese Walnut Cookies – Lily’s Wai Sek Hong
- Paper Lined Cup Sponge Cake – Lily’s Wai Sek Hong
- Dragon Cookies – Lily’s Wai Sek Hong (love this idea – we’ll make these dragon cookies w/my kids)
- Almond Cookie Cresents – Lily’s Wai Sek Hong
- Double Sided Gold Noodles – Lily’s Wai Sek Hong (one of my favorite noodles as a kid)
- Steamed Pork Bun Recipe + how to fold Chinese buns video – Christine’s Recipes
- Braised Chinese Mushrooms – Christine’s Recipes (easy dish to make, we always have whole Chinese mushrooms on CNY)
- Egg Custard Pastry – Christine’s Recipes (with a cheater crust! brilliant)
- Stir Fried Glutinous Rice – Christine’s Recipes
- Stir Fried Broccoli with Fish Fillet – Christine’s Recipes
- Butter Cookies – Christine’s Recipes
- Baked Coconut Cake – Christine’s Recipes
- Radish Cake – Christine’s Recipes
Share your favorite recipes for the Chinese New Year in the comments below!
Jaden Hair is a television chef, food columnist and award-winning food blogger at Steamy Kitchen. You can watch her cook twice a month on Daytime Show, syndicated in 120 markets. Jaden is a food columnist for Discovery Health, TLC and for Tampa Tribune. Jaden is a cookbook author of The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. With over 85,000 followers, Jaden is one of the most influential people in food on Twitter. Find out more about Jaden here.
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