I hope you all enjoyed your Australia Day BBQs but there’s another holiday that’s quickly creeping up on us on February 10. It’s none other than Chinese New Year (CNY), a loud and foodielicious king of holidays in the Chinese lunar calendar. Just as a major holiday like Thanksgiving does to American ladies, CNY tends to send Chinese mothers, aunts and grandmothers into a frenzy to bake and buy cookies and snacks, cook feasts of food and buy up boxes upon boxes of mandarin oranges – you have to see it first hand to believe the almost panic buying atmosphere. I remember growing up in Singapore that as soon as the Christmas lights and decorations came down, up went the red lanterns, red calligraphy scrolls, the Chinese character for fortune (everyone’s hoping to strike rich in the new year) and loud CNY music blasting everywhere.
But why is CNY so important? Well, it marks the beginning of spring in the lunar calendar and just like the egg-and-bunny Easter symbolism, springtime is the season for the whole ‘out with the old, in with the new’ shebang. Just like others buy and wrap presents and make puddings for Christmas, many people go all out buying new clothes, gifts and food for CNY. Since I grew up surrounded by the Singapore CNY frenzy, I get a little nostalgic around this time of year. On the eve, extended families would gather for a huge, lavish reunion dinner then head home for final preparations for celebrations in the days to come. The first day of Chinese New Year would see people visiting relatives and us kids (or even unmarried adults) wishing older ones good health and prosperity in the new year in return for red packets filled with money. All the food and gifts might as well make CNY a Chinese person’s Christmas. As for colours and themes for decorating, if red and green are the colours for Christmas and orange is the colour of Thanksgiving, then lots of red and some gold are the colours for the lunar new year.
Here’s just 16 recipes of foods you could eat during this non-stop 15-day food fest. Now although there are a few overarching CNY themes and traditions, every place has its own specialities so apart from the western-influenced macarons and sugar cookies, most of these things are foods I’m used to from a Singapore tradition.
- CNY candy box. Candy boxes full of pumpkin seeds, melon seeds and other snacks are a common sight. The seeds are one of those symbolic foods representing an ancient desire for many, many, many children…
- Char siu (BBQ pork) recipe by Rasa Malaysia. Hong Kong style BBQ pork, a.k.a char siu, is quite the popular, all time favourite meat. It’s always tasty and dripping with the distinctive sweet and sticky char siu sauce.
- Niangao by Bread et Butter. Niangao is a common sight during the CNY period, it’s a Chinese steamed cake made with glutinous rice flour, sugar, water and sometimes coconut milk. It’s sticky and chewy and often battered and fried to produce a sweet, gooey new year treat.
- CNY cupcakes! Look at those lanterns and fortune characters, these cupcakes look amazing!
- Chinese lantern macarons by Steph from Raspberri Cupcakes. Remember the impossibly cute koala cupcakes on the Australia Day mood board? Steph’s insane macaron skills strike again with these delightful lantern macarons. If you have the skills to match, give them a go.
- Bakkwa recipe by Noob Cook. And now for one of the most prized gifts for CNY, bakkwa is an extremely popular sweet pork jerky that’s worth its weight in gold. The ones we had were always bought from stores like Bee Cheng Hiang. But why not try making your own?
- Pineapple tarts by fellow fellow. Pineapple tarts are a popular ‘festive cookie’ associated with various Southeast Asian countries. It’s not traditionally a Chinese New Year food, but it pops up during the CNY period in Singapore and has therefore formed an association with the holiday. I might even say that pineapple tarts have become the most iconic sweet of CNY in Singapore.
- Teochew braised duck recipe. The picture of this Teochew-style braised duck recipe is enough to make this pescatarian hungry! None for me anymore, but my grandmother always prized duck as a very luxurious inclusion for any lavish meal.
- Mandarin oranges. Mandarin oranges symbolise wealth and fortune and are commonly eaten during CNY. Plus after all that meat, snacks and dessert, it’s probably best to get some fruit.
- Yusheng (raw fish salad) by Noob Cook. Yusheng is a mostly vegetable salad with some slivers of sashimi, mixed with plum sauce. The dish symbolises abundance and so people tend to adopt a ‘better safe than sorry’ mindset and go crazy over this. Vegetables, condiments and some sashimi are served unmixed and diners gather round to poke their chopsticks into the ingredients, pulling them into the air while shouting auspicious sayings. In the process, the salad gets tossed and becomes kind of messy, but this dish gets full credit for being a fun tradition.
- Crispy roast pork recipe by Smoky Wok. Cantonese-style roast pork like this is always welcome for special occasions. I’m pescatarian now, so none for me but I do have fond memories of this fatty pork belly with crispy crackling. Oh gosh.
- Peanut tangyuan (glutinous peanut dumplings) by Rasa Malaysia. These are popular glutinous rice balls filled with peanut, black sesame or red bean paste and served wam in a light syrup. Being sweet, of course they are eaten as dessert.
- Crispy spring rolls with meat floss by Rasa Malaysia. These addictive mini spring rolls filled with either pork, chicken or prawn floss are one of my all-time favourite CNY snacks. Every house we visit, I’d look for a jar of these spring rolls and eat like crazy.
- Steamed fish recipe from i am a food blog. Steamed fish was always a popular food for us, so it should definitely make an appearance on the CNY menu.
- Love letters. Known as kueh kapit in Malay, these delicate coconut milky wafers are quite unique to CNY in Singapore and Malaysia, which add a local ethnic flair to CNY. Sheets of these round love letters are either folded into quarters or rolled into cigars and are extremely addictive. Although not as ‘authentic’, I always loved the love letters filled with chocolate or strawberry flavours.
- Sugar cookies by Gwen’s Kitchen Creations. Maybe like me, you are scared to attempt those lantern macarons. Instead, these decorated sugar cookies are very on-brand and might just do the trick.
Gosh, there are so many other things I love that I wasn’t able to include on this mood board, I’m thinking especially of Singapore and Malaysia specific treats like kueh bangkit (coconut milk cookies that melt in your mouth) and kueh bahulu (little sponge cakes) which have always been some of my favourites. CNY’s pretty awesome and so full of food and tradition, so be sure to check out our full CNY Pinterest board for more ideas.
Your turn! Tell us, are you going to celebrate CNY this year and what are some of your favourite CNY foods?