The Best Chinese New Year Food
As in the Western region, food is a very important part of all of our celebrations. This is no different for the Chinese New Year celebration. Chinese New Year food is a huge part of the entire celebration and everyone notices the degree of cooking when this fabulous holiday rolls around. While Chinese New Years has been adopted and celebrated around the world, many people do not know that this fabulous holiday has actually been dubbed the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year.
The neat thing about the Chinese New Year is that food, banquets of food is served for fifteen days straight until the new lunar moon, for that is when the Chinese New Year happens. Food is a huge part of this tradition. In the states, caterers are brought in and serve many, many people at all sorts of celebrations, but back in China, many of the families cook all of their own foods and cook for many, many people.
One traditional food which may surprise you is chicken – but not just any chicken. Generally whole chickens are served. This is because an entire chicken symbolizes togetherness within the family. Serving one means that the family will be together and happy for the coming year.
Another food item that is served during the Chinese New Year is noodles. Now, noodles are popular in Chinese culture in general, but there is a story behind the noodle. Noodles in Chinese culture can sometimes symbolize a long life line, so serving noodles at Chinese New Year is definitely a great idea. Whether you are serving noodle soup, a noodle side or anything else that has noodles in it, serving noodles for this fabulous holiday is a very traditional and great way to bring in the new year.
There are some other foods that are served at Chinese New Year. For instance, forebears, a citrus fruit is served usually because the name means luck and wealth. There are so many different food types that are served during this amazing time of year that can be based on just the name or pronunciation of the food.
Fish is definitely one of the Chinese New Year foods that every single celebration has, one reason is the word ‘yu’ that usually symbolizes wish or abundance. It has been said that many people serve fish at their New Year celebrations because if the head and tail of the fish are still attached, the year will begin and end on a good note.