Food Friday: Lunar New Year

We are gearing up for another snowy weekend here in the Spy Test Kitchen. One of the best ways we have found to stay warm and busy is trolling through some cooking challenges, and bustling with authority around the kitchen. Since we cannot travel far from home IRL* or safely join friends for inside restaurant feasts, it has been fun to roam the globe through culinary explorations at home. Lately we have been experimenting with French bread baking, Italian pastas, and British puddings. Auguring well for us, the Lunar New Year starts on February 1, which gives us this snowy weekend to start rolling out the celebration of the Year of the Tiger.

Traditionally, there are seven lucky dishes that bring good luck for the Lunar New Year: longevity noodles for happiness and a long life, dumplings for wealth, spring rolls (also symbolizing wealth and prosperity), rice cakes for higher income or position, steamed fish for abundance, sticky rice balls for family togetherness, and good fortune fruit. You can be as much of a traditionalist as you like. This year I’d just like to master longevity noodles.

I like the idea of not cutting the noodles, which present a good table manners dilemma: opt for the good luck, and apologize in advance for your slurping.
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/longevity-noodles-xian-famous-foods

You will never make dumplings as sweet as this short film:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5CcgFTO274

Now that you have had a good cry, try your hand at these dumplings. You can buy store-bought wonton wrappings, or make your own. https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lunar-new-year-dumplings

Spring rolls, which are supposed to resemble gold bars, are another symbol for wealth and prosperity in the new year. I would also be happy with a (modest) winning lottery ticket. https://www.thespruceeats.com/chinese-egg-roll-recipe-694513

There is much symbolism attached to the fish dish. When serving, the head of the fish should face the most distinguished guest. And that person should eat first. Even the name of the fish can be symbolic: a Crucian carp sounds like the Chinese word for good luck, so eating a crucian carp should bring good luck in the new year. Frozen fish sticks just will not do. https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-food/chinese-new-year-food.htm
Here is a modern, head-less take on the traditional steamed fish: https://iheartumami.com/chinese-steamed-cod-fish-recipe/

Rice cakes are an important sweet for the Lunar New Year: https://whattocooktoday.com/nian-gao.html It is a good thing we have a few days before the holiday, so we can practice.

Rice balls are also a necessary treat for Lunar New Year celebrations: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/sticky-rice-balls-three-ways-or-tang-yuan-xian-rou-zhi-ma-cai-zhu-you-my-shanghai-betty-liu

Good fortune fruits are easy, and welcome, during these cold winter days. There is nothing like oranges, kumquats, and tangerines to make you feel the warmth of summer. They are fragrant, juicy and evocative of all that Florida tourism boards promise: golden sunshine and good luck and happiness.

We had neighbors in Florida who had lived for a while in Asia, who brought Lunar New Year celebrations home. Once a year we would all order inordinate amounts of Chinese take out for a neighborhood dinner. We would string paper lanterns through the palm trees in our front yards. We set up lawn chairs and little tables, and ate spring rolls and fried rice while drinking Sapporo beers. We sent the herd of restless children out on a scavenger hunt, later distributing red paper packets of gold dollar coins as their prizes. Then we lighted sparklers once the sun had set, and the sky grew dark, and the stars began appearing, one by one. Those were the good old days. Let’s make some new memories this year.
新年快乐！(xīn nián kuài lè) Happy New Year!

May you always have more than you need! May the Year of the Tiger be full of adventures, challenges, and achievements!

*IRL=in real life