A Food Aficionado – Chinese New Year Memories

A Food Aficionado – Chinese New Year Memories
By Anna Ing

Growing up in my Chinese family on Cape Cod had its ups and downs. My parents who hailed from the Canton Province tried their best to instill traditional Chinese customs and culture to myself and my siblings. But my favorite Chinese holiday that was more important to us than even Thanksgiving and Christmas was the Lunar New Year Celebrations, and most importantly our big feast. I always tell my friends, if you are invited to a Chinese Wedding banquet or Chinese New Year meal then be extremely excited for an awesome meal!

Our parents took their time beforehand to make many preparations. From cleaning the house top to bottom, making sure we wore new clothes, had our new haircuts before the New Year and making sure we ate the appropriate foods. For us kids, we loved receiving our lucky money or “lai see” after saying, “Gung Hay Fat Choy” or “Congratulations/Best wishes and have good luck and prosperity.”

We always made sure we had an eight compartment prosperity tray or red box filled with sweetened candied fruits and red melon seeds. Each item inside has a special meaning. My fave are the coconut which symbolizes togetherness, kumquats are for prosperity, candied melon meant good health, lychee nuts symbolize family ties, longan represents fertility (in particular for bearing sons), lotus seeds mean the wish to have a big family, peanuts are for a long life and the red melon seeds mean happiness and truth. All these candies also wish for long term sweetness for you. Whenever someone came over during the Lunar New Year period, they were offered this tray along with orange and tangerines.

Among my favorite fruits are the oranges and tangerines which are passed out (plus they are at their sweetest during this time of year). Both fruits represent wealth and good luck. Tangerines when they have leaves are associated with “longevity.” These are freely served and offered during the Chinese New Year as well. The pomelo (ancestor to the grapefruit) is also served and this fruit symbolizes prosperity and status. Nothing is served with the number four as it sounds like “death” in Chinese. Instead, the number eight is widely desired as it is associated with good luck.

My father would prepare an elaborate multi-course meal that we would eat slowly over the next few days. (The left-overs were always yummy!) Cutting with a cleaver was not allowed as this might cut off your good luck in the New Year. In the meal, we had to have a whole uncut chicken for family togetherness. A whole fish usually steamed with scallions, ginger, in a light soy sauce (head and tail intact) meant wealth and abundance. A dish of delicious roasted meats-pig (peace) and duck (fidelity) were also served. One my favorites included a dish with black moss (prosperity), dried oysters (auspicious event), lotus root (fertility) with vegetables and dried bean curd sheets. Lettuce usually lined this dish and it meant growing into wealth. Long and uncut noodles were a must too as that represented a desire for a long life. Stir fried lobster (energy) with scallions, black beans and ginger sure beats any boiled lobster in my book. Also we always tried to have at least five dishes for five blessings in the New Year that include a wish for a long life, prosperity, peace, virtue and wisdom.

So eating this delicious meal was the only one we ate late at night, but it sure was the most delicious for us. We kept our New Year’s meal celebration very simple, but it will always be a warm and loving memory of my childhood years.

Link: http://sampan.org/2012/01/a-food-aficionado-chinese-new-year-memories/