Chinese New Year is coming up and I have been blessed with the opportunity to experience it in China! We can expect grand fireworks, performances, decorations, and artwork to ring in 2020, the year of the Rat. While this can catch the attention of many, the foodie in me will be heading straight towards the amazing cuisine and street food that highlight the long-lasting culture of the Chinese. It’s expected that hundreds of thousands of people will travel to China to experience the annual festivities. So, here’s the ultimate food guide that will have your taste buds bursting with excitement!
An important part of Chinese culture is to have symbolic meaning for many objects we come across in our daily lives. This means that eating certain foods for the new year will carrying a specific meaning. Usually, these symbols are things like luck and prosperity. The first food that is important to eat during the new year are dumplings. Dumplings are a symbol of wealth and, if eaten, will grant the person a wealthy year depending on how many dumplings you eat! So, if you want to finally be rich, you better load up on dumplings! Even if you don’t believe in all this, dumplings are still a delicious dish you can find anywhere. The next food I recommend everyone to eat is fish, more specifically, a whole fish. Fish is an absolute staple in Chinese cuisine and I recommend it to be steamed and served in a lake of soy sauce. To the Chinese, eating a whole fish symbolizes fortune and having a lot of what you need. While some may not be accustomed to it, the Chinese have been cooking and eating whole fish for centuries. You can order a whole fish at virtually any Chinese restaurant and you can also customize the way you want it to be cooked! The last food I highly recommend is roast duck. Now, this is not your usual roast duck. Instead, it’s served with it’s whole head and feet still attached. What makes this dish special is that it is air-dried so that the skin is extremely crispy and is like paper.
Street food is an absolute must if you want to experience a true “bang for your buck” meal. One of my favorite street foods in China is deep fried scallion pancakes. This is not your conventional American pancake with butter and syrup. This is a thin flatbread that is deep fried and sprinkled with tons of scallion. Another food that I absolutely love are moon cakes. This is an extremely traditional treat that is enjoyed primarily during Chinese New Year. Because the Chinese New Year is based off of the lunar calendar, it makes sense why moon cakes go hand in hand with this holiday. Known for its sweet and thick filling, it’s a very sweet desert that is known as a delicacy worldwide.
Well, here are some of my favorite foods that I hope you will be sure to enjoy for Chinese New Years! Also know that you don’t have to make the adventure all the way to China to enjoy these foods. Many of these foods are available at a supermarket near you and can be made very easily! Until next time!
-Paul Osbourne
Paul's Eats: Foodie Adventures Around the World 