Chinese New Year Recipes: Menu planning guides

Lunar New Year is a big celebration for Chinese. Also, people get to gather to spend time with families and eat tasty foods. In this post, I share some Chinese Lunar New Year recipes and food ideas that my families often eat during spring festival celebration. Besides, this will be a great menu planning guide for your next Chinese New Year dinner or feast!

red background Chinese new year recipes ideas

What is Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year is also called Lunar New Year. Chinese around the world will celebrate this spring festival which is the beginning of a new year on the lunar calendar.

Also, it’s normally around late January to early-mid February. The date is different every year according to the regular calendar, but will be the same every lunar year.

Besides, other Asia countries such as Japan and Korea also celebrate this Lunar New Year differently.

What do people usually do during Chinese spring festival?

Chinese spring festivals are like western Thanksgivings that families gather together for annual reunion dinners and yummy foods.

Traditionally, three days before Lunar New Year (lunar calendar the 28th) people will deep clean their house because they believe in cleaning and sweep away bad fortunes to welcome good luck.

In addition, people like to decorate their house with good fortune words, couplets and Chinese poetry on red papers around doors and windows.

Also, people light firecrackers and fireworks. Some do lion dance around houses. Besides, married couples will give red pocket money to kids and unmarried members in the families or friends which is a symbol of good luck.

What kind of foods will people eat during Lunar New Year?

Different areas have different traditional Chinese New Year foods. Usually northern Chinese like to eat noodles, baozi and dumplings for spring festivals.

However, southern Chinese like to eat chicken, seafood such as fish, crab and shrimp, duck, braised mushrooms, turnip cake, sweet glutinous rice cake, tang yuan, candies, mandarin oranges and etc.

Here are some Chinese Lunar New Year recipes and food ideas:

1. Dumplings:

My childhood memories that my mom made dumplings all from scratch especially during Chinese New Year.

Pan fried dumplings

Boiled dumplings & how to make dumpling wrappers.

Chinese boiled dumplings with chili oil sauce and green onion

2. Noodles:

Traditionally, in Chinese culture yi mein is consumed on birthdays. Also, it is referred to as longevity noodles or sau mein. Besides, the Chinese character for "long" means "long life".

Chicken yi mein noodles

Crispy pan fried noodles

Beef chow fun

beef chow ho fun or gon chow ngau ho (乾炒牛河)

3. Braised mushrooms

It is a traditional Chinese cuisine, especially during Chinese New Year or special banquets like traditional weddings or other events.

braised Chinese shiitake mushrooms served on lettuce

Or authentic Chinese chicken mushroom.

Braised Chinese mushroom and chicken on a plate with a towel

and Americanized zucchini mushroom chicken.

zucchini mushroom chicken stir fry close up

4. Chicken:

Traditionally, Cantonese white cut chicken dishes serve during festival celebrations like Chinese New Year and other Chinese holidays.

White cut chicken

How to bake a whole chicken

roasted or baked whole chicken on a wax paper

Soy sauce chicken wings

5. Steamed fish

Chinese and Asians like to cook fish as a whole. In Chinese culture, a whole fish with head and tail is a tradition and they believe in good luck.

6. Shrimp

Boiled shrimp, steamed shrimp with vermicelli and garlic chili shrimp are my family favorite shrimp dishes.

steamed garlic shrimp with vermicelli noodles on a plate with a towel

7. Turnip cake

White carrot cake is a traditional Chinese New Year food, especially in the southern part of China because the word radish in Chinese sounds like good fortune.