Chinese New Year Recipes: Menu planning guides

Lunar New Year is a big celebration for Chinese people. Also, people get to gather to spend time with families and eat tasty foods. It is quite similar to Western Thanksgiving and Christmas. In this Chinese new year food recipes 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 where 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. It is because they believe in cleaning and sweeping 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, lobster, shrimp, duck, braised mushrooms, turnip cake, sweet glutinous rice cake, tang yuan, candies, mandarin oranges etc.

Here are some Chinese Lunar New Year food recipes ideas:

1. Dumplings:

My childhood memories of my mom making dumplings all from scratch especially during Chinese New Year. From homemade dumpling wrappers to boiled and pan fried dumplings.

2. Noodles:

Traditionally, in Chinese culture yi mein is consumed on birthdays. Also, it is referred to as longevity noodles or sau mein (壽麵) which means "long life". Therefore, noodles are often associated with longevity and a long, prosperous life in Chinese culture. The long strands of noodles symbolize a long and unbroken life. Besides, it's believed that eating them during the New Year can bring good luck and blessings for the year ahead. Here are some noodle dishes ideas.

3. Braised mushrooms

It is a traditional Chinese cuisine, especially during Chinese New Year or special banquets like traditional weddings or other events. Or, authentic Chinese chicken mushroom and Americanized zucchini mushroom chicken.

4. Chicken:

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

5. Seafood

People from southern part of China love to cook seafood for Chinese New Year. Besides, 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. Also, boiled shrimp, ginger scallion crab, steamed shrimp with vermicelli and garlic chili shrimp are my family favorite shrimp dishes.

6. 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.