Whetting the appetite with wealth of meaning

The diverse climates, histories and communities of Asia’s different regions have produced myriad traditional Chinese New Year foods — but one thing they share is they are all mouth-wateringly delicious.

Here are a few auspicious dishes eaten to celebrate the new year, and to hail prosperity for your family and loved ones.

Steamed fish

This is one of the most recognisable foods of the Lunar New Year festivities, as it has deep linguistic and cultural significance to this time of year. 鱼 (Yu), the character for fish, has the same pronunciation as 余 (Yu) the character for abundance, so it is always presented whole and served as the last dish.

However, you must not eat all the fish, as it is believed leaving some left over will bring a surplus of wealth for the new year.

Nian gao

There are almost as many ways of preparing this simple dessert as there are dialects of Chinese, but no matter which it is, this delicious sweet cake made from rice flour, brown sugar and water is a Spring Festival must.

The reason for its lucky label is the second character 矲 (Gao) has the same pronunciation as the character 高 (Gao), meaning tall or high. So, it represents inviting in higher income, standing and wealth.

A favourite way of eating nian gao is to slice the cake and pan fry it. It is also a popular gift to bring when visiting family during this time.

Bak kwa

This sticky, sweet and salty smoked meat is a must-have celebratory snack, especially in Malaysia and Singapore.

Bak kwa means ‘dried meat’ in the Hokkien dialect and originated in the Fujian province at a time when meat was a luxury reserved for Chinese New Year.

People would preserve the meat by slicing it into thin sheets and marinating it in sugar and spices before air-drying and cooking it.

This delicacy migrated south to Malaysia and Singapore where it took on local tastes and has been adapted into many varieties – such as a vegetarian tempeh version – but it traditionally remains pork.

Yi mein

Also known as longevity noodles, these glossy and chewy mountains of egg-y goodness are a celebratory banquet dish, which can be seen on the table during numerous events – from a wedding to a Chinese New Year feast or even a baby’s 100-days celebration.

Symbolising long life, the dish is always one of the last served at a banquet, often with mushroom tossed through.

Mandarins

Despite what you may be thinking, these fruits are not a traditional food simply because they share an amusing English epithet with the prevailing Chinese dialect.

Gifting mandarins and orange fruits is a prolific new year tradition, which has spread to other cultures in Asia.

There are many reasons they are associated with fortune, most notably because the first character in the word for kumquat – 金桔 (Jin Ju) – means gold.

This makes gifting these golden fruits in even numbers, excluding the unlucky death numeral – four – symbolic of wishing someone great wealth for the new year.

As it appeared in the 2025 January 24 edition of The West Australian.