How to Celebrate the Year of the Dog: Traditions and What to Cook for Chinese New Year

Woah, it’s Chinese New Year already! This 12 months, CNY lands on February 16th and it’ll be the Year of the Dog – one of the cutest years ever, in my humble opinion. Seems like this 12 months there’s an enormous abundance of curiosity in Chinese New Year that I haven’t actually seen earlier than. Mike and I simply bought again from a fast Las Vegas journey and we noticed so many Chinese New Year slot machines. All the shops round city have Chinese New Year window shows and some native eating places are doing Chinese themed menus to rejoice.

Speaking of Chinese themed menus, for me Chinese New Year is all about the meals – and household and enjoyable too, however first of all, meals. Food positively holds particular significance in Chinese tradition, with heaps of meals representing sure issues. Chinese peeps are sort of type of superstitious usually and Chinese New Year might be the most necessary vacation so there are a number of issues that we do to attempt to maximize luckiness for the new 12 months. Here are some suggestions and methods for some further luck in the Year of the Dog!

Cleaning House

A brand new 12 months means a recent and clear home. You’re supposed to clear (and I actually imply clear) the entire home earlier than CNY since you’re successfully cleansing away the previous 12 months. Sweeping, mopping, dusting and tiding means you’re getting rid of any baggage and issues related to the previous 12 months since you don’t need to deliver them into the new 12 months. Plus, you’re not supposed to clear in any respect throughout the first 5 days of new 12 months, so that you need your own home to be spic and span.

Family Reunion Dinner

Family reunion dinner is the most necessary dinner of the 12 months. It all the time occurs on CNY eve and folks journey from far and huge to return to their mother and father’ home to rejoice. It’s all the time an enormous house cooked feast with heaps of fortunate dishes and everybody eats and chills. It’s extraordinarily conventional and a should! Everyone stays up late to usher in the new 12 months. But, in right now’s day and age, heaps of folks exit for reunion dinner too, so do no matter feels greatest to you so long as it’s with household.

The Color Red

Red is a really fortunate coloration in Chinese as a result of of a really previous custom – the identical custom of why CNY is widely known. The story goes: in historical China, there was a beast referred to as Nián Shòu, which accurately interprets to “year beast.” He would come round each Chinese New Year and devour livestock and folks and principally wreck havoc. But then, it was found that the beast didn’t like the coloration purple or loud noises. It labored so properly that Nián Shòu by no means confirmed up once more however folks stored adorning with purple issues and setting off fireworks on Chinese New Year to be sure that he by no means got here again.

If you need some further luck, ensure you have a bit of purple adorning your own home or put on one thing purple on CNY. Or, in the event you’re married you may give away fortunate purple envelopes. That used to be my second favourite half of Chinese New Year as a result of the envelopes have fortunate cash in them! If you’re a child, CNY is the bomb – a lot enjoyable.

Shopping/New Year’s Markets

New 12 months, new you! Chinese peeps love purchasing throughout Chinese New Year. New garments symbolize a brand new starting, so many individuals will buy groceries earlier than CNY to have a model new outfit to put on on precise new 12 months’s day. And in case you have a Chinese mall in your space, they’ll be a New Year’s market the place they promote flowers and different cute small issues.

Finally, the Food

There are a bunch of symbolic meals to eat: dumplings, mandarins, spring rolls, fish, new years cake, and noodles are only a few. You ought to eat dumplings as a result of dumplings sort of type of seem like gold ingots, so in the event you eat dumplings you’ll be wealthy. Also, defintely have a bunch of mandarins hanging out (for consuming and displaying) as a result of they characterize gold. It means you’ll be wealthy! Deep fried spring rolls seem like gold bars, so in the event you eat them, you’ll even be wealthy! There’s a theme right here, I do know.

New 12 months’s desserts (niangao, that are sticky rice desserts) are additionally eaten for prosperity as a result of the phrases sound like “year high,” which implies the coming 12 months will go larger and larger. Fish can also be an enormous factor as a result of fish is “yu” which appears like abundance, which primarily means, you’ll be wealthy! And of course, lengthy noodles are eaten for lengthy life 🙂

Here are some recipes that you may make in the event you’re feeling such as you want some further luck in the Year of the Dog.

Happy Year of the Dog associates! May or not it’s affluent and wholesome!
ALL THE dumplings and noodles,
xoxo steph

Stay ate up Primetweets Kitchen!