As mentioned in this post, I love the idea of pairing children’s books with real-life activities or places that relate to the books. In the case of Chinese New Year, you don’t have to go to China to have your child experience it. Jamie and I brought Chinese New Year to our home this year. It was simple – I didn’t even cook! I got everything from a local Chinese restaurant and the grocery store for the sake of time. But it was fun, and we learned more about the holiday and the foods that are traditionally eaten.
I decorated the table with small Chinese takeout boxes filled with red and white carnations, red and gold paper pinwheels that I already had, clementines, and chocolate gold coins. Red, which is associated with fire, symbolizes good fortune and joy, so it’s important to have a lot of red on the table! The Lunar New Year is a popular time to purchase gold, so that’s why the chocolate gold coins make a cute table topper, and oranges/tangerines are a traditional symbol of abundance and good fortune.
Red envelopes are an important part of the Chinese New Year tradition. They are stuffed with money and are exchanged for good luck. Children receive the red envelopes from their parents and grandparents, and once they’re married, they’re expected to start giving red envelopes themselves. If you’re giving red envelopes, it’s important to use crisp bills and avoid coins. It’s lucky to give even amounts of money and start or end the amount with lucky number eight, but avoid amounts that start with four because that’s an unlucky number in Chinese culture.
Whole chicken is a popular dish to serve on the Lunar New Year because it’s a sign of family togetherness and unity. Traditionally, you would serve it completely whole – head, talons and all! But Jamie and I figured that a rotisserie chicken was whole enough for us! Whole fish with head and tail attached is also a very common and symbolic food to serve on Chinese New Year. The head and tail represent a good beginning and end to the year, and the word “fish” in Chinese, “yú,” sounds like the words for both wish and abundance. We didn’t have the time to cook a whole fish (and didn’t want to spend the money to do so for just the two of us), but I think if I ever have a Chinese New Year party, I will definitely have to do that.
The Chinese word for shrimp, “xiā,” sounds like the word for laughter, so shrimp is another symbolic food eaten on the new year. We had a stir-fried shrimp dish with rice.
Long noodles represent longevity, but we couldn’t find any uncut noodles so we got a simple lo mein dish. Egg rolls symbolize good fortune because their shape looks like gold bars.
The Cantonese word for lettuce sounds like rising fortune, so it is common to serve lettuce at a Lunar New Year dinner. Lettuce wraps are a great option, but I decided on a simple romaine salad with pistachios and a dijon vinaigrette.
And of course you have to have dumplings! They are my favorite. Dumplings are often made to look like Chinese silver ingots, which are oval and turned up on the edges, so they represent wealth. Legend says that the more dumplings you eat during the Chinese New Year celebrations, the more money you will make in the new year.
We finished the meal with fortune cookies (of course). It turns out that they’re more of an American tradition than a Chinese one – they started in California with the Chinese ’49’ers who worked on building the railroads. But they are a fun treat for both kids and adults! I wouldn’t serve a Chinese New Year meal without them.
We had our Chinese New Year dinner a little early this year since I will be out of town and because I wanted to share some fun ideas here in case you’d like to have your own special Lunar New Year dinner! It was easy and fun. I can’t wait to do this with kids someday to teach them more about the Chinese culture.
P.S. Dress your little ones for Chinese New Year, and read some Chinese New Year children’s books.