What to Whip Up for the Lunar New Year

Mention the Lunar New Year, and thoughts of yummy, home-cooked meals will warm many hearts longing to return home to enjoy their Reunion Dinner on the eve of the Lunar New Year.

Family members gather at the dining table and enjoy a sumptuous meal and foods that usually comes with the festivities. Mothers would whip up meaningful and sumptuous dishes, to fill you up with blessings for the New Year.

Food plays a significant role in the celebration of the Lunar New Year as it is believed that by eating well during the New Year period will in return beckon a year of great prosperity.

Want to host your own Lunar New Year banquet? The following 6 dishes are among those that cannot be missed out!

1. Steamboat

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The easiest to prepare, since there is no cooking (on your part) to be done!

First, visit your nearby market and select those ingredients that your guests will be having. The classics are: fish balls, tofu, all sorts of seafood, eggs, sliced meats (depending on your guests’ preferences) and mushrooms. Buy instant soup stock – they’re available in many flavours.

Set up your table with the hot pot in the middle, soup boiling and plates of raw food surrounding the pot. Your guests will enjoy the communal cooking session and having freshly cooked food!

Tip: Don’t serve squids! In Mandarin, squids can also mean “getting fired” from your job.

2. Chicken

Picture credit: http://bookmarqc.com/8khakis/k3/steamed-herbal-chicken/

In the olden days, those who farmed would go pick the plumpest young chicken from their coops, slaughter it and serve it on their tables during the first day of the Lunar New Year.

These days, just buy one from the local wet market and boil it with some ginger and salt to flavour it. The chicken is left whole with the head and feet intact to represent togetherness. This is a dish that can easily feed a gathering of 8 with one chicken.

3. Budhha’s Delight (罗汉斋)

Picture credit: en.kunming.cn

This vegetarian dish made with about 10 different ingredients, including fat choy (black moss), and is a nutritious and delicious dish for everyone!

4. Suan Pan Zi (算盤子, Yam Abacus Beads)

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A traditional Hakka dish, this is made by kneading yam and tapioca flour together, and the dough is moulded to resemble abacus beads to signify uncountable wealth. It is then boiled and later fried with other ingredients to form a chewy, fragrant dish.

You can prepare suan pan zi at home and ask the young ones to help mould the dough; it’ll be fun for them to learn about cooking and traditions at the same time!

5. Yu Sheng

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Also known as Lo Hei, the yusheng is popular among businessmen and the white-collared workers in Singapore. This dish is usually bought in a pre-packed set from the supermarkets for convenience as portions of each ingredient is small and thus, fussy to prepare.

Yu Sheng is a raw fish-based salad that consists of strips of raw fish and vegetables drizzled with various sauces as auspicious phrases are said. Armed with chopsticks, everyone attempts to ‘toss’ their bit of yusheng as high as possible, as ‘yu sheng’ is a homonym for ‘increasing abundance’ in Mandarin.

Tip: Line plastic sheets so that you won’t have to clean your tablecloth of possible stains; tossing yusheng is a messy affair!

6. Poon Choy (盆菜)

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Originally served to the Song dynasty emperor fleeing invading Mongol troops, it is a stew that blends the essence of premium seafood – abalones, lobster, prawns, scallops, sea cucumber – and other vegetables to flavour the stew braised in a large claypot.

Poon Choy only caught on in Singapore recently – thanks to its showy appearance. Presentation is the key to this dish, and it is made attractive by layering and stacking the ingredients into a festive dish. Guests will definitely gasp in delight the moment you unveil this pot of goodness.

Enjoy a sumptuous meal with your family this Lunar New Year!