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    Home » Cuisine » Asian » Chinese

    Chinese New Year Recipes {Year of the Rabbit!}

    Published: Jan 28, 2011 · Modified: Oct 27, 2014 by Jennifer Che


    Making wishes and setting off "lanterns" at the Taiwan Pavillion at the World Expo in Shanghai, September 2010

    The lunar new year is just around the corner! This year we welcome the year of the rabbit on February 3, 2011.

    But New Years is hardly a one day celebration! Most businesses and schools close for the entire week as workers travel back to visit their families. In fact, more trips are taken during this period (Spring Festival travel season, "Chunyun" 春運)  than the total population of China (yes, 2.26 billion trips taken in 2008!!!). The entire New Year celebration is actually 15 days long, starting with the huge feast on the Eve and ending with the Lantern Festival on the 15th day.

    Food is a huge part of the New Years celebration, with the New Years Eve meal being one of the biggest. Families get together and often enjoy fish (symbolizes abundance), dumplings (symbolizes wealth), and "Nian Gao" (new year cake). Uncut noodles are super popular, as the long noodle represents longevity. Chinese pan fried cakes (typically taro or turnip, but why not pumpkin?) is also associated with the New Year. People eat vegetarian on the 13th day of the New Year, mostly to clean out their stomachs after gorging the rest of the time! On the last day of the new year, everyone enjoys tang yuan 湯圓 (rice balls), one of my favorite foods!

    I've compiled a bunch of my Asian recipes together in one visual spread so that you can explore at your own leisure. 🙂 Enjoy!

    mustard greens kong xin tsai
    Mustard Greens Sauteed Chinese Watercress
    Spicy Minced Pork with Sour String Beans Chinese chives and Tofu
    Spicy Pork with Sour String Beans Chinese Chives and 5-Spice Tofu
    broccoli salad tea eggs
    Crunchy Broccoli Stem Salad Tea Eggs
    winter melon soup' pork winter melon soup
    Simple Winter Melon Soup Traditional Winter Melon Soup
    ro geng mian hand pulled noodles
    Pork & Fishball Noodle Soup Hand-pulled Noodles
    Lion's Head Casserole beef noodle soup
    Lion's Head Casserole Beef Noodle Soup
    Steamed Fish with Black Bean Sauce mapo tofu
    Steamed Fish with Black Bean Sauce Spicy Mapo Tofu
    meat sauce
    Chinese Sticky Rice Taiwanese Meat Sauce over Rice
    bawan batzang
    "Bawan" - Taiwanese "Meat ball" "Batzang" - Taiwanese Rice Dumpling
    homemade manto gua bao
    Homemade Baos (Mantou) Traditional Pork Belly Buns (Gua bao)
    Savory Chinese Pumpkin Cakes red bean mochi cake
    Savory Asian Pumpkin Cakes Red Bean New Year Cake (Nian Gao)
    Chinese Egg Puffs black sesame ice cream
    Chinese Egg Puffs Black Sesame Ice Cream
    spiral mooncakes Chinese Egg Tarts
    Pumpkin Spiral Mooncakes Chinese Egg Tarts

    Muir Glen Gift Box
    It's not to late to enter the Giveaway for a beautiful gift box of reserved tomatoes from Muir Glen! Giveaway ends This Friday, January 28th, 2011.

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    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen

    Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am an expat who moved from Boston to Hong Kong 5 years ago. Born and raised in Ohio to Taiwanese immigrant parents, I am a chemistry nerd, patent attorney by day, blogger by night, church musician on weekends, and food enthusiast always. Feel free to explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!

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