Chinese New Year recipes – 16 auspicious food that brings prosperity

It’s that wonderful time of year again to celebrate Chinese New Year! So, I have summed up 16 auspicious Chinese New Year recipes, especially for you.

Are you getting excited about planning your festive feast? Have you thought about what delicious dishes you want to prepare for this joyous occasion?

Over the past few years, I have uploaded many popular Cantonese recipes that are perfect for Chinese New Year celebrations. Below are these scrumptious recipes, each with a brief introduction. If one catches your eye, just click the link, which will take you to the recipe page, where you can read, watch a video, and download the recipe.

I really hope you enjoy my collection and find inspiration for your celebrations. Wishing you a fantastic Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) filled with joy and prosperity! Gong Xi Fa Cai, 万事如意!

• Each dish has its symbolic meaning. These are dishes cooked with auspicious ingredients according to the time-honored Chinese food tradition, which will bring you good fortune, excellent health, prosperity, luck, and happiness.
• Please download each Chinese New Year recipe and read the instructions by clicking the red button.  It will immediately send you to the respective recipe page.

1. Spring rolls that symbolize wealth

The shape of the spring roll resembles gold bars, which symbolize wealth.

The Chinese characters of spring roll (春卷) also signify the arrival of spring, which shares the same character (春) as the Spring Festival. 

You can make spring rolls in advance as they freeze well. Then, deep-fry in hot oil directly from the freezer just before serving to enjoy the glass-shattering texture of freshly made spring rolls. 

2. Bak Kwa with an auspicious color

Bak Kwa has a deep red color, which is auspicious and believed to bring good luck. It’s available year-round but is hugely popular during Chinese New Year. 

Bak Kwa is dried meat in Hokkien, made with pork or chicken.  It is incredibly delicious and almost unimaginable not to have it during Chinese New Year. It is like jerky and can be made in advance. 

You can make it with an oven, although charcoal will yield a smoky flavor on the grill. 

3. Nian Gao for a higher achievement in the new year

Nian Gao is considered a good luck food for the Spring Festival because Nian Gao (年糕) is a homonym for ‘higher achievement year’ (年高). It can be obtaining a good grade in school, a higher income, a higher position in the company, a more prosperous business, or any improvement in the coming year.

This sticky, sweet rice cake is an offering to the kitchen god each year-end who resides in every kitchen. The folklore says that the kitchen god will present his yearly report of each household’s events to the Jade Emperor. Hopefully, the sticky dessert will prevent him from bad-mouthing the respective family in his report. 

4. Buddha’s Delight- a must-have vegetarian dish

Buddha’s delight is one of the main vegetable dishes, usually served during lunch on the 1st day of the Chinese New Year. 

This vegetarian dish is called Lo Han Cai (罗汉斋) in Chinese. ‘Lo Han’ is the Chinese name for the eighteen Arhats in Buddhism.  They are the saints equivalent to the apostles of Christianity. According to folklore, they invented this vegetarian dish in honor of their ancestors.

The authentic Buddha’s delight has eighteen ingredients, representing eighteen Arhats. Since it is too tedious to prepare, I have simplified it without compromising the flavor.

5. Pork knuckle with dried oysters for prosperous business

Chinese-style braised pork knuckle is a popular Chinese New Year dish in Cantonese. The pork knuckle is cooked with black moss called fat choy, dried mushrooms, and dried oysters. It is incredibly flavorful, and the umami from the dried seafood is exceptional. 

This auspicious Chinese New Year meal is popular because the name has a unique meaning. Black moss (发菜) is the homonym of making money (发财), while dried oyster (蠔豉) sounds like good business (好市) in Cantonese. The pork knuckle indicates that you can grasp any fortune with your hand (橫財就手), and the dried mushroom suggests you will be successful in all ways (东成西就). 

6. Dumplings – more fortune is on your way

Since Chinese dumplings resemble ancient silver ingots, they are popular on the New Year menu.  Hopefully, the more dumplings you eat, the more fortune you will make 🙂

The Chinese word for dumpling (饺子) sounds like (交子), which means ‘exchange at midnight.’ Therefore, eating dumplings has a symbolic meaning to usher in the new and banish the previous year.

You can wrap the dumplings in advance and keep them frozen.  We like to eat it with homemade chili oil, which is Szechuan style. It is also suitable for pan-frying, one of the perfect side dishes for dinner.

7. Steam fish – there is an abundance of wealth

Steam whole fish is always on the dining table for a New Year’s feast. The fish must not be cut, as the entire fish symbolizes completeness and wholesomeness. 

Also, the word fish (鱼) is a homonym for surplus, extra, and leftover (余). Therefore, it signifies abundant wealth to bring to the new year.

The most popular way is to steam the whole fish and serve it with soy sauce and topped with green onions and ginger.

8. Pan-fried shrimp – this will give you lots of laughter

Shrimp symbolizes fortune and good luck, a great inclusion to the Lunar New Year menu. In addition, shrimp represents liveliness, happiness, and laughter as the Chinese word (虾) is pronounced as ‘ha’ in Cantonese, which echoes the sound of a burst of laughter (hahaha…).

I hope everyone will have a happy and prosperous year ahead. Hopefully, the more you eat shrimp, the happier you will be with lots of laughter in the coming year.

The shrimp cooked with soy sauce is one of the most popular dishes on this occasion. It is easy to prepare and tastes fantastic. 

9. Pineapple tart – prosperity is on your way

The Hokkien dialect for pineapple is ‘ong lai’ (旺来), which means ‘prosperity is on the way.’ 

This tiny tart is made with pineapple paste cooked with palm sugar and spiced with cinnamon, star anise, and cloves. The pastry is buttery and melts in the mouth. 

This dainty bite-size tart is a lucky food sold at every nook and corner during Chinese New Year. 

You can follow this Chinese New Year recipe to make it yourself.  The ready-made pineapple filling is available at most baking suppliers, but it is always better to make it your own.

10. Tang Yuan – best to signify togetherness

These bite-sized sticky glutinous rice balls in syrup have a significant meaning associated with the Winter Solstice and Chinese New Year.

Traditionally, this delightful dessert is served during the reunion dinner. The word Yuan (圆) carries the meaning of togetherness in the phrase ‘Tuányuán’ (團圓), which means the family is complete when everyone returns home for the reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve.

It is also eaten on the 15th day of the new year, the Lantern Festival.

Here is a simple Chinese New Year recipe for preparing Tang Yuan. You can also stuff it with peanut or red bean paste.

11. Longevity noodles (长寿面) for a long and prosperous life

Longevity noodles are traditionally served during Chinese New Year because they symbolize a long and prosperous life. These long noodles feature unbroken strands, conveying the idea of continuity and an unbroken life. Eating them during the celebration means wishing for longevity and good fortune. Therefore, it’s important not to cut the noodles while eating them.

The practice of serving longevity noodles during Chinese New Year can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. According to historical accounts, Emperor Wu (汉武帝) believed that people who consumed these noodles would enjoy longer lives. The word “noodle” in Chinese sounds similar to “face,” which further strengthens this connection to longevity.

12. Jian Dui 煎堆 for completeness and unity

Jian Dui is a well-known Chinese dessert made from glutinous rice flour filled with sweet ingredients such as red bean, peanut, and lotus paste. The outside of the Jian Dui is coated with toasted sesame seeds.

Its round shape symbolizes completeness and unity, while the expansion during the frying process signifies growth and development. These auspicious meanings make Jian Dui popular for Chinese New Year celebrations. These qualities contribute to Jian Dui being a well-accepted dessert during the festivities.

13. Chinese sausage fried rice – always available and in abundance

Chinese sausage (lup Cheong) fried rice is an ideal quick meal during Chinese New Year. During this festive period, nearly every Chinese family incorporates Chinese sausage as one of the main ingredients in various dishes. After enjoying a feast, you may desire something simple, and Chinese sausage fried rice is perfect for that.

Historically, this preserved meat is best served during winter when the New Year falls. The phonetic similarity in Mandarin between the word “Cheong” and the character 常 (which means “always available”) carries connotations of availability and abundance.

14. Drunken chicken rolls – a perfect cole dish

One of the cold dishes I made for Chinese New Year is drunken chicken rolls. The flavor of this chilled drunken chicken, combined with the strong alcoholic content, is so intense that it blew me away with the first bite. The dish consists of boneless chicken meat rolled up and sliced, making it convenient to prepare in advance and serve cold.

This unique dish stands out from other elaborate hot cuisine served during the festivities. As a cold dish, it is perfect as an appetizer or the first course of the banquet dinner.

15. Braised Pork Belly (Dong Po Meat) for a lavish banquet

What could be better for Chinese New Year than a mouthwatering Dong Po Meat? Its richness makes it perfect for any lavish banquet or festive gathering. 

It is pork belly braised with traditional spices and seasonings, resulting in a melt-in-the-mouth texture. The prolonged stewing with wine breaks down the fat, making the pork belly flavorful, succulent, and tender. It is so tender that it can easily be separated into small pieces using chopsticks.

16. Spinach with superior broth (上汤苋菜)

Lastly, if you want to include a soup in your Lunar New Year reunion dinner, I recommend the Chinese spinach soup with superior stock (上汤苋菜). This dish is visually appealing and features various auspicious ingredients, including century egg, ginkgo nuts, and goji berries. 

It is considered a luxurious soup due to its ingredients and stock. Its rich umami flavor makes the perfect finale for this traditional Lunar New Year food list for your celebration.