Chinese New Year Recipes

Chinese New Year traditions can vary greatly across the different parts of China. The landmass of China is almost as large as the US, but its cultural diversity is as dense as in Europe. As a Beijinger, if you drive a car from the center of Beijing in a single direction for four hours, you will find the local dialect difficult to understand. If you fly from Beijing for three hours, you won’t be able to understand the local dialect at all. Just like a French person in Germany, you don’t need to travel very far to experience culture differences.

It’s the same idea when it comes to food, especially at Chinese New Year.
To cook a proper feast for the whole family to celebrate the beginning of the year, we always include chicken, duck, fish, and a few types of meat.

Traditional Chinese food culture is not protein-based (we cook with rice, flour, and vegetables most of the time). Up until just 20 years ago, meat and fish were considered luxury items and couldn’t be served on a daily basis. It is for this exact reason that we serve every single type of meat for the New Year’s feast, no matter how much it costs. Because it represents that the coming year will be one of abundance and wealth for the family.

Well... Happy cooking