Chinese New Year cakes & tidbits

Various cakes, fruits, sweetmeats and nuts are offered during the Chinese New Year celebrations. They are served because their names are a play on words, often having a double-meaning as a blessing on this auspicious occasion in a particular Chinese dialect.

The King of Cakes
Nian Gao is the "year cake", the word also sounding like "going upwards", implying social progress. It is made from glutinous rice flour and sugar. Gao has the same sound as the word "high" in Chinese and thus it is offered in the belief that those who eat it would be rewarded with a higher status or a better life in the new year. The circular shape of the New Year Cake is symbolic of eternal friendship. The stickiness of the glutinous rice suggests faithful support for one another through thick and thin, the mark of true friendship. And finally, its sweet flavour offers sweet life. When the cake hardens after a few weeks, it can be steamed and eaten with grated coconut or cut into slices, dipped in batter and fried.

Strike Gold
Chinese oranges, or tangerines, symbolise gold, which is why they have become the most popular gift during this period. They are called kam in Cantonese which also means "gold" in the same dialect. The oranges are given in even numbers for good luck when visiting friends and relatives. In Mandarin, ji means "gifts of good omen".

Tray of Luck
The "octagonal tray", or the pa kuo ho, is the traditional eight-sided container used for a variety of sweetmeats, cakes and seeds served to visitors. The centre contains dried-salted melon seeds. The Chinese believe that the more melon seeds you eat, the more children you will have. The sweetmeats are a symbol of the sweetness of life while "cakes" or gao suggest a higher level of lifestyle. The eight sides of the tray is also a significant feature as "8" or paat in Cantonese sounds like "prosperity" in the same dialect.

Fish of Fortune
"Fish" or yu has the same sound as the word "excess" while sheng means "life". Raw fish or yu sheng is thus mandatory especially for the New Year Eve's Reunion dinner. It has to be served whole, the head and tail representing a completeness with a beginning and an end. Fish is often the last dish served, thus symbolic of the host wishing her guests abundance continually ahead of them. Yusheng is served on the seventh day also known as Everyman's Birthday in the hope of having a longer life or added material wealth. The fish is thinly sliced and tossed together with a mixture of shredded vegetables in a sweet, piquant sauce.

The Chaozhou Chinese consider the Rabbit Fish (Siganus canalicalatus) or bai du yu or in Chaozhou dialect, pek thor her, highly auspicious as it signifies good luck and prosperity. The fish breeds only once a year during the seasonal celebrations of January or February. Thus during Chinese New Year, the silver-grey female fish are a delicacy, heavy with delicious roe.

Nuts
Peanut otherwise nicknamed "health nuts" are offered to guests. It is called hua sheng, the "flower of life". Groundnut is known as chang sheng gua or the "nut of longevity" because of its shape, which promises a long, healthy life. Chestnuts served are wishes for a good "profit" as derived from the name li zi.

Oysters & Sea Moss
Oysters, or ho si (ho see) in Cantonese, means "fortunate situation". Sea Moss or fa cai sounds like "to prosper". A dish of oyster and the "hairy" sea moss make the New Year dish ho si fa cai which is a common New Year greeting meaning "happy events and may you gain fortune"

Mushrooms
"Shiitake mushrooms" known as dong gu goes along with the idiom dong cheng xi jiu or "wishes fulfilled from east to west".

Dates
"Red dates" or hong zao means "prosperity comes early".

Seeds
"Lotus seeds", called lian zi also means "many sons" and are offered in the hope that the family would have a continuous lineage of sons. "Melon seeds" or gua zi can imply not only "many sons" but also "multiple coins".

Abalone
The pricy "abalone" in Chinese is known as bao yu which has its parallel meaning "assurance" (bao) of a "surplus" (yu) in the year ahead. It is thus popular with New Year meals amongst businessmen.

Vegetables
The raw "lettuce" or sheng cai in Chinese has a double meaning implying "to grow money". It is usually eaten with braised abalone. "Chinese leek" or da suan which sounds like "counting" is served by the Teochews with other dishes to make a combination of auspicious abundance. Mixed with "cuttlefish" or yu yu it means "counting continual abundance"; if cooked with prawns or har it becomes "counting with laughter". The Fujians serve leeks during the Reunion Dinner. Leeks are sometimes hung for good luck during this season.



Author
Bonny Tan



References 
Chinese New Year (1984). Singapore Heritage, 3, 3-5.
(Call no.: RCLOS 959.57 SH)

Eat and strike a fortune (1999, January 31). The Straits Times, p. 20.

Whats in a name? Everything& (1990, January 25). The Straits Times, p. 19.

Retrieved March 2, 1999, from hills.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~mma01/newyear/ny-food.html 



The information in this article is valid as at 1997 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Ethnic Communities>>Festivals and Celebrations
Chinese New Year--Singapore
Food habits--Singapore
People and communities>>Customs>>Festivities

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