Billions of individuals internationally rejoice the Lunar New Yr at first of every lunar calendar. This yr, on January 22, we are going to welcome the Yr of the Rabbit. Throughout completely different cultures, folks rejoice in distinct methods. However whether or not you’re from Vietnam, China, Korea, or elsewhere, this vacation revolves round festive meals shared with family members. We comply with household traditions of cooking steamed fish to represent abundance; dumplings to sign wealth; and noodles to make sure longevity.
This yr, we requested 18 cooks, cookbook authors, and meals writers how they prefer to rejoice. Many recreate dishes they grew up with, like braised pork stomach, sticky rice desserts, and walnut shrimp. Some observe a Buddhist food regimen and start the vacation with a vegan dish to carry good karma for the approaching yr. However the frequent thread is the significance of household.
Jian diu
Jian diu are certainly one of my mum’s specialties—spherical, puffed glutinous rice balls with a savory filling, together with a candy variation that’s formed like a finger and filled with a peanut and coconut combine. I additionally make an enormous pot of lo han jai, in any other case generally known as Buddha’s feast, a vegan stew with origins in Buddhist delicacies: a melange of beancurd sheets, shiitake mushrooms, lily buds, black fungus, fats choy (black moss), water chestnuts, and extra. My mother observes a Buddhist food regimen on New Yr’s Day, so lo han jai is a dish that encapsulates Lunar New Yr for me. —Hetty Lui McKinnon, creator of Tenderheart and To Asia, With Love
Kalbi jjim
John and I typically cook dinner for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah, so Lunar New Yr is a deal with for us as a result of John’s mother normally cooks. We collect at his dad and mom’ home and luxuriate in a feast, which is then adopted by sebae, the standard act of kneeling on the bottom and bowing to your elders to want them luck within the New Yr. John’s mother prepares historically celebratory dishes reminiscent of tteokguk, a rice cake soup with oxtail, egg, seaweed, and scallions. She is going to normally even have an array of banchan, like marinated spinach, ferns, mushrooms, and so forth. Final yr, she even made kalbi jjim—braised quick ribs with carrots, mu (Korean radish), and potatoes in a mildly candy soy sauce.—Katianna Hong and John Hong, chef-owners at Yangban Society
Fats goh
I’ve a word saved on my cellphone with all of the Lunar New Yr traditions and superstitions my mother has shared over time. My favourite custom will all the time be steaming fats goh collectively. These celebratory cupcakes, sometimes called prosperity desserts or fortune desserts, are steamed quite than baked. Rising up we used recent rice flour from Chinatown within the batter and my mother would add in just a few drops of vivid pink meals coloring on the finish for a festive look. She taught me the very best ones will burst out of the cupcake liners and break up down the center into just a few sections. The puffier the cupcake, the extra affluent yr we had forward of us. —Calvin Eng, chef-owner at Bonnie’s
Sizzling pot
This yr my cousins and I’ve formally taken the reins from our dad and mom to host household gatherings. I’m gearing up for Lunar New Yr in January to host my household on the restaurant on our off evening. I used to be planning on establishing a bunch of sizzling pots on the tables and arranging the entire substances whereas folks begin arriving. I believe it’s a very festive solution to have that plentiful feeling banquet, however as a number the entire work is upfront, so it permits me to really spend some high quality time with my family and friends. —Brandon Jew, government chef and proprietor of Mister Jiu’s
Dace fried rice
One in every of my go-to dishes for Lunar New Yr is dace fried rice, the place the headliner is the dace, a sort of freshwater fish within the carp household. There’s an organization out of Guangzhou known as Eagle Coin that you will discover in most Chinese language grocery shops—it’s primarily dried dace fish with black beans and oil; it’s tremendous savory and umami, and I find it irresistible. It performs nice with noodles and congee, however my favourite solution to deploy it’s in fried rice. —Jing Gao, founding father of Fly by Jing
Honey walnut shrimp
I all the time sit up for tuen neen fan, the reunion dinner with household and mates the evening earlier than the primary day of the brand new yr. We sit round a spherical desk to rejoice togetherness. We feast on dishes symbolic of needs for a contented new yr. My favourite is the shrimp, which in Cantonese is ha. Ha ha—for extra happiness and laughter. The vitality in Chinatown can also be simply actually particular: the lion dancers, the folks shopping for flowers, the decorations. —Louis Wong, proprietor at Uncle Lou
Poached hen, steamed fish, and spring rolls
Whereas the small print of our Lunar New Yr menu can change from yr to yr, poached hen with ginger scallion oil (which represents unity and household togetherness), two steamed fish (eat one and save one for the following day to characterize surplus within the new yr), and spring rolls (wealth and prosperity) are the nonnegotiable recipes that need to be on the desk. —Sarah Leung and Kaitlin Leung, co-founders of The Woks of Life and authors of The Woks of Life
Bánh chưng
For Viet Lunar New Yr, known as Tết, I all the time have sticky rice desserts known as bánh chưng. Mine are selfmade by me or my mother however most individuals purchase them at Viet markets and delis. Eat them mushy and heat or, pan-fry items of it right into a crispy, chewy pancake. A dip in sugar brings the flavors collectively. I additionally braise pork ribs in caramel sauce, a household recipe. There’s tons extra on my menu and it is all make-ahead meals since you’re not speculated to labor within the kitchen. You’re speculated to chill out and have enjoyable. —Andrea Nguyen, founding father of Viet World Kitchen and creator of Ever-Inexperienced Vietnamese
Cumin lamb
For our annual Chinese language New Yr celebration, we collect with household and mates for a day of enjoying mahjong and making dumplings. We present newcomers the way to form them and have assorted fillings, starting from basic pork and cabbage and veggie-tofu to my all-time favourite: tongue-tingling cumin lamb.—Diana Yen, recipe developer and meals stylist
Dumplings
I wasn’t allowed within the kitchen as a toddler, and we weren’t an ideal household, however one exception was the New Yr. The entire prolonged household would sit round and make dumplings for hours. Each floor was coated with trays of dumplings. We’d chat and snort and evaluate the shapes of them, every of us claiming to make the best-looking dumplings. Then we’d eat them steamed, pan-fried, or within the soup with rice desserts. I can’t separate the dumplings from the brand new yr. —Ji Hye Kim, chef-owner of Miss Kim
Buddha’s delight
For a lot of households I do know, Lunar New Yr’s Eve historically begins with a vegan dish, which brings good karma for the approaching yr. Some households observe a vegan food regimen for the whole day. This is named consuming jai, or dedicating the primary day to the animals. My mother’s go-to vegan dish is Buddha’s delight, a dish composed of glass noodles, veggies, fermented crimson tofu, and vegetarian oyster sauce. —Zhan Chen, government chef at Potluck Membership
Thịt kho trứng
My favourite dish needs to be thịt kho trứng (caramelized Vietnamese pork stomach and eggs). It’s an excellent decadent dish that brings me speeding again to celebrating Tết with my dad and mom. As first-gen Vietnamese Individuals, this vacation appeared completely different than these of our relations in Vietnam, nevertheless it was no much less particular. It was a time for us to be collectively, rejoice, rejoice for the brand new yr that was about to return, and eat plenty of tasty dishes. There is no such thing as a one “proper” solution to rejoice Lunar New Yr within the kitchen—plenty of completely different cultures rejoice it with completely different dishes and traditions. For me, I significantly benefit from the genius that comes from bánh tét, a scrumptious mixture of sticky rice, pork stomach, and mung beans steamed in banana leaves. —Kim Pham, co-founder of Omsom
Chả lụa
I completely love having chả (Vietnamese sausage) round Tết. My favourite sort is chả lụa—a easy but fragrant sort made with pork, fish sauce, and floor black pepper, wrapped in banana leaves. Such a flexible ingredient, however I discover it significantly scrumptious on savory sticky rice or in a basic bánh mì with pate. —Vanessa Pham, CEO and co-founder of Omsom
Noodles and dumplings
There’s an enormous record of fortunate meals you may make and eat to provide the most luck and prosperity within the new yr, however noodles and dumplings are our favorites. Noodles are necessary round Lunar New Yr as a result of lengthy noodles equal an extended life, so don’t minimize your noodles in any method or eat quick noodles. My husband Mike and I really like noodles a lot that we even wrote an total cookbook on them. Dumplings are the place it’s at if it’s prosperity you’re on the lookout for within the new yr. Making selfmade dumplings is akin to earning profits, as a result of in Historical China gold ingots had been dumpling-shaped. Our favourite dumplings to make are basic crispy pan-fried pork dumplings and silky, juicy wontons in soup. —Stephanie Le, founding father of i’m a meals weblog
Mei cai kou rou
Lunar New Yr all the time offers excuse to go all out; I get pleasure from attempting to make one thing new and sophisticated. This yr I’ll attempt my hand at mei cai kou rou, pork stomach with preserved mustard greens. I introduced a bundle of meigan cai (preserved mustard greens) dwelling with me from Taiwan just a few weeks in the past expressly for this function. —Lisa Cheng Smith, founder and CEO of Yun Hai
A Cantonese feast
For fairly just a few years, we’d have a big feast with everybody from all our shops and whip up some classics, together with walnut shrimp, pork stomach and taro casserole, and Cantonese-style beef filet (all of which you will discover recipes for in our cookbook). However because the pandemic, we’ve been conserving issues extra low-key. I believe this yr, it’s going to be a meal at dwelling with the children, educating them concerning the completely different auspicious dishes and what all of them imply and characterize. That’s type of laborious to do if you’re in an enormous group setting—a lot stimulation! —Wilson Tang, proprietor at Nom Wah Tea Parlor
