Celebrating Lunar Chinese New Year
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Celebrating Lunar Chinese New Year with must-have traditional foods, beautiful table settings, and lucky customs designed to bring health and prosperity in the new year.
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email, and we’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get delicious new recipes from us every Friday!
Setting the Lunar Chinese New Year Table
Set your Chinese New Year table with lots of colors. Here are some essential ideas for setting the Chinese New Year table.
Setting the Lunar Chinese New Year Table
Lunar Chinese New Year Recipes
Foods celebrating Chinese New Year often have symbolic meaning. Food & Wine Magazine say these 6 foods should be on every Lunar New Year table.
1. Whole Fish: In Chinese, the word for fish sounds a lot like the word for abundance (food puns/sound-alikes are a big theme in Chinese New Year foods). It is important that the fish be served whole with the head and tail intact; this will guarantee a great start and finish to the year.
2. Leafy Greens: Serve greens like Chinese broccoli or bok choy whole to symbolize a long life for parents.
RELATED: Celebrating Chinese New Year: History, Customs and Foods
3. Leeks: The word for leek in Chinese is a homophone for calculating money. While they’re typically served with slices of Chinese sausage (because they look like coins) leeks can also be sliced into coin-shaped rounds themselves and cooked until terrifically tender.
4. Uncut Noodles: Long, uncut noodles represent longevity.
5. Dumplings: Rectangular dumplings symbolize money and prosperity because they resemble gold or silver ingots. But round or crescent-shaped dumplings are also acceptable; making them symbolizes packing luck into a little, edible gift.
6. Seeds: If you’re hoping to add a new member to your family this year, include some pumpkin, sunflower or melon seeds in your meal—they symbolize fertility. This sunflower seed brittle is a deliciously crunchy way to end a meal.
Lunar Chinese New Year Recipes and Ideas
Sour Plum Duck, A Hakka Chinese Classic
"Sour plum duck was a special meal my father used to make for us as kids. He first made it one year on Chinese New Year’s day, and from then on, we’d beg him to make it even if it wasn’t a holiday!"
Pan Fried Fish - Chinese Whole Fish Recipe
"Pan fried fish is a dish commonly prepared by Chinese families. Like steamed fish, it’s simple to make! In general, I’ve found that the selection and availability of fish plays a big factor in the type of dish that is prepared."
Authentic Chinese Steamed Fish
Steamed whole fish is a classic dish in Chinese home cooking. It uses very few ingredients to bring out the great flavor of fresh fish.
Chinese Hot Pot
An easy idea for Chinese New Year is Chinese Hot Pot. Get ideas, how to's -- and 9 tips on hosting a successful Chinese New Year Feast.
Stir-fried garlic green beans
"These easy, healthy garlic green beans make a great accompaniment to a Chinese feast, and they're made with just 4 ingredients in 15 minutes."
Stir-Fried Sticky Rice Cakes (Nian Gao)
"This is a popular dish in southern China. For me, this dish is distinctively “Shanghai,” as it seemed to show up on the table more frequently after I met Judy, whose family is from that area. Our entire family enjoys this dish and the delicious chewiness of these sticky rice cakes, which are kind of like really chewy oval-shaped pasta."
Bok Choy with Black Bean Sauce
"Stir-fry bok choy, carrots and celery for just a couple minutes before adding a simple black bean sauce in this quick dish."
Chow mein
"A classic Chinese dish of stir-fried egg noodles with shredded chicken breast - experiment with different fish, meat, or vegetables."
Long Life Longevity Noodles with Chicken and Mushrooms
+During Chinese New Year, long noodles are eaten in all corners of China."
Sichuan Boiled Fish Recipe
"The flavors of this fish are out of control—super spicy, super intense, super delicious. This recipe moves fast, though, so stay on top of it by prepping and lining up your ingredients before you start cooking."
Chinese Beef Dumplings
"Learn how to create the most juicy and flavorful beef dumplings, with one special trick."
Chinese New Year Customs
While there are many Chinese New Year traditions, it’s been said that these are the best 4 customs of all.
1. Decorations — Lucky Red
Every street, building, and home is decorated with red, believed to be an auspicious color. Chinese lanterns hang in streets; red couplets are pasted on doors; banks and official buildings are decorated with red New Year pictures depicting images of prosperity.
2. Chinese New Year’s Eve — Family Time
Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) is a time for families to be together. A “reunion” dinner is celebrated each Chinese New Year’s Eve and is considered to be the most important day of the season. is the most important time. Wherever they are, people are expected to be home to celebrate the festival with their families.
3. Firecrackers and Fireworks
Fireworks begin during the first minute or the new year. Major cities always have public displays.
4. Gifts and Red Envelopes
Like Christmas. exchanging gifts during the Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, is a long-standing, anticipated tradition.
The most common New Year gifts are red envelopes. Red envelopes have money in, and are believed to bring good luck because they are red. They are given to children and retirees. Customarily only employers give red envelopes to working adults.