There’s more to Chinese New Year food than meets the eye. By Stella Suen.

Nearly every dish eaten during Chinese New Year is loaded with meaning. This also carries through to the individual ingredients. Furthermore, the foods are believed to directly affect your fortune for the coming year, so it’s wise to watch what you eat. Sometimes the connotations come from a play on the food’s name; other times, it’s the food’s appearance that inspires them.

While families have their own traditions to commemorate this festive season, there are some universals—themes like wealth, health and good fortune. For example, the number of courses at a big banquet will be even—like eight, 10 or 12—because multiples of two represent double happiness and fortune. Also, the number “eight” in Cantonese sounds like the word for “prosperity.” But if you happen to attend a nine-course banquet, that number is because the Chinese word for “nine” is similar to the word for “plenty.”

The most important meal during the two-week long celebration is New Year’s Eve dinner. It’s the one night of the year when an entire family is expected to sit down for a meal. Distance is no excuse. In China it’s typical for people to journey hundreds of miles to their hometowns or villages for this dinner. Dishes that might be served include clams or scallops, because their shells symbolize coins, or a whole roast pig, symbolizing peace and purity. You might also find more luxurious foods, like shark’s fin or bird’s nest soup, because they represent rarity. Usually, the dinner ends with e-fu noodles, which symbolize longevity.

What’s For Dinner?
We spoke with Ho Pui Yung, the Spring Moon chef, and found out that he’s created an eight-course dinner ($7,880) starting with barbecued whole suckling pig for good luck. Many dishes this season will include whole or unbroken ingredients. Strictly speaking, using knives, or any sharp objects, during the holiday season is considered unlucky—for fear that you’ll cut off or divide your good luck.

The next course on the menu is shark’s fin soup with crabmeat. This Chinese delicacy is almost a must because the Cantonese words for shark’s fin sound similar to the words for “spreading your wings.” The implication here is that you will excel in business, and that you will have many successes in the coming year. This is followed by steamed fresh spotted garoupa. The fish is poached whole, as the head and tail symbolize a good beginning and a good ending for the coming year as well as for a person’s lifetime. The Cantonese word for fish, “yu,” sounds like the words for “wish” and “abundance.” Some also believe you should never finish every last bite of the fish, thus signifying that the family will always have more than enough.

After the fish come sautéed prawns with crispy milk. The Cantonese word for prawn, “ha,” sounds much like the word for “laughter”—the hope, of course, is that your upcoming year will be filled with much happiness. Chef Ho suggests braised dried oysters and black moss seaweed as the next course. In Cantonese, the words for black moss seaweed sound like the words for “exceeding wealth,” while dried oysters sound like the words for a “good market,” implying a good business year ahead.

The next dish is stewed chicken with lettuce in a clam sauce. The Cantonese name for lettuce, “sang choi,” is reminiscent of “rising fortune.” As for the chicken, it’s usually served whole, giving it a similar meaning to whole fish. But the bird also represents family togetherness. In the past, people presented chickens to the gods for offerings, and today it still plays an important part in any festival meal. If shellfish, like crab or lobster, is served at the same banquet, then the chicken becomes a symbol for the legendary phoenix, and the shellfish becomes the dragon. Together they represent happiness and marriage.

Fried glutinous rice with diced duck and sea lavender is the next course. Glutinous rice is seasonal food and is also used to make sweet or savory rice flour cakes. The rice flour symbolizes cohesiveness, and the cake’s round shape represents the reunion of the family. “Neen gow,” a chewy cake or pudding made with glutinous rice flour, and “peen tong” (similar to brown sugar), can be purchased just about anywhere right now. Try Dynasty, Cheuk Deli, Island Gourmet, The Mandarin Cake Shop, or, for serious convenience, head to any Park n Shop or Maxim’s. Each slice of the cake is dipped in egg, then pan-fried and served piping hot. The cake represents the sweetness of life and is the most important cake of the season, as it’s only served during Chinese New Year.

After the rice, Chef Ho suggests braised noodles with golden mushrooms. This is followed by sweetened almond cream with rice dumplings for dessert. The dumplings are round and symbolize the family gathering together. Finally, Chef Ho recommends Chinese petits fours, for sweetness.

For traditional Cantonese cuisine, there are many restaurants that have been around for decades, like Luk Yu Tea House, which opened in 1933. (A meal here might also include the latest scoop on socialites from chatty waiters.) Another institution is Forum. Their big fish tanks in the lobby ensure the freshest seafood. Tsui Hang Village offers efficient service and comfortable seats, and they don’t use MSG in their dishes. Yung Kee, just down the hill from Lan Kwai Fong, has a huge menu including simple food like wonton noodles, braised superior shark’s fin and everything in between. At Maxim’s Chinese Restaurant you might have to queue and jostle your way to the front of the line to get a table, but the food is definitely worth the trouble. A much quieter affair is Heichinrou with its dim lighting and generous space between tables. Or, for a great view of the harbor, go to Yan Toh Heen.

Fruit & Veggies
Some families will also serve “jai,” a Buddhist vegetarian dish. It represents purity and purification since no animals are killed to prepare the dish. Plus, each ingredient has a symbolic meaning: Lotus seeds mean a wish for many male offspring, ginkgo nuts represent silver ingots, and the Cantonese words for “dried bean curd” sound like the words for “fulfillment of happiness.” Finally, bamboo shoots are a wish that everything will be well.

If you walk by a grocery store or fruit stand during this time of year, it may look like they sell nothing else but oranges. These are actually handed out freely during Chinese New Year because the Cantonese word for a Mandarin orange, “gum,” sounds like the same word for “gold” or “wealth.” You might also find small tangerine trees at flower markets or used as décor in people’s homes. These little fruits symbolize luck. Another seasonal citrus favorite is the pomelo. This large ancestor of the grapefruit signifies abundance, as its Cantonese name, “look yau,” sounds like the word for “to have.”

Other popular foods related to the size of your bank account are spring rolls, because their shape is similar to gold bars, and dumplings because they look like a little purse.

Soup Kitchens
On the last night of the New Year festivities, many families have hot pot—and not just because it’s cold outside. Foods found at this meal are dipped into a big pot of thick, boiling soup, fondue-style, but they also have special meaning. For example, the Cantonese word for oysters, “hao,” is similar to the word for “an auspicious occasion.” You’ll also probably find lettuce at this meal as well as noodles, which are usually served last when the soup is the most flavorful. Hot pot buffets are currently available at Promenade Restaurant, Grand Marquee and The Spice Market.