We’re kicking off the Year of the Tiger this CNY with a bang! As this will be my first big preparation of Chinese New Year for my family, I’m excited to see how they’ll enjoy it.

The Lunar Year starts on the first new moon cycle of the lunar year calendar. CNY starts February 1, 2022 this year. Typically, the festivities are shared amongst friends and family over two weeks.

Food and family is central to celebrating the New Year. Each dish symbolizes different themes like family, wealth, health, long life, and prosperity. Also, the flavors and temperatures of food are so important in Asian cooking to create balance in taste and in life.

In my family, my mom always made her nian gao (CNY sweet rice cake) and turnip cake. My sister and I were always fans of it.

Here’s my menu that I’ve been prepping over the past few days.

Photo by Caro Cuinet Wellings.

Appetizers:
Dumplings – open to find one of my personal recipes included at the bottom of the article!
Turnip Cake

Entrees to Share:
Cantonese Poached Chicken
Steamed Shrimp
Shitake and Oyster Mushroom with Bok Choy
Longevity Noodles

Dessert:
Tang Yuan I used the mochi recipe and filled them with the ginger, goji berry, and jujube ginger paste from The Eastern Philosophy instead of sesame paste.
Sesame candy
White Rabbit candy
Mandarins
Hawthorn berry tea

And there you have it! If you end up making this feast, let me know how you enjoyed it.

Wishing you health, wealth, love and prosperity into your new year!

Eva