Happy Lunar New Year! Today is the start of the Year of the Tiger. Roaaarrr!
According to the lunar calendar, this year's New Year's Day conveniently falls on Valentine's Day as well, so people can just celebrate both holiday all in one! Recession-proof holiday I tell ya. :)
Lunar New Year isn't solely celebrated by the Chinese, as most expected, but rather other Asian countries also take part of the festivities as well, such as Taiwan, Korea, Philippines, Laos, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Yes, more excuses to indulge in various types of Asian cuisine!
As for Chinese traditions, there are dishes that are especially created for our new year and one of them is my favorite 'dessert', which is 'sweet mochi cake', also known as 'Nián gāo', which is a homonym for "higher year", but really a symbol for growth and prosperity. I love it because it's chewy, slightly sweet, and just very warming. I like to pan fry it a little to give it a more 'mochi' chewiness.
I was also in Chinatown, NY to join in the festivity (and crowdiness). Lots of confetti were flying around and kids everywhere were slapping firecrackers on the ground. Scared me to death! :)
Hope everyone had a fun Lunar New Year/Valentine's Day!
Posts
7 comments:
I wish I could be there to see the celebration of chinese new year and eat traditional dishes! :)
mmm love nian gao pan fried! nice and crisp on the outside, chewy and gooey on the inside!
Ah, how fun! I used to always celebrate Chinese New Year with my step-dad's parents...it was so fun!
@Jamie - That's so cool! Which city did you celebrate in? :)
Happy New Year. I only found out yesterday that the Japanese don't celebrate the same New Year.
@Jessica - yea, they've already chelebrate their New Years already. :)
Happy Lunar New Year! Mochi cake sounds fantastic!
Post a Comment