Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival, is a time of reunion and well-wishes, an opportunity to gather with loved ones to celebrate a year well spent. Much like Thanksgiving and Christmas in the Western world, food plays a major role in Lunar New Year festivities . The reunion dinner (團年飯), in particular, is a significant part of proceedings, featuring desserts steeped in cultural beliefs that serve to impart good luck and unity in the year to come. Below, we highlight six auspicious Chinese New Year desserts that are essential to ringing in a prosperous and happy new year.
Deep-fried smiling sesame balls (笑口棗)
These ball-shaped, deep-fried sesame cookies are believed to bring in good fortune and happiness. Sesame is said to deliver good luck and good health, while the cracks on the surface – which resembles a mouth – represents the abundance of laughter and happiness for the whole year.
Yau gok (油角)
Yau gok is a traditional Cantonese delicacy served during the first day of the Lunar New Year. The dumpling, although deep fried in oil, is a sweet snack formed in the shape of an ancient Chinese ingot, otherwise known as yuanbao (元寶), and therefore symbolises wealth.
New Year cake (年糕)
A family favourite for many Hongkongers, New Year Cake, also referred to as nin gou, is a glutinous rice pudding eaten during the Lunar New Year. Its name is a direct translation for “getting higher every year”, and although this cake is prepared differently across various parts of China, it is a shared belief that it can encourage progress throughout a person’s life, whether it is a growth spurt for a child, a rise in wealth or a job promotion. It is also commonly bought as gifts for friends and family during this festive season.
Where to buy: Four Seasons Shop (HK$488)
Sweet glutinous rice balls (汤圆)
Sweet glutinous rice balls, or ‘tong yuen’ as the locals call it, are round glutinous dumplings with black sesame or peanut fillings served in a sweet soup. These delicious stuffed round desserts are believed to bring together family in a happy reunion because of the stickiness and circular shape of the dumplings.
Mandarin orange (柑橘)
Fruits are almost always served at the end of a Chinese meal, but Mandarin oranges, also known as tangerines, double up as essential decorations for the home, while also being paired as gifts with red packets during Lunar New Year. Tangerine (柑橘) is is a homonym for the word gold (金), which makes this fruit a symbolic blessing of wealth.
Candy Box (全盒)
A Chinese tradition beloved by adults and children alike is imbibing on a circular box of a mix of sweets, dried fruits, melon seeds and nuts. Each item within this vibrant candy box symbolises good fortune, fertility, wealth and togetherness brought by the stickiness of the candied goodies. Presented with either six or eight different offerings to reflect auspicious Chinese numbers, popular options include White Rabbit candy, candied lotus root (糖蓮藕), red watermelon seeds ( 紅瓜子) and dried candied winter melon (糖冬瓜).