Lunar New Year Recipes and Menus

Find 30 of our BEST Lunar New Year Recipes for this year’s family banquet! I’ll also show you how to turn your favorite dishes into a celebration menu. Enjoy a traditional New Year’s dinner, a lineup that even your parents would be impressed with or a wonderful vegetarian feast – all with authentic Chinese and Vietnamese flavors!

The Most Exciting Time For Our Family – Traditions And All!

Lunar New Year is a time where two of the most important things in my life (family and food) come together.

This period is has all the hustle and bustle of Christmas because everyone at home gets busy: Mum’s cleaning the house and preparing gifts, Grandma’s cooking her annual jai, Dad’s making reservations for family reunion dinners and my brother and I are tidying up our rooms.

Mum still talks about how special this time was while growing up in Vietnam because it was one of the only times she would get a brand new outfit and pair of shoes. Can you imagine that? No new anything any other day except on the New Year!

Now that she’s an adult, Mum takes part in the tradition where red pockets are given out to the children. These 利是 (lay si) are filled with money and given out to children in the family as well as friends’ children.

You can imagine the excitement when receiving one! The child will then follow it up by thanking Mum (or whoever has given them one) with a combination of many phrases including:

• 恭喜發財 (Gong Hei Fat Choy) – Wishing you prosperity and wealth.
• 身体健康 (Sun Tai Gin Hong) – Wishing you good health.
• 年年有余 (Nin Nin Yau Yu) – Wishing you prosperity every year.
• 心想事成 (Sum Seung Si Seng) – Accomplish all your heart’s wishes.
• 萬事如意 (Man Si Yu Yi) – May 10,000 things go your way.

It’s a wonderful tradition that celebrates family, longevity and prosperity!

Food And Symbolism

Sun Lin/Nin Fai Lok (新年快乐) or the Vietnamese counterpart Chúc Mừng Năm Mới might be how we say ‘Happy New Year’, but the festivities are celebrated in the food that we eat as well.

Often ingredients are chosen for their what they represent. Typically, it has to do with the name and how it sounds or its physical resemblance to another revered object.

Prosperity/Wealth

These ingredients are said to promote wealth and good fortune for the family.

• Fish. The word in Chinese (鱼) sounds very similar to a word that means ‘surplus’ and the fish itself is often served whole to bring wealth and luck.
• Dumplings (Jiaozi). These tend to look like the old Chinese gold ingots, a past form of Chinese currency.
• Black moss. Pronounced ‘fat choy’ in Cantonese, the first character sounds identical to the word that means to be rich.
• Niangao. 年糕 sounds similar to the way you might say ‘to achieve higher year after year’, which is a sign for a growth mindset and developing wealth.

Longevity

Food in this category promotes long life and health, which is key to a multi-generational family.

• Longevity noodles. Also known as e-fu noodles, these remain long and unbroken to symbolize the length of one’s life. They can also be served at a birthday, wedding or when celebrating a newborn baby.

Many of these ingredients have made it into our celebration menus, but the most important part is that families get a chance to celebrate being together, even if it’s just once a year!

Appetizers To Get The Party Started

My family always loves starting a banquet off with a delicious nibbly treat. They get the party and conversation going and sets the mood for a great evening.

Our Must-Have Mains

These are dishes that you might eat at home in a small cozy gathering or with 10+ people at a restaurant. You’ll find many of these Lunar New Year recipes in our prepared menus below!

Nourishing Soups For Everyone

A feast isn’t complete without a bowl of hot soup to warm the stomach up. These Lunar New Year recipes include traditional Chinese AND Vietnamese ones.

Bring It All Together With These Desserts

Once your meals are finished, reset the palette with a delicious dessert. Choose from something refreshing or a hearty to finalize your banquet!

Our Favorite Banquet Menus

Every family celebrates in their own way, but here is what our family likes to do:

1. A Traditional Chinese Banquet – This is very similar to the Chinese Banquet Menu in our Asian Holiday Recipes post because this is really what our family eats and we want to keep it authentic that way.
2. A Traditional Vietnamese Banquet – We may not have all the classic Tết recipes on the blog yet, but I’ve found the iconic dishes from some of my favorite Vietnamese bloggers.
3. Mum’s Vegetarian Banquet – We can’t forget about all the delicious vegetarian food Mum makes for the celebratory season!

Menu 1 – A Traditional Chinese Banquet

Our typical celebration menu has a lot of seafood. This amount of food typically serves 10-15 people (we often celebrate the New Year with our extended family), but you can always adjust it to your setting.

Appetizers

• Steamed Oysters with Ginger and Shallots
• Seafood Rolls
• Fish Maw Soup

Mains

• Salted Egg Yolk Prawns (牛油黃金虾)
• Ginger Scallion Lobster (蔥薑龍蝦)
• Chinese Steamed Fish with Ginger and Shallots
• Stir Fried Pea Shoots with Garlic
• E-Fu Noodles with Roast Duck
• Dried Scallop and Egg White Fried Rice (瑤柱蛋白炒飯)

Dessert

• Sago Soup With Taro (西米露)
• A fresh fruit platter

Menu 2 – A Traditional Vietnamese Banquet

Here are some traditional Tết dishes that a Vietnamese family might enjoy. They’re all generally served at the same time as one another, which means there isn’t a need for appetizers.

Mains

These side dishes are all served with a generous bowl of rice.

• Thịt Kho (Vietnamese Braised Pork Belly and Eggs in Coconut Water)
• Canh Khổ Qua (Stuffed Bittermelon Soup)
• Bánh Chưng (Northern-Style Sticky Rice Cake) or Bánh Tét (Central/Southern-Style Rice Cake)
• Dưa Món (Pickled Vegetables)
• Thịt Heo Quay (Crispy Roast Pork)

Dessert

• Vietnamese Glutinous Rice Balls with Ginger Syrup (Chè Trôi Nước)
• A fresh fruit platter

Mum’s Vegetarian Banquet

Much like the Traditional Vietnamese Banquet, these family side dishes can be enjoyed with a bowl of rice as well.

Mains

• Easy Lemongrass Tofu
• Braised Bean Curd with Mushrooms
• Buddha’s Delight (Lo Han Jai 罗汉斋)

Dessert

• Snow Fungus Dessert Soup (雪耳糖水)

Have a wonderful time with your loved ones celebrating this Lunar New Year! The Wok & Kin family wishes yours a happy, healthy and prosperous year.

Gong Hei Fat Choy!

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