Posted by Patrick.C
Eating Chinese New Year’s cake or year cake (年糕) is believed to have a symbolism of rising higher or taller in each coming year, such as getting a raise in job, promotion in income, or simply just growing taller for kids. I was told so during my childhood. In Chinese, Nian (粘) means sticky which is identical in sound as year (年) while gao (糕) means cake which is identical in sound as high (高). Thus it is dubbed as year cake.
Back in Malaysia, the sweet year cake is usually what we have during the Chinese New Year. Steaming and deep-frying are two common eating methods. I remember when I was in Malaysia, my mom preferred to steam the sweet year cake until it dissolved to become sticky and then it was served with the fresh grinded coconut meats. It was delicious! For the deep fried sweet year cake, it is normally sold by the Chinese doughnut hawkers together with other fried breads like Chinese fried bread stick (油條) and sugar cake (糖糕).
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Posted by Bel.C
Chinese Lunar New Year is exactly in two weeks time. I always get really excited during this time of the year. Remember back home in Malaysia when I was young, there was no school for a week, we got to go shopping for new clothes, we could hang out with family, cousins and friends till late night, we got to play fireworks and we received red packets money (紅包) from elders and married couples. The most cheerful thing was we could eat all day long like a food marathon.
Chinese New Year literally starts on Chinese New Year Eve (除夕夜) where members of family will go home to have a reunion dinner (團圓飯) with the family, kind of like Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve. Then a complete Chinese New Year starts from the 1st day of the Lunar month in Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th day which is the Lantern Festival. It is the longest yet the most important festival for the Chinese people, that we will always prepare sumptuous and traditional dishes that signify good luck, wealth and prosperity for the coming new year.
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