Lunar New Year Recipes to Fill Your Table
Lunar New Year, also called Spring Festival, is a feast-filled holiday celebrated by many countries and cultures. In its several iterations, including Chinese, Korean (Seollal), Vietnamese (Tết) and more, it’s a time for friends and families to gather, eat and wish for a prosperous new year. The foods you’ll find on the table during this festive season are deeply symbolic, meant to celebrate togetherness and signify wealth and good fortune.
The dishes here range from savory preparations like noodles, dumplings and whole fish to desserts—like these tangyuan (or, chewy rice balls). Tangyuan are traditionally eaten as a dessert during the family reunion dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve. Each bowl of tangyuan symbolizes unity; and the smoothness of each ball represents how smooth the family's year will be. The rice balls have a soft and slightly bouncy texture and a sweet surprise in the center. The traditional filling for tangyuan is made with black sesame seeds, but we chose a less typical version—a sweet, nutty and luscious peanut filling.
