Molly Yeh's Best Recipes for Lunar New Year

A time for family and togetherness, the Lunar New Year is celebrated in countries throughout Asia every year. IACP award-winning cook and host of Girl Meets Farm, Molly Yeh was born in the Year of the Snake, which represents morality and intelligence. Certainly smart and creative with her culinary abilities, Molly is no stranger to celebrating the holiday, gathering with family and friends to share sweet desserts and savory dishes.

Molly's mouthwatering Peanut Butter Broccolini brings the sweet and savory with roasted greens, honey and toasty sesame oil. This citrusy lime and peanut butter sauce will be on your table all year long.

Fresh ginger shines bright here, and the acidic kick of Chinese hot mustard packs a punch in this salmon recipe. But it's the sweet maple syrup that brings it all together. Molly adds the sweet sap as an ode to her father, who loves maple syrup with his salmon.

Crunchy, chewy and filled with good wishes, Molly's fortune cookies cook up golden brown before being stuffed with handwritten paper fortunes.

Baking cookies is a great activity to bring families together, as Molly shows us in Season 2 of Girl Meets Farm. With her sisters by her side in the kitchen, the trio wrote personal fortunes for each cookie and made the iconic folds that make the cookie so recognizable.

Molly's Pork Soup Dumplings are a slurpable, chewy, savory delight that steam up in 10 minutes. The perfectly cooked soup is set with gelatin powder and chilled before being wrapped in a dumpling skin with savory pork filling. When the buns are steamed, the wobbly stock turns back into a sippable liquid soup.

Tracing its origins back to the 1800s, Molly gives the classic Chinese dish a kick with tingly Sichuan peppercorns and red chile peppers. You'll find the iconic bell peppers and peanuts here, but Molly skips over the peanuts for allergic guests, like her mom.

Smashed Cucumber Salads are a great dish for the Lunar New Year, or any time you need to vent some frustration. The craggy cukes are tossed with sesame seeds, toasted sesame oil and smoky, malty Chinese black vinegar for a savory, umami punch with crunch.

Filled with ginger, scallions and chicken, these dumplings are boiled before being pan-fried for a chewy top with a crispy, crunchy crust. Served along a sesame oil and scallion dipping sauce, there's no better crowd-pleaser than a potsticker.

Molly's vegan alternative to the typical pork-filled bun combines roasted carrots, savory teriyaki and spicy sriracha sauce. Tucked into a fluffy, chewy dumpling dough, they're a delicious treat no one will be able to say no to.

Crispy-on-the-outside, soft-in-the-inside egg rolls are more than just a delicious side dish. A big baloney fan, Molly joins her dad in stuffing salty slices in an entire egg roll before frying them to a crisp and dipping them in spicy golden Chinese mustard.

Gold is a symbol of luck during the Lunar New Year, and the gold bar-shaped, golden and crispy bologna-wrapped egg rolls are a lucky find on any table.

Molly and her dad, John, suggest that they look like red envelopes, ornate red-and-gold envelopes filled with money given as a gift during holidays and the Chinese New Year.

Crispy, saucy orange chicken is an American takeout invention and favorite, but oranges are often given as a gift of luck and prosperity during the Lunar New Year. Molly adds apricot jam to the citrusy sauce to keep it extra sticky.

With tingly Sichuan peppercorns, savory pork and as much heat as you can handle, Molly brings bright green baby bok choy and a rich peanut sauce to her bouncy and chewy Dan Dan Noodles.

One of the first recipes Molly ever learned was for this rich and savory Egg Drop Soup. The soup obtains its signature ribbons from pouring whisked eggs into swirling broth. Molly's version starts with a homemade stock, with the added brightness of ginger and savory garlic.

An homage to her grandfather, Molly's Mapo Tofu is a savory, spicy and saucy mix of ground pork and tofu. A classic Chinese dish, it's known best for the tingling sensation of Sichuan peppercorns. A few tablespoons of gochujang add rich, savory heat to Molly's recipe.

Traditionally shared with family and friends during the Mid-Autumn Festival, mooncakes are becoming a staple of the Lunar New Year as well. Molly uses a simple dough stuffed with rich chocolate and hazelnut filling for a chewy, sweet treat.

A warm bowl of soup is a welcome comfort in the winter, and a big bowl of ramen fits the bill. Gingery, garlicky miso broth and slurpable noodles form a savory foundation for crispy pork cutlets and rich soy-sauce eggs take this from soup to meal.

Molly's riff on the classic Chinese barbecue pork combines honey and hoisin sauce into a sweet, sticky glaze before being topped with a crunchy, citrusy coleslaw and spicy sriracha mayo.

Sweet and chewy, Molly's been a big mochi fan since her student days in New York. With a matcha mix-in for bright and earthy flavors, these treats won't last long.

Bold black sesame brings a dark and toasty peanut butter flavor to rich, buttery babka. Typically served in the morning with coffee, we can't find a reason not to eat the entire loaf all day long.

We were long overdue for an overhaul on the classic Sloppy Joe, but none of us would have ever guessed that it would be from black bean and garlic sauce. The sweet and salty sauce mixes in with bright ginger and five-spice powder before it hits a toasty roll. Topped with cool and refreshing cucumber, you'll never look at a loose meat sandwich the same way.

Hot chocolate gets a major glow-up from kinako, a toasted soybean powder that lends a rich, peanut buttery flavor for a cup Molly calls "otherworldly."