Chinese New Year Lucky Desserts

The New Year/Spring Festival is the most important holiday in Chinese culture. The most important meal of the year is the New Year’s Eve reunion dinner. To learn more about the reunion dinner, we have a blog dedicated to Chinese New Years’ traditions and superstitions. This post is dedicated to Chinese New Year’s lucky desserts.

Sweet treats symbolize a sweet life in China. This makes desserts necessary for a New Year’s celebration.

The Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year, is a significant holiday in Chinese culture, celebrated for two weeks. It is a time for family reunions, feasting, and traditional desserts. These year’s desserts are more than just sweet treats; they are imbued with symbolism and cultural significance. In this article, we will explore the meanings behind these traditional desserts and introduce some popular ones that are commonly enjoyed during this festive period. From sticky rice cakes to glutinous rice balls, each dessert carries a unique story and a wish for prosperity and happiness in the new year.

Symbolism and Significance

Traditional Chinese New Year desserts are not just sweet treats but also carry significant meanings and symbolism. Many of these desserts are made with glutinous rice flour, which is a staple ingredient in Chinese cuisine. The round shape of many desserts, such as glutinous rice balls and sticky rice cakes, symbolizes unity and togetherness. The use of red bean paste and sweet black sesame also carries auspicious meanings, representing good luck and prosperity. These year’s desserts are a way to share blessings and hope for the coming year, making them an integral part of the celebrations.

Traditional Chinese New Year Desserts Glutinous Rice Balls (Tang Yuan)

Glutinous rice balls, also known as Tang Yuan, are a traditional Chinese dessert made with glutinous rice flour and filled with sweet red bean paste or black sesame. The round shape of the rice balls symbolizes reunion and togetherness, making them a popular dessert during the Lunar New Year. They are typically served in a sweet broth or pan-fried until crispy. The soft, chewy texture combined with the sweet filling makes Tang Yuan a delightful treat that brings families closer as they share this symbolic dessert.

Sticky Rice Cakes with Red Bean Paste (Nian Gao)

Sticky rice cakes, also known as Nian Gao, are a traditional Chinese dessert made with glutinous rice flour and red bean paste. The sticky rice cakes are often pan-fried until crispy and served with a sweet sauce. The round shape of the rice cakes symbolizes unity and togetherness, while the red bean paste represents good luck and prosperity. Nian Gao is not only a delicious treat but also a wish for a “higher year,” as its name is a homonym for “higher year” in Chinese. This dessert is a staple in New Year celebrations, bringing sweetness and good fortune to those who enjoy it.

Here is a list of Chinese New Years Lucky Traditional Desserts

• Steamed New Year Cake: Originally used as an offering in ritual ceremonies, China’s most popular New Years dessert is called Nian Gao. Nian gao is a homonym for “higher year.” Nian Gao is usually made from glutinous rice flour, wheat starch, salt, water, almond extract and Chinese brown sugar. It is then steamed or fried. Depending on their shape, they can represent gold and silver bars. Those that eat it should have increased prosperity over the previous year. In the past, it was also used as an offering to the “kitchen god” who is the god who will always report everything about human families to the Jade Emperor. So people hoped by feeding him this delicious dish he would only have good things to say to Jade Emperor.
• Rice Dumplings: These play an important part in the Lantern Festival, which is the last day of the Chinese New Year. Glutinous rice dumplings (Tang Yuan) are dessert dumplings that are stuffed with sweet fillings, like red bean, peanut or sesame. Chinese believe the round dumplings symbolize family togetherness, which will bring happiness to the family.
• Sesame Seed Balls: Fried Sesame Balls, also known as Jian Dui, are a classic Chinese dessert served during Lunar New Year. The crisp, chewy pastries are made with glutinous rice flour and filled with sweet red bean paste. A coating of sesame seeds gives them a toasty, nutty flavor. Their round shape and golden color are considered lucky.

• Eight-Treasure Rice Pudding: Eight is a lucky number in Chinese culture. When pronounced, the word sounds like another Chinese word which means to be rich or to thrive in business. The eight candied fruits or seeds include lotus seeds, red dates (jujube), kumquat, longan meat, honey cherries, honey winter melon, barley rice, sunflower seeds. Each item represents something different. Lotus seeds represent marriage harmony and happiness. Longan is to bring family unity. An orange for luck. Red dates for a thriving life. Candied cherries and honey melon for sweetness. Barely rice for longevity and grace & sunflower seeds for good wishes to the next generation. The rice is served cold with a sugary syrup on top.
• Fried Dough Twists: A specialty of Tianjin is twisted from three bars of dough paste and fired. The Chinese name is Má Huā. Mahua is made of two or three strands of dough twisted together and fried in peanut oil. The flavors vary from sweet to spicy. They are popular for their crispy texture, rich flavor and creative ingredients such as black sesame, corn, rock sugar, seaweed, honey or chocolate. For Chinese people, fried dough twists can be a symbol of reunion and happiness.
• Fried Flour Coated Peanuts: Their Chinese name is Huāshēng. Peanuts, regarded as an auspicious snack in China, symbolize longevity, vitality, wisdom, and prosperity. More specifically almonds mean a bright future, pecans for longevity, walnut reunion, macadamia for good luck and pistachios or safety and happiness.
• JuJube Flower Cake: In Beijing, jujube nian gao (hóng zǎo nián gāo in Chinese,) are popular. The cake is steamed in a flower mold and a single jujube is placed in the center. In other parts of China, they tend to deep fry the cake filled with red bean paste and mashed jujube.
• Chinese Osmanthus Flower Jelly: This traditional Chinese dessert jelly filled with the colors of autumn and delicately scented with the ethereal and floral perfume of the wonderful osmanthus flower. In Chinese culture, the osmanthus symbolizes auspiciousness, friendship, and success. Aside from the petals of the osmanthus flower, key ingredients of this dessert include glutinous rice powder and bits of crystal sugar.
• Prosperity Cake, Lucky Cake or Fortune Cake: In China, this cake is known as fao gao. The word fa has a double meaning, both “prosperity” and “raised,” while gao means “cake.” This brings prosperity in the New Year. Basically, they are steamed cupcakes. The ingredients in Fa Gao are sugar, rice flour, water, and baking soda.
• Chinese Almond Cookie: These little almond cookies symbolize coins and will give you good fortune in the new year. They are made from both all-purpose & almond flour, unsalted butter, eggs, sugar, baking soda & whole almonds.
• Pea Cake: Also called (Wandou Huang) it is a pudding-like snack made of dried yellow split peas & split seeds of Pisum sativum. It is sometimes flavored with dates or osmanthus blossoms. Beans swell when you cook them which is a symbol of prosperity in the new year.
• Turnip Cake/Radish Cake: Popular in dim sum restaurants throughout Asia, it is a custom to eat this cake on New Year’s Day as a symbol of prosperity and rising fortunes. In one Chinese dialect, the word for radish is a homophone for “good fortune.”  Turnip cake is made with Chinese turnip, law bock, which is a type of daikon radish. Other ingredients include Chinese bacon (lop yok,) Chinese dried mushrooms, dried shrimp, Shao Hsing rice cooking wine, sugar & rice flour.
• Chinese Yam Cake: This traditional dessert is made by mashing Chinese yam into a dough that can hold intricate designs after steaming. It is often enjoyed during the New Year for its unique texture and flavor.

Other blogs that may interest you include New Years lucky soups, Feng Shui good luck tips for the new year & New Years lucky colors. If you want to experience the Spring festival in person, how is a great time to start planning and things do sell out. Browse China tours, Japan tours & Hong Kong tours.

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