Lunar New Year: Foods That Bring Good Fortune

Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, is the biggest holiday on the Chinese calendar. Cooks choose each dish for the table to represent a specific wish for the coming year: prosperity, health, togetherness.

Fish for Abundance

A whole fish is required at the New Year feast. In Mandarin, the word for fish (鱼, yú) sounds like the word for surplus. Cooks steam the fish whole with ginger and scallion. Diners leave part of it uneaten to symbolize having more than enough. The head and tail stay intact to represent a good beginning and ending to the year.

Dumplings for Wealth

Shaped like ancient Chinese gold ingots, dumplings represent wealth. Families gather on New Year's Eve to make them together. Some cooks hide a coin inside one dumpling for extra luck. In northern China, families eat dumplings at midnight to mark the turn of the year.

Noodles for Longevity

Long noodles represent long life. You never cut them. The longer the noodle, the longer the life it symbolizes. At Hong Kong Palace, we serve longevity noodles during the festival, pulled by hand for maximum length. Diners slurp them whole.

Spring Rolls and Tangyuan

Spring rolls, named for the Spring Festival, symbolize wealth because their golden shape resembles gold bars. Tangyuan, sweet glutinous rice balls filled with sesame or peanut paste, represent family togetherness. The round shape stands for unity. Families serve tangyuan on the fifteenth day of the new year, marking the end of the celebration.

Celebrating at Hong Kong Palace

Each Lunar New Year, Hong Kong Palace in Falls Church prepares a special holiday menu with these symbolic dishes alongside our Szechuan specialties. Explore our full menu to plan your gathering, or reserve a table to celebrate with family and friends.