Happy (Lunar) New Year’s Eve! Try a Traditional Dish this Weekend…

Having taught international middle and high school students over the years, I have come to understand and appreciate the importance of Lunar New Year. From year to year the date changes, but those years when New Year’s Day is held during the workweek, we find our friends native to Asian cultures a little tired, a bit homesick, and certainly giddy inside. Lunar New Year’s Day for our Asian friends is like a westerner’s Christmas or Hanukkah; imagine living in a society where on the most celebrated day(s) of the year, few people recognize it as most see it as a normal day. Now imagine that as a 9th or 10th grader… no family, no traditions, no sharing your culture.

It only took one Lunar New Year’s Day in school as an English teacher to international students to realize I had to make it special. So, over the years I have learned much about the holiday and participated in it to honor my students and their cultures. In the past, we’ve made and decorated my classroom with paper lanterns, combined forces with the Mandarin classes and prepared, cooked, and eaten dumplings, interacted with Chinese expats by celebrating in their homes on New Year’s Day eating hot pot (my favorite Asian dish!), talking, and singing.

One of the most memorable Lunar New Year’s Days for me was when my 9th graders came to class sad and exhausted from being up all night talking to their families and friends (on their phones) bringing in the new year and not being part of any of their family traditions. I was prepared that year… I made goody bags for each of them with little snacks, knickknacks, a Mandarin orange (traditional), and the COVETED 🙂 red envelope. The red envelope traditionally has money inside and is given to children by adults to symbolize the passing on a year of fortune and blessings, aka lucky money. You can also find young people giving out red envelopes to their elders to show gratitude and as a blessing of longevity; however, from a 9th grader’s perspective, it’s all about the getting. 😊 As a teacher, I didn’t feel it was appropriate for me to give money; however, I gave them each a personalized, hand-written card on which they learned how special they are, what a difference they make in the world, and received encouragement for the new year. They each shared family stories and traditions and then we sat together on the floor and streamed the annual Chinese New Year’s Day gala variety TV show, aka the Spring Festival Gala or Chunwan (春晚—Chūnwǎn). This most watched TV show in China is broadcasted on Chinese TV and is watched by families all over China (my Vietnamese students say they have a similar tradition). It was such an experience for me to see the joy on their faces, hear the excitement in their voices as they voluntarily shared their family traditions, and discuss the culture and humor of the skits on the show. In so many ways, teachers learn as much from their students as students learn from them. I think it’s human nature to be life-long learners… teachers certainly have these learning opportunities everyday, if they choose to embrace them; I know I have.

This is the year of the Rat… so, if you were born in the following years, may this year be the best yet, it is the year for YOU.

1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 😉

The rat ranks first on the 12 Chinese zodiac signs and is known to be an animal with spirit, wit, alertness, delicacy, flexibility and vitality.

While I am neither with my international students nor friends from the east this year (though mostly stationary, my husband and I are on a year-long adventure), we are still celebrating this day in honor of them. Our celebration will be food focused and include 3 of the categories of traditional foods eaten on Lunar New Year’s Day; all of which will be an adventure for me.

I will be knee-deep in kneading, steaming, and having a staring contest with a yellowtail snapper. YIKES! I’m certainly intimidated, but that makes me more determined than ever. I intend to win the battle!! I teach my students to be risk-takers; if I’m not doing the same, then what kind of role-model would I be?

Here’s a quick rundown of the traditional Lunar New Year’s Day food categories and their meanings: The following list is from the website “Chinese New Year Food: Top 7 Lucky Foods and Symbolism” by China Highlights. If you want to know more, check out their website as it is chock-full of details for each of the following and includes cool lucky sayings for each.

• Fish (the whole fish is a must with both head and tail) – represents an increase if prosperity
• Dumplings – represents wealth
• Springs rolls – represents wealth
• Tangyuan (sweet rice balls) – represents family togetherness
• Good fortune fruit (tangerines and oranges… gold in color) – represents fullness and wealth
• Niangao (sticky rice cakes) – represents a higher income or position
• Longevity noodles – (uncut, longer than normal noodles that are slurped, not chewed) – represents happiness and longevity

No hints this preview Friday! You are getting it straight. Here’s the menu…

• Steamed yellowtail snapper (the whole fish) with ginger, scallions, cilantro, and soy sauce
• Freshly handmade longevity egg noodles presented in a bowl of broth, wild mushrooms, peppers, ginger, carrots, scallions, and sauce
• And the “bake”… Chinese Flower Roll- a yeast dough that is steamed… not baked (like a dumpling, but with yeast)

This will truly be an adventurous food weekend! Join me next week to see if I did more than survive and whether or not the yellowtail snapper won. 😉

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!!