11 Foods to Eat or Avoid When Celebrating the New Year

Hey everyone, hope everyone had an awesome New Year. Now you know the Chinese are serious about food, and the Chinese people consider food a major part of traditional Chinese culture, and every year certain foods are always expected to show up on the dinner table during New Year celebrations, and some foods are to be completely avoided. Here's a list of 11 food items that you should or should not eat to ring in the New Year. Make sure to eat some noodles in the New Year, and also, noodles symbolize longevity. But remember, never cut them, or else you will be cutting your longevity, like who would want that? Also remember that some of these noodles, especially homemade ones, could be really, really long. So breathe out before you start slurping. Eat oranges if you want good luck. Oranges or tangerines are often called 金橘, or golden oranges, or golden tangerines, so Chinese believe oranges will bring fortune in the New Year. Also in Chinese, the 橘 in 橘子 also sounds like 吉, or 吉利, which means good luck. Are you afraid of chicken heads? Well, join the club, but they are important. Whole chickens represent togetherness and rebirth. It's symbolic of the family, and can also signify unity and prosperity as a group. Although you can have a whole chicken anytime, it is a must during family gatherings and special holidays. And don't forget, the head and feet must remain on to represent unity. Whole chickens are also popular offerings to gods and ancestors. Chinese love pomegranates because of all the seeds bundled together. It symbolizes unity, and is a favorite during the New Year. You should also eat this fruit on your wedding day, because pomegranates has a lot of seeds, or in Chinese, 子, which also means child. So you know, eat a pomegranate, maybe you will soon be blessed with a child, or as we say in Chinese. But not every pomegranate seed will turn into a child, because that would just be a lot of kids. Sunflower and melon seeds are traditionally eaten, as they are of course called seeds, or 子, and like the pomegranate, symbolizes fertility and having many children. 年糕, or sometimes known as Chinese pudding, is a must-have. 年糕, which literally translates to sticky cake, also sound the same as 年高, or year high, meaning a more prosperous New Year. This is a must to celebrate New Years, as dumplings are said to be filled with luck, in their shape look like years, and also Chinese silver ingots. I will explain why the year reference is important in my Origins of the Dumpling video, so watch out for that. It's traditional to serve a whole fish on New Years. The Chinese word for fish is 鱼, which sounds like the word for plenty in Chinese, which is also 鱼. Some Chinese even save part of the fish for later, which ensures abundance for their future. Also, don't take off the head, as fish heads are considered the best part of the fish by many Chinese. Egg rolls, or spring rolls, are eaten during the New Year, because after they're fried, they look like little bars of gold. Whatever you do, do not serve white foods to celebrate the New Year. White foods are things like tofu. This is because Chinese symbolizes the color white with death. Don't eat squid on special occasions, especially not in the New Year, because squid in Chinese is called 鱿鱼. In the olden days, workers would have to travel far from home to work, often bringing personal belongings rolled up in a blanket. And when they were fired, they would roll up their blankets and leave. At the time, there was a popular dish called 炒鱿鱼, or stir-fried squid. People noticed that when the squid was cooking in the pan, it would curl up like the workers rolling up their blankets. Thus, stir-fried squid, or 炒鱿鱼, was used to tell the workers that they were laid off. So if you think your boss just told you he's gonna take you out for some stir-fried squid, that's probably not what he meant. Also guys, Chinese parents always say, what you eat is what you will be. So eat the fish eyeballs, and your eyes will become brighter and better. Eat the chicken brain, or any other brain if you prefer, and you will be smarter. So after this video, relax your eyes by go munching on some fish eyeballs. Guys, don't forget to subscribe to my channel, like me on Facebook, and Happy New Year!