Here's What We're Cooking To Celebrate Lunar New Year 2023

Welcome to the Year of the Rabbit!

In 2023, the first day of the lunar new year falls on January 22nd in the Gregorian calendar. According to the Chinese zodiac consisting of 12 animals, it will be the year of the rabbit, while if you follow the Vietnamese zodiac, it will be the year of the cat.

Regardless of the animal that stands as the icon, millions of people around the world will celebrate the beginning of the year in colorful and sumptuous fashion: multiple days (sometimes weeks) are marked off as holidays, supermarkets advertise special ingredients and deals, streets are filled with food vendors and decorated with festive signs and flags… The festivities take place especially prominently across mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Korea, but they also extend globally to wherever their cultural diasporas have settled, and welcome whoever chooses to partake (with full, steaming plates of food)!

And that includes us at Kitchen Stories. I grew up in Korea and my family celebrated 설날 (Seollal) every year, but I know there are many more ways to greet the new year in different cultures, even households. So I asked our Kitchen Stories team to share their stories from the holiday: How they celebrate the beginning of the new year, and most importantly, what they eat. As with most holidays, Lunar New Year would not be complete without the sheer range of delicious, delectable food made and enjoyed! The answers were so delightfully varied and packed with drool-worthy recipes and memories that we had to share them with you.

Dasom (Food Editor): 떡국 (Ddeokguk)

Growing up in Korea, 설날 (Seollal) was one of the two biggest holidays of the year where all of my extended family gathered at my grandma's place for a few days to cook and let in the new year. The highlight of our festivities was the first meal we had on the day: 떡국 (ddeokguk or tteokguk), an intense white broth soup with thinly sliced, oblong-shaped rice cake. Often dressed up with eggs and/or beef strips, the hearty broth warms you up for the cold, often snowy first day of the lunar year, while the rice cake shaped like coins symbolizes fortune. Eating ddeokguk also means you get a year older – so get slurping at your own risk!

Kitchen Stories recipe I recommend trying for Lunar New Year:

Xueci (Food Editor): 腊肉 (la rou) and 香肠 (xiang chang)

In Sichuan where I grew up, the most important meal to celebrate Spring Festival is in fact New Year’s eve lunch. The absolute stars on the festive table are an abundance of smoked meat (腊肉, la rou) and sausages (香肠, xiang chang), prepared a month ahead and steamed on the day, accompanied by dishes like cold salads, crispy fried pork belly, and steamed sticky rice. The celebration lasts days until the lantern festival – the 15th of January on the lunar calendar when we eat a bowl of glutinous rice balls with sesame filling (汤圆, tang yuan), symbolizing togetherness with beloved ones. I didn’t have the luxury to smoke or access those sausages after moving to Germany, so I picked up a new tradition from the northern Chinese diasporas: making dumplings together, a skill I started to slowly master after deep diving in this topic last year.

Kitchen Stories recipe I recommend trying for Lunar New Year:

Jing (Food Editor): whole chicken and steamed fish

Growing up as a Cantonese-German, Lunar New Year is one of my personal favorite holidays. Last year I had the opportunity to celebrate in Hong Kong and although Covid restrictions limited the festivities, the spirits were still high and the New Year markets were full. Although the celebrations are not as big here in Berlin as in Asia, my family would still try to incorporate as many traditions as possible—and a big dinner on New Year’s Eve is no exception. My mom would cook up a feast consisting of at least a whole chicken and steamed fish representing wishes for abundance and luck in the new year. On the first day of the new year, we always eat vegetarian because it cleanses the body so you can start the year fresh and healthy. I also sometimes invite my (non-Asian) friends to do Chinese hotpot (火鍋, huo guo) at home, because it’s a fun way to celebrate together and keep ourselves warm!

Kitchen Stories recipe I recommend trying for Lunar New Year:

Jennifer (Project Manager): miến gà, xôi gấc, and trái cây

"tết" is a very spiritual, mindful, and comforting holiday for me. My parents, my sister, and I follow Vietnamese time so we usually celebrate the Lunar New Year or "tết" in the evening at around 6 pm by cooking, lighting incense sticks, praying, and finally, eating together. On the table, we always have:
- miến gà: glass noodle soup with chicken which has to be on the menu because you have to include something with broth
- xôi gấc: red sticky rice symbolizing fortune
- bánh chưng: a beautiful rice cake wrapped in banana leaves symbolizing either earth/soil through its square shape or the sky through its circular shape
- trái cây: fruits to complete the feast
Traditionally, you wear an áo dài, a beautiful garment that translates to a long shirt (not a dress). Since we're normally only 4 people at home, I only wear it the next day when we go to the temple. All the choices are made very consciously on this day, and this resonates with me so much: it is a reminder for me to reflect on myself and choose my paths in the new year as mindfully as possible.

Xue-Ying (Product Manager): 年糕 (nian gao)

Growing up in a family of restaurant owners, it was always hard to choose what to eat on Chinese New Year's Eve. Some years we ate steamed fish with scallions and vinegar, the other years just hot pot. But my favorite memory of the holiday is when I celebrated it in Wenzhou at my Grandma's place in 2018. Right before the “Golden Week” (a 7-day public holiday in China) started, all the streets were full of stands selling nian gao 年糕, a round sweet rice cake handmade with dates and walnuts, which symbolizes growth and progress. Dozens of vendors hammered rice cake dough in their huge mortar on the streets. I will never forget that steamy, sweet smell in the air. To this day, my mom still sends me nian gao by mail every year.

Kitchen Stories recipe I recommend trying for Lunar New Year:

Drooling yet?

I hope the stories of our celebration have inspired you to join this delightful occasion for warmth, togetherness, and of course, delicious food. If you're looking for more easy recipes to try for the Lunar New Year and get creative with your menu, have a look below for some suggestions. And share with us in the comments what your celebration looks like!

- Easy Japchae (Korean glass noodles with stir-fried vegetables)
- Chinese steamed eggplants
- Vietnamese noodle soup with chicken
- Braised beef noodle soup
- Colorful chiffonade salad
- Chinese mooncakes
- Braised pork belly
- Schuizu fish