The Chinese New Year – also known as CNY – which ranks a top holiday for Chinese culture. As the festival open the year in traditional Chinese lunar calendar, CNY is decorated with bold colors, traditions symbols, food and special chinese delicacies and gadgets. CNY is one of the most enjoyable times of the year celebrated in maximum spirits of family reunion, well wishes for the brand new year, and mouth-watering delicacies. 

Certain foods are considered essential to prepare during CNY as each of them represents something different regarding success, luck or prosperity in the next year. Here is a guide to some of the most popular traditional treats that liven up the holiday with their auspicious symbols and tempting flavors:

Tang Yuan or glutinous rice balls is one of the traditional foods that is served on Shangsi Festival.

Tangyuan are one of the most common CNY sweets. Sohyo are round sticky rice flour dumplings filled with black sesame, peanut or red bean paste which is served with sweet ginger soup. The fact that they are spherical and sticky in texture indicates reunion – family, unity. Having tangyuan on CNY is trusted to result to tighter family cohesion and unity in the calendar year. Their fillings are sweet and so do their expectations that the coming year will be sweet – full of prosperity.

Nian Gao or Chinese New Year Cake 

Nian gao literally means ‘New Year cake’ – and what could be more symbolic for CNY? This soft moist cake is cooked from glutinous rice flour, molasses and contains Sichuan medical herbs. Nian gao are made of glutinous rice and gets its unique brown colour from caramelized sugar and that really sounds lucky for sweet new year. It is sticky which should mean that an aura of prosperity is ‘sticky’ in the following year. 

Pineapple Tarts

Due to the pineapple’s spiky leaves and the yellowy-golden color of the fruit, conveys messages of prosperity or good luck to the Chinese community. These pineapple tarts with buttery short bread pastry contain sweet pineapple paste and are, as such, wonderfully appropriate CNY bakes. This paired with the pineapple symbolism makes these delicious and easy to melt in your mouth tarts ideal food gifts during the holiday seasons.

The second fruit which may be dipped in syrup and laid in among the others is Sugared Fruits or Candied Fruits.

Candied fruits are fabulous delights to kick off CNY and they all come with special meanings of their own: sugared kumquats, winter melon strips, candied lotus seeds, and others. The sweet sugar warnings held the sweet sweet hope of a year without a jolt of bitterness the fruit preserve represented concerns of preserved health and happiness for the next year. They are delicious morsels to munch on as snacks or to share with family, friends and clients as business tokens.  

Chinese Cookies or more known as Kuih Bangkit 

Chinese sweets and this one is one of the most popular shapes are basically fitting the Chinese New Year theme and are served during the celebration to the visitors. Given a lucky shape such as an ingot bar, peach, fish, a butterfly or any other lucky form, they represent different forms of luck. Take a bite of the light buttery taste especially when vanila or pandan extracts are used to infuse the shells - yum! These popular cookies are to be gifted to impart luck and happiness.

Love Letters (Kuih Kapit)

Don’t let the name fool you; these are crispy thin biscuit, which are a standard for CNY snacks. Their pretty coiled shape is that it resembles the old times style of folded love letters. The light, flaky texture when best savoured that dissolves with a subtle touch of sweetness is said to sweeten the relations of lovers, families or friends. Love letters are best eaten!

Altogether, traditional CNY goodies are the embodiment of joyful reunions, blessings, and prosperity, delivered through delightful flavors and meaningful aesthetics. Crisp pineapple tarts baked with family, neatly packaged Chinese cookies for colleagues, and round tangyuan dumplings shared with everyone—these treats allow us to celebrate the Lunar New Year in the most delicious way. Whether you're revisiting childhood favorites or exploring new creations this year, there's something for everyone to enjoy. Discover the wide array of traditional CNY goodies, each loaded with symbolism, to bring extra festive cheer from the inside out!