Chinese New Year Dishes

Nian gao, also known as “rice cake” or “New Year cake” in English, are a must for Chinese New Year.

In ancient times, nian gao were used only as offerings to the ancestors and gods. Gradually, they became a traditional dish during the Spring Festival. Now they are available every day of the year, but are still a special treat for the festival.

It’s a wish to be successful and “higher” each year. Every year will be better than the last. Some humorous parents like to tell their children that eating this will help them grow taller too.

They are either made of sticky glutinous rice or yellow rice, giving nian gao two major colors and textures.

Nian gao was already popular during the Wei and Jin dynasties (220-420). But after more than two thousand years of development, there are a crazy amount of variations. Nian gao from northern regions and the south almost seem like entirely different things.

They are typically are savory in the South. Store-bought nian gao are hard and must be boiled first. They are then steamed or cooked with vegetables and meat.

Rather than the usual batter, sugar can be added to the glutinous rice powder to make the sweet nian gao favored by the North. The batter can also include lard, rose petals, osthmanthus, hibiscus and mint for extra flavoring. For the ones with a true sweet tooth, it’s also acceptable to directly dip nian gao in white sugar.

It’s common to steam nian gao with jujube and red beans in Hebei. On the other hand, people of Shanxi and Inner Mongoliao like to deep fry the batter and add fillings of red bean paste and mashed jujube.