So marks the return of my weekly post - informing you about some odd-crazy-or just interesting food news! This week we're bringin' in the New Year with a lil' investigation on the traditional Chinese cuisine.

February 7th is the start of the "rodent's 12-month reign as the Year of the Rat," meaning celebration for this southern Cantonese family intervied for an article on steamykitchen.com.

There is deep symbolism in the time of New Year, all ranging from the noodles served to the portraits hung in the kitchen. Here are just a few of the details woven into this family's traditions.

Eating Chicken...or Fish? Representing good health, a chicken (head and all) is served simply steamed to guests. Fish (including the eyeballs) is served to ensure abundance throughout the year. This branched off of the Chinese word for fish, "yu", very close in meaning to the Chinese word for "every year our family has something leftover and we always have enough."

Go for the Noodles: A constant staple in Chinese dining, noodles play an important role in the celebration of the New Year.  Representing a long life, lengthy noodles arn't cut before serving.  Snipping those noodles is to to cut your life short.

The Kitchen God: (and no, we're not talking about Emeril or Bobby Flay...) A portrait of the Kitchen God is hung on the wall to watch over the family throughout the year. On the Chinese New Year, "he goes back to the heavens and reports to the other Gods of [the family's] prosperity, fortune, and health."  An elaborate buffet-style 'offering' is given to the Kitchen God to hopefully grant a good report.

"Basically, we bribed the Kitchen God to say nice things about us," the Cantonese family says.

Luck of the Citrus: Displaying tangerines, "preferably big fat ones with leaves still attatched," is a great source of luck. (mmmmm!...eating them is equally swell!)

Do YOU have any New Year's food traditions? What is done for good luck through the year in your household?

---

---