My Five Chinese New Year Must-Have Foods

Here are five of my must have foods for Chinese New Year, one of the most important holiday that we celebrate.

Happy Lunar New Year! May the Year of the Dog bring you Prosperity, Good Luck and Good Fortune! Last Friday marked the first day of Chinese New Year or what is also known as the Lunar New Year. Celebrations traditionally start from the evening preceding the first day (Reunion Dinner), to the Lantern Festival which is the 15th day of the first lunar calendar month. My family is Hokkien and so, we know the last day of Chinese New Year as "Chup Gor Meh", which literally means the 15th night of Chinese New Year. We are on the 7th day today and only halfway through Chinese New Year so there is still lots more to celebrate. You can click here to read about how we, in Singapore and various SEA countries, celebrate the 15 days of Chinese New Year.

During the festivities, people in Singapore will prepare many different foods and snacks for families and friends.  As these Chinese New Year goodies are not readily available here, I spend the week before the first day of Chinese New Year every year preparing them at home.  My kitchen was filled with such wonderful aromas, we definitely felt a little of the Chinese New Year atmosphere even though we are so far away from Singapore.

Every year, I'd also host a Chinese New Year dinner for our close family friends. We are so blessed to them all of them in our lives and they are amazing friends who became our chosen family. And we look forward to our reunion this weekend to celebrate life and friendship. Stay tuned to my Facebook and Instagram stories for the festivities of the day!

With that, it has become a tradition for me to serve the following 5 must-have foods along with our hot pot dinner every year. Click on the image for the respective recipes.