Although the Chinese adopted the Western Gregorian calendar over 100 years ago, the long-standing tradition of honoring their ancient calendar continues with a grand celebration each year during the Spring Festival.
The traditional Chinese New Year included cleaning (to impress the gods who were expected to come down and conduct inspections), lots of food, lucky messages scrawled on paper, and fireworks to scare away evil spirits. Most of the rituals were intended to earn the favor of the gods to bring good luck to the families.
Although I’m not Chinese, any holiday that gives me an excuse to encourage my family to get the house clean and gives me a reason to eat a bunch of food that I enjoy is one I’m happy to celebrate.
Chinese New Year Recipes
Here are some of my favorite recipes from other bloggers to help you plan your own Chinese New Year feast and celebrate the arrival of the year of the horse.
Chinese Fried Walnuts from A Family Feast
Baked Egg Rolls with Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce from Thrifty Recipes
Baked Shrimp Rangoon from Newlywed Survival
Hokkien Noodles with Fresh Vegetables from Newlywed Survival
Easy Homemade Fried Rice from Sunshine in my Pocket
Sweet and Sour Shrimp Stir Fry from A Family Feast
Healthy General Tso’s Chicken from Jinxy Knows Best
Easy General Tso’s Chicken from The Springmount 6 Pack
Sweet and Sour Chicken from Home Life Abroad
Crockpot Beef and Broccoli from Love Bakes Good Cakes
I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I do! Many thanks to all of the bloggers mentioned above for sharing their recipes.
Hi Corinne – My favorite is shrimp rangoon… fried rice… and sweet and sour chicken! Hugs, Holly
I should not have read this before lunch. It’s 9:30 am and I’m craving Chinese food. Will have to make one of these recipes for dinner.
Oh My, what a great list of recipes. I just love Chinese food and all of these look delicious. I think the shrimp recipes caught my eye first — no wait, I think the Sweet and Sour Chicken. Shoot, all of them are great!