With another Chinese lunar year just around the corner, homes in China and abroad are ready to welcome Chinese New Year (CNY) with traditions and foods. Bamboo fronds are decorated with red paper lanterns; firecrackers are set off; the tantalizing smell of home-cooked food permeate homes to commemorate the event. Chinese New Year is being associated with people’s renewed faith towards optimism and wealth, which are traditions marked by ancient ceremonies.

When it comes to CNY, people tend to consider reunion dinners, red packets and lion dances as some of the possibilities more than the numerous options of festive snacks and sweets. All these Chinese New Year goodies have got an element of good luck and symbolisms associated in the coming year. These are some of the sure bets seen during this time if you’re wandering through a local Chinatown or your Asian grocery store. 

CNY-Traditional Cookies and Snacks: A Simple Review

Nian Gao – This cake is prepared using glutinous rice flour and is very sticky and chewy, Nian means ‘year’ in Mandarin and Gao means ‘higher,’ so it symbolises advancement to higher things or to higher years. Serving these cookies to the guests mean standing together and being upright in difficulty and or hardships. The sugar variant made from darker molasses pack more profound, intense taste.

• Pineapple Tarts – The pineapple filling in the crumbly withstand shortbread dough are intended to symbolize prosperity and that the round crusts resemble ingots, a type of currency used in ancient China. These have been very much loved for their buttery-crisp layers with a jammy-fruity center, perfect for any time of the year, not necessarily confined to CNY.  
• Almond Cookies – For the reason of ingot like appearance once more, these fragrant, buttery cookies with almond paste & egg whites underscore the worth of almonds in China civilization. While the egg whites symbolize rebirth or new start. Other sturdy nuts such as walnuts and sesame may also be employed.
• Peanut Cookies – The crunchy, granular peanut cookies along with a lightly sweet kiss are considered to bring longevity and long-lasting marriages because peanuts look like “Tu,” which means ‘prosperity’ in Chinese. It is even reported that the emperor used to relish on these and this has seen the peanuts branded as royalty and as having multiple characterizes.  
• Candied Fruits or Kam – Precisely it means sour and sweet preserved food stuffs as in winter melon, kumquat and lotus seed which symbolizes the bitter sweet aspect of life. Their sugary exterior signifying a sweet future no matter adversity they may face in the future. These candies are very chewy and sticky, and should be washed away before savouring its strong tastes.

Prosperous CNY Snacks with Taste of Words 

Besides specifically symbolising wealth, some of the CNY snacks conceptualize blessings via Homophonic words. Since the Chinese language has numerous homophonic terms that refer to different things by sounding alike, these goodies leverage auspicious homophonic elements and titles. 

• Kamquat – Because it looks like gold ingots in the form of a golden preserve and because phonetically, kam sounds like gold. On the other hand, deseeding a kumquat denotes prosperity and fortune. It also holds seeds, iconizations of fertility or giving birth to many children.  
• Coconut – Fresh and dried coconut strips denote togetherness and family since the phrase for coconut in the Hokkien dialect sounds like settling down. Coconys are also symbolic of fertility on account of the ‘babies’ contained within them.
• Sugared olives referred to as gan zai – although not an olive this candy mimics an olive in form and name. But “gan zai” in Cantonese literally means “give birth son”- every Chinese family’s ideal!

Creative shapes and Flavors of Nian Gao

Since nian gao symbolizes even higher accomplishments in the subsequent year, this glutinous cake has been given aesthetically modern transformations. Some unique versions include:

• Carrot nian gao – Using shredded carrots for a sweetness, earthiness, and golden color that symbolizes improved vision and focus in the coming year.
• Tiramisu nian gao – lauded as the ‘upscale’ twin of the original tiramisu, adds mascarpone and cocoa and a trifle dash of brandy into the mild chew factor.
• Durian nian gao – Durian, the special Southeast Asia “king of fruits” creates the freshness with an erotic stink and velvety mouth-feel for the lovers of this fruit.
• Nuts & dried fruit for nian gao – Dried longan, goji berries, slivered almonds and melon seeds are a nice contrast in acidity, and texture as well as nutty flavor.
• The Nian gao turned into various forms appealing to the eye – Fish, ingots and pagodas among others are some shapes which signify specific desire like that of more and prosperity.

From the array of delicious, cherished meats to the indulgent cakes at the New Year feast, food is the heart of connection during this auspicious season, symbolizing the passing down of hope across generations. As families gather around the table, sharing in the flavors of home, the “reunion” element comes alive, year after year. Whether it's the traditional best CNY goodies like Nian Gao or pineapple tarts, their presentation may evolve with modern times, but the timeless symbols of prosperity and togetherness they bring into every Lunar New Year remain unchanged.