Last Updated on March 10, 2024
Easy Recipes for Chinese New Year.
Chinese New Year Eve falls on 25th January 2020. This year is the year of the Rat, the first of all the Chinese Zodiac animals. Legend tells us that the Jade Emperor said the order should be decided based on when each animal arrived at his party. The crafty Rat tricked the Ox into giving him a ride, then just before they reached the party, jumped down and landed ahead of the Ox – so arriving first.
In Chinese culture, rats are seen as a sign of wealth, surplus and fertility. Married couples pray to them for children. And, the year of the Rat is always seen as the year of new beginnings. This Chinese New Year, the year of the Metal Rat, is supposed to bring success both financially and in love!
The New Year’s Eve dinner is the most important feast in the Chinese calendar. It is the ‘Reunion’ dinner when all family members should be together. It’s so laced with superstition that if one member of the family can’t make it back home, the rest of the family will often leave a space for them, with a spare set of cutlery crockery and eating utensils.
But, preparation for Chinese New Year starts well before then – and carries on for a couple of weeks after! From January 17th to 24th is ‘Little Year’ when families will start to prepare their feasts.
Next, the 11 days of Chinese New year, from January 25th to February 4th
Finally, the Lantern Festival – with preparations starting on 5th February and the festival itself on February 8th.
Thinking of celebrating Chinese New Year at home? Here are a collection of Asian recipes that you can make with no fuss. Enjoy Chinese New Year 2020 - The Year of the Rat Stir fry Szechuan Chicken is the ultimate spicy chicken stirfry dish for Chinese New Year. A delicious mixture of chicken marinated in spice and chilli with cashew nuts and peppers - perfect for your Chinese buffet Chinese Roast Duck is an essential part of any Chinese buffet. For your Chinese New Year buffet, why not try this easy Gressingham Duck recipe with Chinese spices and impress your guests with a stunning centrepiece. Macanese food is regarded as some of the finest in Asia. With influences from Portugal and across Asia, this tiny Island produces some truly innovative fusion food, like these curried prawns with Okra An easy recipe for Steamed Seabass, Asian style. Steam your seabass in the oven with Chinese herbs and serve with stir fry vegetables for a delicious recipe for Chinese New Year. Remember to leave the head on the fish - or the Chinese believe you will have bad luck all year! A simple side dish of egg fried rice will elevate your Chinese buffet. Add prawns or chicken to the egg, rice and pea mixture for a main dish Whether or not you are trying to watch your weight, this is a delicious dish that you could easily serve as part of a Chinese New Year buffet. Spicy prawn and coconut noodles are delicious and very moreish These Asian chicken wraps use iceberg lettuce and a filling of lightly spiced chinese chicken and vegetables. Easily adapted to create a vegetarian option, these are the perfect way to start a Chinese feast This delicious pork dish will put a fire in your belly - with chiu chow chilli oil and Sichuan peppercorns adding heat. Enjoy with simple rice noodles for the perfect Chinese celebration Here's a delicious recipe for healthier noodles which doesn't involve frying them! Wonderfully colourful and fresh, the perfect veggie or vegan addition to your Chinese New Year Buffet Here's a delicious and classic stir-fry with Chicken and Bok Choy that your whole family will enjoy. Definitely one to include in your Chinese New Year feast I love homemade Chinese dumplings. This recipe even tells you how to make the wrappers! They are a traditional part of all Chinese New Year feasts - families eat them at midnight because they symbolise a long life and their shape resembles that of gold ingots so they help bring wealth! Bok choy stir fry with oyster sauce and garlic oil is a perennial Chinese restaurant favorite menu. You can use Anita's simple to follow recipe with any kind of Chinese greens to recreate this iconic Chinese dish at home If you've ever been to a Chinese restaurant during New Year's Festivities and seen people around the table joining to toss a salad - or tried yourself, you'll know all about this dish. The higher you toss the salad, the more prosperous the New Year will be - and you can make as many wishes as you like! This salad is popular in Chinese communities for Chinese New Year especially Singapore/Malaysia Beef Chow Mein is a delicious and easy stir fry dish with noodles that you can rustle up at home for supper easily. But, it has it's place in a Chinese New Year's Feast too - the perfect dish for everyone to enjoy. Another traditional Chinese New Year dish, Spring Rolls even have their own lucky saying 'Hwung-Jin Wan-Lyang' - which translates to mean 'a ton of gold'. 
Szechuan Chicken Recipe - Stir Fry Szechuan Chicken
Gressingham Duck Recipe - A Special Dinner - Chinese Roast Duck
Macanese Cuisine - Curried Prawns with Okra
Asian Style Oven Steamed Seabass
Egg Fried Rice Recipe
Spicy Prawn and Coconut Asian Noodle Bowl - a low calorie recipe that will work for dieters
Asian Chicken Wraps
Sichuan Style Pork and Noodle Dish
Vegetable Lo Mein Noodles [Easy Asian Noodles!]
Classic Stir-Fry with Chicken and Bok Choy
Chinese Dumpling Recipe
Bok Choy Stir Fry with Oyster Sauce and Garlic Oil
Yee sang, Chinese salad (aka ‘prosperity toss’)
Beef Chow Mein - an authentic Chinese beef stir-fry with noodles and more
Rainbow Spring Rolls with Sweet and Spicy Dipping Sauce
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I feel a lot happier cooking a chinese meal rather than ordering a takeaway