New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Whether a country has its New Year’s Eve celebrations on December 31 or another day of the year, there’s a good chance it has a unique treat or savory dish to mark the occasion. In addition to making resolutions many cultures around the globe prepare traditional food to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Everywhere around the world, food helps bring people together to wish for good fortune and enjoy time with family and friends. 




JAPAN


To celebrate the coming of the new year, Japanese people eat special dishes on New Year’s Eve and Day. The foods commonly consumed for New Year’s are called osechi ryori, which literally means “New Year’s food.”Traditional osechi ryori represent people’s desires for the new year and have symbolic meanings. These New Year’s foods can bring everything from health and wealth to luck and academic success.

Soba noodles are made from buckwheat, which is what gives them their warm brownish color. Toshikoshi soba, also called "year-crossing noodle," is symbolic. The long length of the buckwheat noodles represents longevity, while the ease of cutting the noodles signifies cutting off any negativity or hardship from the prior year. These soba noodles are prepared simply with hot dashi broth and green onion for a simple meal. 

Mochi is an important part of Japanese cuisine—this silky, stretchy round rice cake is made from sticky rice and water pounded with a mallet until smooth and doughy. Mochi can be served sweet or savory, like a dumpling, or grilled, or wrapped around sweet green tea ice cream. This sticky-rice treat is a time-honored way to welcome a fresh new year. Kagami mochi (鏡餅, "mirror rice cake") is a traditional Japanese New Year decoration. It usually consists of two round mochi (rice cakes), the smaller placed atop the larger, and a daidai (a Japanese bitter orange) with an attached leaf on top.  The double-layer represents a doubling of good luck or fortune. The mandarin on top represents hope and prosperity for future descendants.




 CHINA 


Certain dishes are eaten during the Chinese New Year for their symbolic meaning. Lucky food is served during the 16-day festival season, especially on Chinese New Year dinner on New Year's Eve, which is believed to bring good luck for the coming year. The most common Chinese New Year foods include:

1. Fish — an Increase in Prosperity. The head should be placed toward distinguished guests or elders, representing respect. The fish shouldn't be moved. The two people who face the head and tail of fish should drink together, as this is considered to have a lucky meaning.

2. Chinese Dumplings — Wealth.  Legend has it that the more dumplings you eat during the New Year celebrations, the more money you can make in the New Year.

3.  Whole Chicken — ‘Luck’ and ‘Wholeness’. Chicken is a homophone for ji (吉, meaning ‘good luck’ and ‘prosperity’). 

4. Spring Rolls — Wealth  Lucky Saying for Eating Spring Rolls - 黄金万两 (hwung-jin wan-lyang/): 'A ton of gold' (because fried spring rolls look like gold bars) — a wish for prosperity.

5. Longevity Noodles — Happiness and Longevity.  Their length and unsevered preparation are also symbolic of the eater's life. It is a lucky food eaten on Chinese New Year Day in North China.  They are longer than normal noodles and uncut, either fried and served on a plate, or boiled and served in a bowl with their broth.

6. Glutinous Rice Cake — a Higher Income or Position.  Nian gao, or 'year cake', is a sticky rice cake which represents prosperity; the words 'nian gao' sounds like 'getting higher year on year', and this symbolises raising oneself taller in each coming year.

7. Sweet Rice Balls — Family Togetherness The pronunciation and round shape of tangyuan are associated with reunion and being together.

8. Fruit and Vegetables — ‘Chinese New Year’s reunion dinner menu is not complete without vegetables. Vegetables signify ‘spring’, ‘renewal’, ‘energy’, ‘progress’, and ‘wealth’. Certain fruits are eaten during the Chinese New Year period, such as tangerines and oranges, and pomeloes. They are selected as they are particularly round and "golden" in color, symbolizing fullness and wealth.





KOREA 


For Koreans and other cultures that celebrate the Lunar New Year, the holiday season doesn’t end with the stroke of the clock on January 1st.

Koreans travel back to their hometown to celebrate the New Year and we make rice cake soup to serve to family and friends who are visiting.  Tteokguk  is a traditional Korean soup eaten on Korean New Year's Day to wish for good fortune and wealth for the coming year. The shape of the rice cake resembles old-style Korean coins, so the soup has a symbolic meaning of riches and prosperity. It is often said that eating tteokguk truly enables us to age one more year.





PHILIPPINES


Filipinos lavishly prepare for the New Year’s Eve feast the New Year’s Eve meal is defined by cultural superstitions and customs passed down through generations.

1. Eating 12 round fruits on New Year’s Eve. The round fruits symbolize prosperity due to their resemblance to ancient gold and silver coins. 

2. No chicken or fish on New Year’s Eve. The chicken’s way of eating is associated with hardship and poverty. Fish is considered an animal that must scavenge for food. 

3. Biko, Suman, Kalamay, Puto Calasiao, Tikoy, Royal Bibingka, or any sticky rice cake. There are two versions of this superstition, both of which are based on a dish’s sticky characteristic. The stickiness in the first version  is believed to improve family relations and bonding, implying that families will “stick together” for years to come. In the second version, the stickiness acts as a magnet, attracting and retaining good fortune.

4. Green vegetables for Cash. US Dollars are green, and thus this color represents money; the more greens you serve, the more money you’ll have. 





INDIA

One of the most secular festivals of India is the traditional New Year celebrated by various states in India. Apart from prayers and rituals followed at home, sharing specially prepared dishes with neighbours, feasting with family and friends, form an important part of this traditional festival. Here are some of the most widely recognised “good luck” foods in Indian cuisine

1.Lentils – The equivalent of black eyed peas in America, lentils are India’s legume-oriented New Year’s tradition. Because they are shaped like coins, they are said to bring financial support.

2. Mango – Because it is round and sweet, mango symbolises prosperity and is especially good luck when eaten alongside other succulent, circular ingredients like jaggery and coconut. Try Mango Lassi and Mango Pickles!

3. Chilli – This spice is also one that eliminates evil spirits, according to many Indian communities.



If you’re not very superstitious consuming these foods are still a great way to incorporate in the New Year thanks to their health benefits alone!

Lentils are delicious, lean protein sources. Mango contains heaps of fibre and vitamins, and chilli contains anti-inflammatory properties and is great for metabolism.



Which tradition will you follow this year for a fresh new beginning? Send us your photos or tag us in your New Year's story on Instagram @Salamatasianmarket!