Amongst all the Chinese New Year customs and traditions, food is an inseparable part of the celebration. Many festive dishes—from Chinese New Year puddings, poon choi to lo hei—are believed to bring good luck and fortune for the coming year, which are often enjoyed with family at home.
While Chinese New Year 2021 may feel a little different to what we’re used to, it’s all the more important to (safely) celebrate togetherness, the overarching theme of the festival that ties families together.
Ahead of the Year of the Ox, we ask Hong Kong’s food influencers—whose Instagram feeds are packed with expertly shot food photos and dining inspiration—about their favourite new year traditions and what goes on their dinner tables during family reunions.
Lindsay Jang
Owner of Yardbird, Ronin and Roti Tori
What's your favourite CNY tradition?
I love our annual team dinner that we have the night before the first day of CNY. Everyone is in a celebratory mood and our lucky draw is always equal parts funny and exciting.
What's your favourite CNY food/dish?
I love the sweet rice ball dumplings, tangyuan.
Where would you order takeout from to celebrate the Year of the Ox?
Hot pot is my go-to for CNY. My first choice for dining (or ordering for home) is Megan's Kitchen, their ingredients are premium and they have the best dumplings and soup bases.
Gloria Chung
Food Stylist behind the @thepropsdepthk and journalist
What's your favourite Chinese New Year tradition?
My favourite moment is New Year's Eve (more than New Year's Day). I will stay over at my parents' house with my brother and sister. My mum is Buddhist-Taoist so she has to pray at a certain time and it's usually in the middle of the night. We help her to burn incense, watch the fire, have sweet dumplings (to symbolise a union in Cantonese tradition), pack red packets for my parents and watch classic Stephen Chow movies.
What's your favourite Chinese New Year food?
My family is Hakka so we are very good at braising pork belly. One of the winter and Chinese New Year specials in our house is braised pork belly with arrowhead and beancurd. My mum usually adds soy sauce, red bean curd and oyster sauce to the dish, finishing with leek and celery. It's absolutely delicious and reminds me so much of the festive season.
Another favourite of mine is turnip cake. I am definitely on Team Savoury when it comes to Chinese New Year pudding. We would pan fry it with XO sauce, vegetables, or even eggs!
Where would you order takeout from to celebrate the Year of the Ox?
We generally don't eat out but if we get takeaways we would get Poon Choi. I know Lung King Heen at Four Seasons just launched their first Poon Choi so I am curious to try it.
Another takeaway we would get is suckling pig or any barbecued meats. I would get it from Tsui Hang Village. You can order a whole pig with buns and sauces from them.
If you're cooking at home, what dishes are you planning to make?
On my family's Chinese New Year table, there is always Cantonese-style poached chicken, braised pork belly, and a very nice vegetable stew with beancurd and dried oyster (mum said oysters have no eyes so they can be considered "vegetarian").
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Janice Leung Hayes
Founder of @honestlygreenhk and Producer for @capsulefortyeight
What's your favourite Chinese New Year tradition?
Ever since I was a kid, every CNY when friends and relatives came over, I'd be on New Year's pudding frying duty. I'd pan-fry a selection of puddings—radish, nin go (brown sugar "new year's" cake), water chestnut, taro—while eavesdropping on the chatter outside.
What's your favourite Chinese New Year dish?
Wu ha (芋蝦), a snack of taro strips loosely rolled into balls and deep fried.
What dishes are you planning to make to celebrate the Year of the Ox?
For the night before Chinese New Year, I'll make stuffed dace fish and pan-fry it, and place it on top of the fridge or the pantry—it means that you hope your fridge/pantry will always be full. I usually then put it in the fridge and eat it on the second day of the Chinese New Year. On New Year's Day, my family has at least one vegetarian meal. A classic dish we'll always have is a vegetarian claypot, made with shiitake mushrooms, napa cabbage, Chinese "seaweed" (also known as "fat choi" or "hair vegetable"), lotus root, tofu puffs, and so on, braised in a fermented tofu sauce.
Andrew Tang
Food blogger behind @andrewthf
What's your favourite Chinese New Year tradition?
Apart from getting red packets, my favourite new year tradition is when the extended family gets together for a reunion dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve. And most importantly, whether we dine out or not, we always have glutinous rice balls (black sesame being my go-to filling!) at the end of the meal, which symbolises togetherness of family. The importance of family has been deeply rooted in me as I was born and raised locally.
What's your favourite Chinese New Year dish?
When it comes to Chinese New Year, I always indulge myself in glutinous rice pudding ("Leen Goh") despite the copious amounts of sugar in the mix. I guess we all need some sweetness in life and probably more than ever in this dreadful time. My mum always slices the Leen Goh, dips them into beaten egg and pan-fries them until golden brown. And that's my breakfast on the first day of the Lunar New Year!
Where would you order takeout from to celebrate the Year of the Ox?
In the spirit of the upcoming Ox-picious year, I will be ordering the Poon Choi set from Duddell's. The overflowing of ingredients of Poon Choi symbolises abundance and prosperity in the coming year. The Duddell's Poon Choi set, in a claypot, includes semi-dried oysters in osmanthus honey (one of my favourite Chinese New Year dishes), crispy suckling duck, sea cucumber, braised abalone, just to name a few. It's just easy to re-heat and this can serve up to 8 people already.
Joyce To
Food blogger behind @hk_datfoodlife
What's your favourite Chinese New Year tradition?
Without a doubt, the annual family reunion (團年飯)! During the 10 years in which I was away for my studies, I was rarely able to fly back to Hong Kong during Chinese New Year. Now that I am back for good, I truly enjoy being able to gather with my entire family for the annual hedonistic feast of auspicious delicacies. This important ritual not only heralds the new year with symbolic food, but also embodies the familial spirit of Chinese New Year and of Chinese culture generally. Not to mention, there is something wildly thrilling about seeing a table practically heaving with inordinate amounts of food!
What's your favourite Chinese New Year dish?
I find it impossible to choose one single favourite dish, given the vast array of traditional dishes that are enjoyed during Chinese New Year (and also taking into account what a glutton I am…)! Perhaps the dish that I have the most fun eating is lo hei, which is essentially a salad of sashimi and shredded vegetables. The salad is assembled in front of the table of diners whilst auspicious sayings are recited, before the entire table of diners proceed to toss up the vegetables using their chopsticks. The belief is that the higher the ingredients are tossed, the better your fortunes will be in the coming year.
Whilst this theory has not been scientifically proven, this dish is sure to set a convivial mood at any table. Interestingly, it seems to be more popular in Singapore and Malaysia, although in recent years has been gaining some traction here in Hong Kong as more and more Chinese New Year banquet menus feature this entertaining dish. If you do happen to have the chance to try it, be prepared to make a right mess of your sashimi salad!
Where would you order takeout from to celebrate the Year of the Ox?
My ‘fantasy league’ of Chinese New Year dishes would consist of The Chairman for anything seafood-related, Duddell’s for their crazily moist baked salted chicken and a second serving of chicken giblet casserole rice, as well as Lung King Heen for glutinous rice dumplings. I also hear China Tang is doing a mean Poon Choi for this Year of the Ox which I’d love to try—unfortunately my family has rather small appetites so hungry volunteers are wanted!
Nicole Fung
Food blogger behind @thatfoodcray
What's your favourite Chinese New Year tradition?
I love going to the flower market during Chinese New Year. There's always an abundance of colourful plants and flowers to choose from. It's also just such a beautiful place to take photos and a great place to get lost.
What's your favourite Chinese New Year dish?
Lor Bak Go aka radish cake is my all time favourite. My aunt makes it every year and she doesn't skimp out on the good stuff! It's always fully loaded with dried shrimps, shiitake mushrooms, conpoy, and Chinese sausage.
Where would you order takeout from to celebrate the Year of the Ox?
I'm obsessed with Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine's suckling pig stuffed with glutinous rice so having that at home would be a new year's dream come true.
READ MORE: The New Bib Gourmand Eateries In The MICHELIN Guide Hong Kong Macau 2021
Saii Lee
Food blogger behind @saiileee
What's your favourite Chinese New Year tradition?
Receiving red packets were some of my happiest memories when I was a kid. I even thought that other countries had this tradition too.
What's your favourite Chinese New Year food?
Taro cake, I like the complex texture and flavours. It also warms the heart, especially during the winter season.
Where would you order takeout from to celebrate the Year of the Ox?
The premium set from Duddell's, which consists of abalone, fish maw and sea cucumber, are perfect for Chinese New Year.
Olivia Lai
Food blogger behind @hkfoodsnob
What's your favourite Chinese New Year tradition?
Spending time with my family and loved ones with endless stream of food. And receiving red packets - for those who are single!
What's your favourite Chinese New Year dish?
There are so many but if I can pick 2 items it would be egg fried Chinese New Year pudding (蛋煎年糕) and braised fried oysters with black moss and winter mushrooms (蠔豉髮菜炆冬菇).
What dishes are you planning to make to celebrate the Year of the Ox?
It’s a tradition in our family that we eat at home for the first three days of Chinese New Year. We will make chicken (白切雞) and braised vegetables with fermented red beancurd (南乳炆齋).
