![\"yu](\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7167\/6727867471_3ec6cdb614_z.jpg\")
My take on yu sheng<\/em> using homemade tea-cured salmon<\/p><\/div>\n In Singapore where I grew up, my family and I would celebrate with raw fish salad, or yu sheng<\/em><\/a> in Mandarin Chinese. This \u201csalad\u201d is usually eaten in restaurants, not at home.<\/p>\n The dish\u2019s make-up varies from place to place and comprises an assortment of ingredients including: sliced raw fish (salmon, ikan parang [mackerel], or grass carp), carrots, daikon, sweet potato, jellyfish, candied fruit, pomelo, pickled ginger, pok chui (fried flour crisps), etc., etc., all dressed with a sweet and sour plum sauce and spices. Like many dishes served during the New Year, yu sheng<\/em> is popular because of its name (a homonym for the words for prosperity and longevity) and the \u201clucky\u201d ingredients that go into it. The ingredients are served neatly laid out on a platter and then pandemonium breaks out as diners start tossing with their chopsticks, and crying out auspicious sayings. Supposedly, the higher you toss, the more luck you\u2019ll have for the New Year!<\/p>\n While yu sheng<\/em> is traditionally eaten on the seventh day of the New Year (the celebration lasts 15 days, the length of a moon cycle), restaurants tend to have it on their menus starting a week before the New Year, up till several weeks after.<\/p>\n Vietnamese<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Neatly bundled b\u00e1nh ch\u01b0ng (Photo credit: Ben Nguyen\/Flickr<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n Tacoma, Washington-native Mary Huynh\u2019s parents gift her with many pounds of “b\u00e1nh ch\u01b0ng,” glutinous rice bundles stuffed with mung beans and pork wrapped in banana leaves, every T\u1ebft, the Vietnamese New Year. The bundles are boiled anywhere from six to 12 hours. It\u2019s basically \u201ccooked to death!” but for good reason–it gives b\u00e1nh ch\u01b0ng a long shelf life. \u00a0\u201c(It\u2019s) delicious!\u201d Huynh describes. \u201cI\u2019d lug it as checked baggage when I visit, and there have been mailings to my sister.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Sweets like dried fruit candies and coconut candy are also abundant during T\u1ebft. Huong C. Nguyen has vivid memories of dried candied fruit offered on huge plates for visitors. “We served them with tea before sitting down to eat meals,” recalls Nguyen who grew up in Denville, New Jersey.<\/p>\n On the dining table, an assortment of traditional Vietnamese dishes like lemongrass chicken<\/a>, braised duck, and thit kho<\/a>, pork belly and eggs braised in fish sauce and coconut juice would be laid out. “Sometimes my mom would even mix in turkey!” she laughs.<\/p>\n Taiwanese <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Red bean soup with rice flour dumplings (Photo credit: Grace Hwang Lynch, HapaMama.com)<\/p><\/div>\n The daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, Grace Hwang Lynch celebrates Lunar New Year enjoying hot pot with her family. Lynch, who blogs at HapaMama.com<\/a>, describes the visually stunning array of foods: \u201cThere\u2019d be a variety of meats–beef, chicken, sometimes lamb or pork. Seafood like shrimp, scallops, fish and shrimp balls, different veggies, leafy greens, mushrooms. The final item would be bean thread noodles to soak up the flavorful broth.\u201d<\/p>\n On the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, the Lantern Festival, Lynch says it\u2019s customary to have sweet red bean soup (ang-tau-thng<\/em> in Taiwanese)<\/em> with dumplings (in-a)<\/em><\/a>. \u201cThe dumplings are made with sweet (glutinous) rice and are really small, about marble-size, and come in pink and white.\u201d The round dumplings and the bowls the sweet soup is served in symbolize family togetherness.<\/p>\n Indonesian<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Homemade pineapple tarts or kue nastar<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Although she didn’t celebrate Lunar New Year in a big way in Indonesia, Yusi Sasmitra fondly remembers kue keranjang<\/i>, also called kue cina<\/i> (literally Chinese cakes), that were sold widely during Imlek<\/i> (the Indonesian name for Lunar New Year). They\u2019re similar to Chinese nian gao (sticky rice cake) but with a Southeast Asian twist. “The brown cakes are cut into slices, grilled and rolled in shredded coconut,” the real estate specialist explains.<\/p>\n Sasmitra’s eyes light up when she rattles off the wide selection of cookies made available to guests who come round to visit after the first day of the New Year: kue bangkit<\/i> (made from sago flour), kue satu<\/i> (made from mung bean powder), cheese sticks and her favorite, kue nastar<\/i> (pineapple tarts)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Korean<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Dduk mandoo guk<\/em> topped with seaweed (Photo credit: Amy Kim, kimchimom.com)<\/p><\/div>\n Growing up, kimchimom.com<\/a> blogger Amy Kim vaguely remembers having dduk mandoo guk<\/a> (rice cakes and dumpling soup) on January 1st. According to Korean custom, this dish is served during the Korean New Year, called Solnal or Seollal, that follows the lunar calendar. But in an effort to assimilate to American culture when they migrated to the U.S. in the 1960\u2019s, Kim\u2019s parents stopped celebrating the holiday. Kim only learned about it through friends, Korean language classes, and stories her mom told her.<\/p>\n \u201cNow that I have a family of my own, I decided to start this tradition several years ago. Better late than never!\u201d she says.<\/p>\n A typical bowl of dduk mandoo guk<\/i> comprises ground beef and cellophane noodle dumplings served in beef broth. Kim, who lives in Northern New Jersey, created her own version made with Japanese dashi and shrimp dumplings. She buys the rice cakes from the Asian store.<\/p>\n A lot of symbolism is present in this simple bowl of soup. The New Year is considered everyone\u2019s birthday and eating the soup symbolizes becoming one year older. The white rice cakes symbolize blessings and purity, and when cut into perfect rounds or “coins,” represent money and prosperity.<\/p>\n Japanese<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Eho maki (Photo credit: Elizabeth Andoh, TasteofCulture.com<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n While Lunar New Year is not a major festival in Japan, many Japanese celebrate Setsubun, a seasonal marker on the ancient, lunar-based\u00a0koyomi\u00a0calendar.\u00a0This year, February 3rd marks the beginning of spring as well as the lunar new year.<\/p>\n In recent years, eating eho maki-zushi–Good Fortune Setsubun rolled sushi–has become part of the Setsubun fun (in addition to the bean-throwing ceremony!). These sushi rolls are similar to the futo (plump) maki (rolls) available at American Japanese restaurants. \u201cThe biggest difference is that these Good Fortune Rolls are not sliced,\u201d explains Tokyo-based Japanese culinary instructor Elizabeth Andoh<\/a>. \u201cSome people include seven fillings (to represent Shichi Fukujin, the Seven Gods of Good fortune), others just four or five. A few takeout places in Tokyo this year are offering very plump rolls with 15 fillings!\u201d<\/p>\n The proper way to eat eho maki is to face the\u00a0eho, the auspicious direction for the year, and gobble down your sushi roll uncut to keep the good fortune intact.<\/p>\n ~~~<\/p>\n HAPPY YEAR OF THE HORSE 2014 EVERYONE!<\/strong><\/p>\n ~~~<\/p>\n LINKS TO RECIPES:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Yu Sheng<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Red Bean Soup with Rice Flour Dumplings (HapaMama.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n B\u00e1nh ch\u01b0ng (<\/em>Gastronomy Blog<\/a>)<\/p>\n Pineapple Tarts<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/picklesandtea\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2014\/01\/banh_chung.jpg?w=600\")
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<\/a>![\"kue](\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/picklesandtea\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2013\/02\/kue-nastar-ready1.jpg?w=600\")
<\/a>![\"dduk_mandoo_guk\"](\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/picklesandtea\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2014\/01\/dduk_mandoo_guk.jpg?w=600\")
<\/a>![\"ehomaki](\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/picklesandtea\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2014\/01\/ehomaki-smithsonian.jpg\")
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