Fresh News
Rule the Roost
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- Category: December 2017
- Published: 20 January 2017
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Goodbye monkey, hello rooster”. The Lunar New Year begins on January 28, with fifteen days of celebration and feasting ahead.
Shrug off the shenanigans of 2016 (those mischievousness monkey traits) and usher in the confidence of the rooster.
Always well dressed, other rooster traits include loyalty, talkativeness, punctuality, honesty and hard-working discipline.
As the two week Spring Festival celebrations take place, families and friends travel great distances to be together over shared meals and special events.
Shrug off the shenanigans of 2016 (those mischievousness monkey traits) and usher in the confidence of the rooster.
Always well dressed, other rooster traits include loyalty, talkativeness, punctuality, honesty and hard-working discipline.
As the two week Spring Festival celebrations take place, families and friends travel great distances to be together over shared meals and special events.
The making and serving of foods that are symbolic of good fortune, harmony, happiness, and longevity. This tradition reaches back centuries. For many families, a New Year’s Eve feast is the main event, with dishes and customs varying by region.
Asian or not, consider planning a communal meal during this time period to reflect the spirit of a new year beginning. Food rituals abound in many cultures. Imagine then, the history and traditions in Asian cultures pertaining to food alone.
Contemporary life has us looking to blend some newer traditions with the best of older wisdom and ways of the ancients. One hip way to ring in the Lunar New Year is to host a dumpling party.
With a history over 2,000 years old, dumplings are a classic favorite that invite social celebration.
Chinese dumplings can be made to look like Chinese silver ingots (boat-shaped, oval currency which are turned up at the two ends). Legend has it that the more dumplings eaten during the celebration, makes for a more prosperous year ahead.
Dumplings generally consist of minced meat (pork, chicken, shrimp or beef) combined with finely-chopped vegetables (cabbage, bok choy, mushrooms, radish and onions), then carefully wrapped in a thin sheet of dough. Dumplings can be cooked by boiling, steaming, frying or baking.
When making dumplings there should be a good number of pleats in the folds of the wrapper. If the dough is too flat, it is thought to purport poverty.
Some elders put a white thread inside a single dumpling. The guest who eats that dumpling is said to be blessed with longevity. Plating matters too. Dumplings should be arranged in lines on a plate or platter, not in circles. This indicates forward momentum rather than a life just going in circles.
The rooster rules with clarity, motivation and a fierce independence. Bring on the enthusiasm for the coming year. Gung Hay Fat Choy!