Happy Chinese New Year! Khiung Hee Fat Choy! It’s a time of renewal and feasting. In 2023, January 22, marks the start of the Year of the Rabbit. You are a rabbit if you were born in 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, and 2023. On the Chinese horoscope, each year is dominated by an animal sign: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey rooster, dog, and pig. Each animal has special characteristics. This year looks generally positive and favorable for Rabbits, especially in the first quarter. There could be some challenges later in the year.

A family reunion feast is central to the Chinese New Year celebration. The table is traditionally filled with foods that send auspicious messages to attract wealth, luck, success, unity, and longevity.

As I plan the menu for our family’s new year feast, I’m looking through The Hakka Cookbook for ideas. I like our meals to be a cooperative effort, sort of an organized potluck plus cooking lesson. It’s easier to share cooking duties and hopefully everyone can learn something new. For my grandchildren, I try to include one cooking activity. In the past, we have made won tons, dumplings, and pot stickers. This year we may make Stuffed Tofu (pages 31, 33), sort of a Hakka version of dumplings. The Hakka invented stuffed tofu when they could not find wheat flour in their new home in the south to make the dumplings they ate in the former home in northern China.

Noodles represent long life. I like the dark, umami-rich flavor of Noodles with Mushroom Pork Sauce (page 104). Or perhaps we’ll cook Garlic Noodles and Shrimp (page 193), sort of a Hakka-style Chow Mein.

Fish is a must-have on Chinese New Year table. The fish brings surplus and abundance to the new year. I like the Steamed Fish with Green Onions (page 39) or the Braised Fish in Black Bean Sauce (page 137). Steaming or braising keeps the delicate flesh moist and is so easy. A green vegetable represents growth in business. I love the simplicity of the stir-fried Chinese Broccoli in Sweet Rice Wine (page 230).

Egg or spring rolls look like gold bars, signifying wealth. We could make Spicy Egg Rolls (page184) or the Hakka Egg Rolls (page 170).

Possibly we may cook the famous Hakka Salt-baked Chicken (page 64) or some of the easier variations. For a special dish, consider making the Braised Chicken stuffed with Preserved Mustard Greens (page 233). Or maybe we’ll buy a Chinese roast duck.

For me, Chinese New Year is about food and family. Khiung Hee Fat Choy! Happy New Year!