Happy New Year! The Lunar New Year falls on February 5th this year, kicking off the Year of the Pig. The Pig comes last in the Chinese zodiac’s 12-year cycle, and is a symbol of wealth and fortune.
To boost your own wealth, fortune and health in the next 12 months, try eating some of these traditional lucky foods in the upcoming weeks.
1. Dumplings
Dumplings are thought to bring prosperity because they look like the old-school gold or silver ingots used in China before paper money. (And after seeing that dumpling-making scene in “Crazy Rich Asians,” we’re tempted to try cooking up our own!)
2. Whole Fish
A whole fish symbolizes abundance for obvious reasons, but also because the Chinese word for “fish,”
3. Spring Rolls
This takeout classic symbolizes wealth because the rolls look like bars of gold.
4. Longevity Noodles
Longevity noodles are two feet long (!), representing a long, healthy life.
5. Citrus Fruit
Want a friend to get rich? Give them an orange, tangerine or pomelo as a gift, which symbolize wealth because of their golden color.
6. Eight Treasures Rice
This sweet pudding is made of sticky rice, sugar syrup, and eight “treasures” that can include candied fruit, dried plums, lotus seeds, red bean paste, almonds, gingko seeds, goji berries and more.
7. Sweet Rice Balls
Served in a sweet syrup, these sticky-rice balls represent togetherness.
8. New Year Cake
A sweet rice cake decorated with jujubes (the actual fruit, not the movie candy), this treat is supposed to bring you luck in the year ahead.