How to Prepare Food for a Chinese New Year Party
To be truly authentic, the food you prepare for a Chinese New Year party must incorporate traditional Chinese New Year dishes. You don't need to spend days preparing an intricate menu. Just incorporate a few simple dishes to serve along with your favorite party food. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- List of Chinese New Year foods
- Symbolic meanings of Chinese New Year food
- Serving platters and bowls
Instructions
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Know the meaning behind the food. Many foods are symbolic for this celebration. For example, spring rolls are symbolic of wealth, and crescent-shaped dumplings of wealth and prosperity.
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Plan your menu around the symbolic meanings. It will give your guests' an educational dining experience.
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Buy pre-made foods. Substitute spring rolls for egg rolls. Pre-made dumplings and crab rangoon also are good choices. You can find them in the frozen food section of the grocery store. Purchase these items the week of the party.
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Complete prep-work two days before the party. Chop, slice and dice vegetables and store them in the refrigerator to save time.
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Make your dishes one day before the party. Mix the ingredients and put together items such as spring rolls and crab rangoon one day before and store them in the refrigerator until it is time to cook.
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Tips & Warnings
If you don't have time to prepare the food and can't enlist anyone's help, call your favorite Chinese restaurant. Order take-out and serve everything in platters and bowls.
When preparing dishes the night before, label them with a piece of tape and include the name of the dish, cooking temperature and cooking time. This is critical for dishes containing pork and chicken.
Don't cross-contaminate. Wash you hands, utensils and cutting boards thoroughly after handling all raw meat. Use a different cutting board for preparing vegetables.
