What traditional foods are eaten on New Year’s Day?

Traditional foods on New Year's Day include dumplings, rice cakes, eggs, glutinous rice balls, and five-spice dishes.

1. Dumplings

Eating dumplings on New Year's Day is a traditional custom in the north, because dumplings symbolize reunion and good luck, and represent peace and success throughout the year. During the New Year's Day, families gather together to make dumplings, eat while cooking, chat with each other about home affairs, and share worries about work and life, creating a warm family atmosphere.

2. Rice cakes

Eating rice cakes on New Year's Day means that the new year will be "higher every year" and each year will be better than the last. New Year cake has a soft, glutinous and sweet texture. It is delicious and has a good meaning of satisfying cravings. It is also a traditional New Year food.

3. Eggs

Eating eggs on New Year’s Day is also a custom in some areas. Eating eggs on New Year’s Day not only tastes delicious, but also has a good meaning. Eggs symbolize reunion, and eggs are perfect. An oval, eating eggs represents family reunion.

4. Glutinous rice balls

Southern people also have the habit of eating glutinous rice balls on New Year’s Day. This is the same as eating glutinous rice balls during the Chinese New Year. The glutinous rice balls are round and come in one bite. They are soft, glutinous and sweet, nutritious and delicious. Satisfy cravings. The meaning of glutinous rice balls is also very good. Tangyuan means reunion. Eating glutinous rice balls at the beginning of the new year has a very good meaning.

5. Five pungent dishes

Wuxin dishes are five kinds of pungent dishes. As Yuanri food, they were first seen in "Fengtu Ji" written by Zhou Chu between Wu and Jin Dynasties. Eat five pungent vegetables in the morning "to help develop the five stored qi". On New Year's Day, at the beginning of spring, a mixture of onions, garlic, leeks, weeds, and mustards is eaten together with pungent and tender vegetables. It means welcoming the new year, and is called the Five Pungent Plate.

Reference for the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Dumplings