Celebrating the Year of the Golden Rabbit

Chinese Lunar New Year is an important holiday for the Chinese culture. That's putting it mildly. From February 3 - 18 there will be many celebrations. Money will be spent on gifts for loved ones; decorations will be displayed with popular themes representing “happiness, wealth and longevity” and huge annual reunion suppers, known as the “Eve of the Passing Year” will be served. Some will thoroughly clean the house, purging all the bad out the door, making room for good fortunes to beam in through the windows. Kind of like our idea of “spring cleaning” as the Chinese do refer to this time of the season as spring while we’re still in winter.

Bringing Chinese New Year into your home through the kitchen is a great way of getting in the spirit of the holiday. Common celebratory dishes include dumplings paired with a meat symbolizing luck and wealth. Adding a dark meaty mushroom as well is said to fulfill wishes from east to west. Crispy vegetable and tofu spring rolls are always on the table around this time, representing wealth with bars of gold. They're pretty simple to make and even easier to munch on. The colors red and gold play a large role in Chinese New Year cusines, representing prosperity, luck and vitality. A Cantonese-style dish of tomato beef fried rice would fit right into this category. Sometimes cooked over open coals for a more authentic taste, pork seasoned with spices is a common centerpiece for the feast. And it wouldn't be a traditional Fair Oaks Chinese New Year without at least one chicken dish, representing family and unity. Star anise is another common spice used in traditional Chinese cooking, and when used on chicken, gives it a hint of licorice flavor. Pronounced “yu” in Chinese, fish is also traditionally eaten during this holiday, as it is a homophone for “surpluses," encouraging abundance in the coming New Year. The fish must be served whole, the head and tail representing happy beginnings and endings to attract completeness and good fortune. Complementing these dishes, and a must-have on the table, a sie of noodles, showcasing longevity. A couple other finger-friendly foods found on the Chinese New Year table are rice balls, meaning reunion, and lettuce cups which are filled with a variety of ingredients, such as beef spiced with ginger, garlic, soy sauce and red pepper flakes. For dessert the Chinese keep it simple snacking on oranges. In Chinese the word for orange and gold sound almost the same therefore they are eaten to promote wealth in the New Year.

Obviously this traditional holiday is recognized in China and other Asian countries; however, Chinese New Year is also embraced throughout the Sacramento area as well.

On Feb. 12 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at California State University, Sacramento in the University Union Hall, the Chinese New Years Cultural Association (CNYCA), formed in 1997, will be hosting an event celebrating the holiday. Fees are $6 for adults and $1 for children 12 years of age and under to take in traditional lion dancing, martial arts like Tai Chi and kung fu and other cultural dance performances. For the artsy crowd, there will be Chinese paintings and art. For those who enjoy partaking in karaoke, partake in a singing contest. Perhaps you’d prefer the ball room dancing to get your groove on. Not leaving the little ones out? Children’s games and fun cultural activities will be set up for play.

Many local businesses and organizations will have vendor booths set up displaying their goods and services.

Although my Chinese sign is the monkey swinging from the trees, I can surely make room for the golden rabbit to hip-hop its way in as I celebrate both Chinese New Year and turning 30-years-old this weekend.

Gung hay fat choy! Or I mean, best wishes and congratulations, having a prosperous and good new year.