Celebrate the Year of the Snake with Seafood

While customs vary, the shared focus on seafood highlights the importance of abundance for Chinese New Year celebrations.

By Samantha McLeod
SeaWestNews

Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival, is a cherished celebration marking the arrival of spring and a brand-new start to another year. And like most festivals, it ain’t over until the seafood appears.

As with any celebration, the festivities include a reunion dinner, where families gather to share dishes rich in ancient and symbolic meaning. Each dish on the vast and varied menu of this special occasion is blessed with a wish for  health, wealth, or happiness.

Seafood plays a vital role in Lunar New Year feasts across many Asian cultures, with each nationality bringing their own unique flavours to the celebration. There are 14 symbolic Lunar New Year Dishes that must be made and enjoyed within this auspicious two-week-long honouring of a the new year.

Seafood celebrations

Just to name a few of the dishes, there are – Dumplings for affluence, Spring Rolls represents gold bars, and Longevity Noodles to herald wishes for a long life.

Then there’s Sticky Rice Cakes for growth and progress, and Sweet Rice Balls and Eight Treasures Rice, which are symbols for family-unity and prosperity.

Last to mention, but certainly not the least, are the gifts from the sea! Whole fish. Whole fish is often served steamed and, quite aptly, signifies abundance, while prawns and seaweed highlight laughter and riches.

Take a peep at some of the many wonderful seafood dishes that are enjoyed during this brilliant celebration:

China: Steamed fish is a must, often served whole to symbolise unity and surplus. Prawns represent happiness, and abalone is linked to good fortune.

Vietnam (Tết): Seafood dishes like braised fish in clay pots and shrimp rolls are integral to family feasts, symbolising bounty and joy.

Malaysia and Singapore: Yee sang, a raw fish salad, is a festive centerpiece. Diners toss the seafood salad high while expressing blessings for good fortunes.

Indonesia: Dishes like steamed crab and shrimp curry are prepared, reflecting the nation’s rich seafood heritage and its connection to good fortune.

South Korea (Seollal): Fish-based soups and broths, like galchi-guk (Cutlass fish family called hairtail fish soup), are served to ensure health and abundance.

Japan: While Japan officially celebrates New Year on January 1, regions like Okinawa include seafood such as sashimi and grilled fish in Lunar New Year feasts.

Philippines: Dishes like ginataang alimango (crabs in coconut milk) and steamed lapu-lapu (grouper) reflect the significance of seafood in celebrations.

The Lunar New Year festivities connect hundreds of millions of people through traditions of renewal, family, and food…and while customs vary, the shared focus on seafood highlights the importance of abundance and prosperity in the year ahead.

With each dish prepared and enjoyed together, families honour the past and welcome the future, as they celebrate the unbreakable bonds that unite their cultures across the globe.

Crispy Skin Salmon Recipe for the Year of the Snake

This modern take on a traditional Lunar New Year fish dish incorporates salmon, which is a fitting fish to represent the good life. Make it today, or anytime throughout the year to celebrate the bounty of the sea.

Ingredients:

2 salmon fillets (8 oz each)

1 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil

1 thumb-size piece grated fresh ginger

1 clove garlic, grated

¼ tsp sesame oil

1 teaspoon Ogojojan Chili sauce

3 tbsp Kikkoman soy sauce

Juice of one quarter lemon

½ cup water

½ cup finely chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon crispy fried onions (store bought works great)

Method:

Season salmon liberally with the pepper.

Mix ginger, garlic, sesame oil, chili oil, soy sauce, lemon and water. Whip it well to incorporate the flavours. Set aside.

Pour the 2 tbsps. of olive oil in a skillet and place the fish skin-side down into the cold oil.

Place the skillet over medium heat. Let the salmon skin cook until crispy (4 or so minutes). Flip to the fleshy side and let it and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Remove the fish, leaving the crisp skin side up to air dry, while you make the sauce.

Add the sauce mix to the warm skillet and bring to a fragrant simmer (about a minute). Remove from heat.

To serve: Pour the sauce into a serving plate, place the fish in the center, and decorate the fillets with the minced cilantro and a mound of crispy onions piled on top.

This dish blends traditional Chinese flavors with a fresh and modern twist to bring delicious prosperity to your New Year table.