The only way I know how - EATING A LOT
By Jennifer Lin (Music Director)
Happy slightly belated Lunar New Year! I'm glad that NY is finally letting its students celebrate by giving them the day off, and am also jealous that I never got any holiday time when I was younger. So, to make myself feel better, here are a some excuses to eat Chinese food for the next couple of days (to celebrate)!
- Dumplings
Dumplings are often shaped like the little gold ingots that were used as currency in ancient China, so they're eaten to encourage windfall in the new year. If you're feeling fancy, you can try making them yourself. Or, here's an excellent dumpling crawl through L.A.'s San Gabriel Valley where you can stuff yourself at nine different locations.
Gold is pretty to look at, but not so nice to eat. These dumplings, on the other hand... (Sources: 1, 2)
- Fish
The Chinese word for "fish" (魚) sounds like the word for "surplus" (余). There's a greeting in Chinese that translates to "may you have a surplus every year", but also sounds like "may you have fish every year". Thus, eating fish is thought to bring good luck in all aspects. The fish should be served with its head and tail intact, so as to encourage a strong start and finish to the year. - Noodles
Thought to symbolize the length of one's life, eating noodles during the new year is encouraged as long (unintentional and slightly unavoidable pun) as the noodles are not cut short. The longer, the better! As my favorite kind of Chinese noodles are the ones in Taiwanese beef stew, here's a list of the top bowls around L.A., so you can eat your way to a longer (and fuller) life. Happy eating and monkeying around in the new year!
One of my favorite beef stew noodle places, Bull Demon King Cafe. Image sourced from my own Instagram because why not.
JENNIFER LIN has very emotional connections to inanimate objects and is obsessed with polka dots. She works in and around Los Angeles as a music director/teacher, which means she drives way too much, drinks a lot of tea, and is constantly eating.
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