When cupcakes for Lunar New Year appeared in my Instagram feed, I grew curious about traditional New Year desserts. While researching, I came to appreciate that this Year of the Rat has much in common with my Cupcakes of Gold master plan for 2020.
Before diving deeply into theory, let’s take a moment to look at some thematic cupcakes.
Gold is one of several lucky colors in a year of the rat. In Chinese elemental theory, 2020 is a year of the gold (metal) rat. Separate from the elements, rats are symbols of wealth.
Being yang, rats conceptually affirm my year of Optimal Vision and Cupcakes of Gold. Positivity, bright light, and new beginnings are already manifesting.
To fully digest the good fortune, I set out to eat as many traditional foods as I could find.
During the D.C. Lunar New Year parade, I was lucky to find nian gao at a Chinatown bakery. Made with glutinous rice flour and brown sugar, the traditional New Year steamed cake symbolizes prosperity and a higher status. It is served sliced and pan fried to a pleasant consistency.
To prove I sometimes eat savory food, I ordered dishes that symbolize good fortune.
Dumplings are also a lucky New Year food. At the first restaurant I visited, the dumplings were shaped in round form.
The traditional crescent shape resembles ancient Chinese currency (ingots) and thus represents wealth and prosperity.
Delicious as they were, the round dumplings left me with a nagging question. I had to be sure I was partaking of the exact lucky food. Therefore, further research was required.
At my second restaurant, I placed a takeaway order for vegetable dumplings. I didn’t see what was coming, so I had to have faith.
At home, I opened the box to find dumplings in the traditional shape and green like money. Perfect.
I don’t know how trustworthy the China Highlights website is, but I do know that I like this sentiment very much: “Legend has it that the more dumplings you eat during the New Year celebrations, the more money you can make in the New Year.”
Two orders of dumplings thus consumed.
Before my dumplings x 2 dinner, I had dessert. Here is the Ice Cream Jubilee Lunar New Year sampler. Flavors are roasted barley tea, red bean almond cookie, matcha green tea, citrus Sichuan peppercorn, chocolate yuzu, and ume plum sesame leaf.
Can’t help but repost this. Their picture is so much nicer than mine.
I found a pastry labeled “cup cake” at a Taiwanese bakery I visited in the suburbs. It may not be a traditional New Year food, but it interests me for obvious reasons.
If all this is what prosperity tastes like, I’m having seconds.
Andrea Adleman | Cupcakologist 