lunar new year

Lotus Root Upside Down Cake

For the past few years, I have been documenting and recording my mom’s Lunar New Year recipes with the hope of preserving them for future generations in my family. Although they seemed complicated at ...

Nian Gao Waffles (Mochi Waffles)

Whenever my I make Mama Lin’s nian gao (年糕, new year’s cake) for Lunar New Year, I usually pan fry the cake to give the cake crispy edges. A few years ago, someone suggested that I turn the nian gao ...

Baked Nian Gao

Nian gao (年糕) is a steamed cake that people make to celebrate Lunar New Year. In Mandarin, 年糕 is pronounced nian gao, and the pronunciation in Chinese is neen go. “Nian gao” is the most common English ...

Toisan New Year Rice Cakes (迎年圓)

Lunar New Year celebrations aren’t complete without a batch of Mama Lin’s 迎年圓, literally “rice cakes to welcome the new year.” In the Toisan dialect (台山話), it's pronounced ngan nan zyuan (note that ...

Fat Goh (Fa Gao, 發糕, Chinese Prosperity Cake)

Every Lunar New Year, Mama Lin will steam fat goh (發糕, also known as fa gao), lightly sweet cakes that open up and blossom once they’re steamed. As a matter of fact, many Chinese families steam fat ...