Mouthing OffWhich dish is traditionally eaten on the first day of Lunar New Year? Easy: Chinese pudding. Or is it dumplings? Er, pot-stickers? Kumquats?

A pub quiz question about traditional foods eaten on the first day of Lunar New Year challenged Andrew Sun’s understanding of Chinese customs

When his team’s answer (Chinese puddings) was contradicted by a search engine (yes, that one), he took a deeper look, and found ‘traditions’ he’d never heard of

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Which dish is traditionally eaten by Chinese people on the first day of Lunar New Year? Dumplings, a pub quizmaster tells our columnist, quoting Google. Disagreeing, he dives deeper in search of answers. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:45am, 14 Feb 2024Updated: 8:05am, 14 Feb 2024

I am mad!

I joined my buds for a pub quiz the week before Lunar New Year and there was one round of questions on Chinese New Year festive customs. Most of the queries were obvious enough – “What animal is the coming new year of?” (Dragon). “What fruit is prominent for its prosperous seasonal association? (Tangerines).

One of the quiz questions, however, proved quite contentious. It asked: what food is traditionally eaten on the first day of Chinese New Year?

Our team had three people of Chinese descent. None of us thought there was any specific dish that was a must-serve for New Year lunch or dinner. The consensus answer, we decided, might be goh, the Chinese puddings and cakes popular during the season.

Chinese New Year pudding is a traditional dish for Chinese people on the first day of Lunar New Year – or is it? Photo: Shutterstock

There’s loh bok goh: the tasty savoury radish cakes, often pan-fried, are so good they are enjoyed year-round at dim sum. Another variety is nin goh, made with glutinous rice flour and cane or rock sugar, sometimes with coconut milk added. They are less popular because they’re quite sweet and chewy, but the name phonetically sounds like a wish for “prosperity the whole year”.