Top 9 Must-Have Chinese New Year Goodies

Photography by Matyen

CNY is a time for gourmet as well as putting in lots of gourmet treats that are sweet and delicious as well as savory. When you go to visit friends and relatives over the holiday season, they are likely to stuff you with all sort of foods. Any visit to a house will present you with plenty of dishes to indulge in, but there are some CNY delicacies that you don’t want to miss out on. 

9. Kueh Bangkit

A favourite snack during CNY particularly in Malaysia and Singapore is these tiny and lovely biscuits. Literally translated from Malay, the name for these biscuits is kueh bangkit – which means biscuits that rise. Exactly as their name suggest, SGs are the lightest of cookies, crispy on the outside but definitely soft and fluffy on the inside. In the past, they were available only in coconut, pandan, and sweet corn variant flavors. Kueh bangkit are nothing more than a squeeze in your mouth!

8. Fa Gao (Prosperity Cake)

All over the Asian region, the fa gao cake, made from rice and coated in sweet syrup, is one of the most popular traditional treat for CNY that is laden with symbolism. A fa gao is what the Chinese phrase means in Mandarin that is considered to symbolise prosperity in the year that is coming. The colour is dark brown due to molasses sugar and the closer to the top the higher the sugar tower rises, the stickier it becomes indicating the player is becoming more affluent. Fa gaos are necessary especially for the first day visits.

7. Pineapple Tarts

However, everyone’s favorite during Chinese New Year is the pineapple tarts; buttery, crumbly pineapple jam encased in sweet cookies. The pineapple represent good fortune and the sweet golden cookies, resemble actual gold bars. It turned out that pineapple tarts are considered gifts in Singapore, where families try to produce the best pineapple tarts higher-quality pineapples to add to them. There are pre-made ones as well that are excellent for gifting purposes as well!

6. Bak Kwa (BBQ Meat)  

Bak kwa barbecued meat usually in savory and sweet and smoky flavors are specialties that fill the snack markets during Chinese New Year celebrations. Bak kwa simply means meat jerky and can be pork, chicken or even crocodile meat! Bak kwa, with a salty sweet taste is sticky, and best savored together with tea or coffee. Thick slices of bak kwa can be used as gift products but customers have to join long queues during peak baking season before CNY.

5. Chinese Candy Box

I still remember that for CNY a Chinese candy box is a must have and should be placed in every living room. All of them are palm-sized candies, sweets and snacks to make beautiful decorations and thoughtful treat gifts. Children would readily shake the tin boxes in order to guess what was contained inside from the noise! This part includes the sugared lotus seeds, lily flower candy, peanut candy, and such.

4. Mandarin Orange

Orange being pronounced almost the same as the word for prosperity, the lucky mandarin orange has become the hallmark of Chinese New Year. Tangerines – both as the fruit and as the Kin Folk’s beloved ornament – are orange and present throughout the house. The sweet juicy oranges packed in red packets proved most appropriate and the red packet symbolizes luck while the orange signifies prosperity.

3. Love Letters

Light and crumbly, every letter of the finest love letter cookie is so thin it dissolves on your tongue. Love letters are one of the most popular biscuit produced during CNY due to its name origin – that is love letters biscuits that have folds and rolls resembling a chinese love letter. These biscuits are made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, butter or oil, milk, sesame seeds, and vanilla essence that puts together and masterfully baked until golden brown.  

2. CNY Snack Platter  

Only of course, no visitor to another’s home during this time of the year would be presented with a tray full of an assortment of snacks such as peanuts, candied fruits, seeds nuts and chips amongst others. Describing the different seasons CNY is reported that it is the right time for free snacks out there without necessarily worrying on the extra pounds gained. Even better, get these tasty tiny snacks in cute and reusable tins!

1. Mandarin Orange

The mandarin orange, which no one can escape from out there in the world. This fruit has to be relevant in every CNY celebration, and its aroma has to be filling the homes and houses of those who celebrate it. Red and gold as the colors of prosperity and luck, sweet juicy segments of the fruit symbolize sweet life from the Pierce’s. Mandarin oranges need to be seen during festive season, used in festive packaging, and of course, enjoyed – at least I do!

So here is finishes our list of 9 essential CNY baked goodies. From neatly shaped butter cookies to dark colored roast meat, the festive snacks are as good in taste as in meaning. Which treat tops your list? Happy New Year – Kung Hei Fat Choy! May all of your favorite treats replenish your luck in the Year of the Rabbit!