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5 Auspicious Desserts to Welcome Chinese New Year
People usually prepare desserts as the offering sacrificed to Chinese divines and deities on Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year. According to ancient Chinese beliefs, it was said that sweets are offered for it symbolizes a blessing of smooth and happy life throughout the year. Join us in discovering the auspicious Chinese desserts that bring you good fortune as well as celebrate the year of the tiger.
Steamed Prosperity Cake (发糕 Fāgāo)
This Cantonese-style sweetmeat is made with a combination of rice flour, yeast, sugar, and food coloring agent, and moist-heat method is applied for cooking. Steamed prosperity cake looks fluffy and similar to cupcake or muffin, and it’s perfectly goes with hot Chinese tea. Not only its delectable flavor, this dessert also symbolizes increased prosperity in every aspect of life just like its appearance. We can find steamed prosperity cake in Chinese auspicious ceremony be it wedding ceremony and other celebration, including Lunar New Year.
Steamed Sticky Rice Cake (年糕 Niángāo)
One of the most popular auspicious dessert that you can find in traditional Chinese festival is “Steamed Sticky Rice Cake”, a dessert that delivers sticky, stretchy texture since it’s made from glutinous rice. The rice cake offers nutty sweet flavor from a combination of sugar and shredded coconut meat, and it is usually served in a bowl made from banana leaf. Whether you eat it as steamed sticky rice cake or put it to a deep-fried, it still tastes savory. “Steamed sticky rice cake” is called “Nian Gao” in Chinese, and it sounds similar to “Nian Nian Gao” or a year of growth and advancement.
Chinese Sweetmeat (甜料 Tiánliào)
A set of auspicious dessert imported directly from China consists of sweetmeat made from 5 cereal grain seeds be it peanut bar, white sesame, puffed rice, candied peanuts, and sugared melon. It is served on special occasion such as wedding ceremony, house-warming ceremony, and it’s also one of the auspicious offerings on Lunar New Year. Each “sweetmeat” has its own auspicious meaning such as to be blessed with good fortune, to live a sweet life all year round, or to be blessed with longevity.
Peach Steamed Bun (壽桃 Shòutáo)
Tender peach steamed bun is made from wheat flour and accompanied with various sweet fillings such as nuts, black sesame, and taro. The steamed bun looks similar to peach, the fruit of heaven. Its name means to be blessed with good health and longevity, so peach steamed bun can be a decent Chinese New Year offering to bring good fortune to your life. Also, it can be a perfect birthday gift for the seniors in your family or your family and friends on other special occasion as well.
Deep-Fried Sugared Taro (反沙芋 Fǎnshāyù)
This auspicious dessert called “Deep-fried sugared taro” becomes a popular snack that most everyone simply falls in love with. You will enjoy nutty and sweet flavor once you take a bite. The snack symbolizes auspicious meaning in the aspects of growth, prosperity, and advancement. If you’re looking for auspicious sweet for Lunar New Year, “Deep-fried sugared Taro” should be the ideal option for you to try.
After you enjoy the 5 auspicious Chinese desserts to bring good fortune this Lunar New Year, you should take this opportunity to show off your cooking skills by preparing “deep-fried sugared taro, one of the 5 recommended auspicious sweet recipes. Enjoy nutty sweet flavor of the Chinese dessert featuring crunchy texture on the outside and tender on the inside. The preparation is so simple that you can make it yourself. Check out the list of ingredients required for this recipe!
Ingredients
1. Taro 500 g.
2. Rice bran oil 1 bottle
3. Granulated sugar 100 g.
4. Drinking water 1 bottle
5. Sliced spring onions
วิธีทำ
1. Peel the taro, then cut it into strips of 2 cm. wide and 5 cm. long.
2. Heat the pan over 180°C, pour in rice bran oil and wait until it begins to smoke, then add sliced taro to hot oil and deep-fry for 5 minutes. Remove fried taro from the pan to drain the oil, set aside to let cool.
3. Add granulated sugar to the skillet, followed by 4 tablespoon of drinking water. Heat on the stove over 116 °C, stir granulated sugar and water to dissolve until the mixture becomes sticky
4. Add deep-fried taro to syrup and stir-fry over low heat. Continue to immerse the taro until the syrup dries and the taro strips are coated with frosty sugar. Turn off the stove, sprinkle sliced spring onions and toss over to combine.
“Deep-fried sugared taro”, the sweetmeat with auspicious meaning has more than just its delectable taste. You can get health benefit from taro as it’s high in nutrients like iron and fluoride that helps promote teeth and bones’ health. Furthermore, it helps maintain digestive system and reduce blood glucose, the cause of diabetes. This auspicious sweetmeat brings you joy and happiness as well as keep you healthy, and so you should visit any branch of Tops and Central Food Hall as soon as possible to shop ingredients for preparing this recipe. You can also shop at Tops online available on website and application. May you be blessed with happiness and prosperity this Lunar New Year.Xin Jia Yu Yi Xin Ni Huad Xai! See you next time…
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