Tenth: Fry the squid.
The Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is the most important meal for the Chinese people and an important moment for family reunion. On such an occasion full of joy and blessings, each dish carries a deep meaning and blessing, which has long gone beyond the connotation of the dish itself. Take this fried squid, for example, it is delicious and chewy, and we usually eat it often, but in the context of Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, its meaning may be troublesome. In Chinese, "fried squid" means to be fired or unemployed at the company, which is very different from the festive atmosphere of reunion, and if the dish appears at the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, it may cause discomfort or embarrassment to some family members.
Ninth: bitter gourd.
Although bitter melon is nutritious and has a crisp taste, the word "bitter" in its name does not quite match the festive atmosphere of Chinese New Year's Eve dinner. In Chinese culture, "suffering" is often associated with negative fortunes such as bad luck and misfortune. Therefore, on occasions such as Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, which focus on auspiciousness and blessings, bitter melon may not be an ideal choice. Of course, it mainly depends on personal perceptions, and the older generation may care more, because they have all suffered in the past, and pay more attention to traditional customs and the meaning of some dishes.
Eighth: pickles.
Pickles are a very popular side dish in our country, especially in the past difficult years, this classic side dish has been a side dish for many families, and of course it is also a good accompaniment to many old wine friends. However, on a sumptuous occasion such as Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, pickles may be seen as a symbol of shabby or not rich enough, and older generations may also think that it carries the negative connotation of "living a hard life", which is not in tune with the allegorical and festive atmosphere of Chinese New Year's Eve dinner.
Seventh: moldy tofu.
Although moldy tofu is delicious and a perfect match for rice, the name moldy tofu may bring some negative connotations and poor psychological hints on occasions such as Chinese New Year's Eve dinner. The older generation believes that the word "mold" is not suitable in the festive atmosphere of the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, which means touching the mold head and is not very lucky. And in the old days, moldy tofu was often considered "the food of the poor", and the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner was a moment to show abundance and abundance, and moldy tofu may not be suitable for this occasion.
Sixth: plum cabbage button meat.
Plum cabbage button meat is a classic Hakka dish, in Cantonese cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Hunan cuisine and many other cuisines have been inherited, especially in rural banquets, plum vegetable button meat is a veritable handle, table pressing dish, but because the name of "plum vegetables" and "no vegetables" homonym, in the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner such a pursuit of auspicious and rich occasions are not suitable for the table. The older generation believes that this kind of implication may bring bad omen, after all, everyone wants to be rich in the coming year. In addition to the poor meaning, the unique cooking method of buttoned meat also has some problems in the cognition of the older generation, because buttoned meat is the meat that has been buckled backwards.
Fifth: Cut the fish into sections.
Fish is a necessary hard dish on the Chinese New Year's Eve meal, and eating fish is the meaning of having more than one year after another, so no matter whether it is poor or noble, east, west, north and south, every household will burn a fish. However, when it comes to sliced fish, the older generation thinks it's unlucky. They believe that eating fish at the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner must eat a whole fish, because the whole fish represents wholeness, continuity and reunion, while the cut fish means interruption and separation. Therefore, on occasions such as Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, which focuses on reunion and integrity, it is best to choose whole fish rather than cut fish to be grilled.
Fourth: lotus root.
To be honest, the lotus root was a bit unexpected on the list. But listening to the older generation, although the lotus root is delicious and soft, its shape is peculiar and has many small holes, which means "leaking wealth", which may mean the loss of wealth and good luck, so it is not suitable to serve on the occasion of the pursuit of auspiciousness, abundance and abundance such as the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner. Therefore, in order to maintain the continuity of wealth and good fortune, they are more inclined to choose other dishes with more auspicious meanings. In fact, there is no scientific basis for these statements, but these are all traditional customs handed down from ancestors, and the older generation may care more about these, young people can not believe it, but they must also learn to respect it. Take pickled vegetables and dried radishes as an example, young people think that it is nothing, but it is a good dish to drink, because they have not experienced those times of material scarcity, and their understanding of dishes and meanings is naturally different.
Third: goose meat.
Good luck, eat chicken tonight. At the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, chicken is a must, in addition to eating fish, the most eaten is to eat chicken, because chicken homonym "Ji", eating chicken is an auspicious meaning. But the goose meat we usually eat, according to the rules of the older generation, is not suitable for serving the Chinese New Year's Eve table. The reason is also very simple, goose, homonym with the word "hungry", in the special moment of Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, which means that there will be plenty of food and clothing in the coming year, it is somewhat not very "auspicious".
Second: cabbage and tofu soup.
Today's Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, every household is full of big fish and meat, the table is full of meat dishes, and a cabbage tofu soup has become a favorite of many people. But in the concept of the older generation, cabbage and tofu soup should not be served on Chinese New Year's Eve. Because they believe that cabbage and tofu soup, a dish of soup and water, means that the coming year will be "washed and lost", "one poor and two white", and the implication is not very good. Of course, this is somewhat superstitious, so let's see what happens.
First: dog meat.
There is a saying in China that "dog meat is not on the table", which means that dog meat is relatively low-grade, and Chinese New Year's Eve dinner should not be served on the table. And in most of the concepts that belong to our country, eating dog meat is not a concept worth advocating. In the occasion of reunion and harmony such as Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, it may be more appropriate to choose other dishes! Think about it, wouldn't it be embarrassing if you had dog lovers in your family?
China has a long history and rich culture, history has formed many important customs and some conventions, although these traditions may not be in line with modern scientific theories, but also part of the traditional cognition, we do not engage in superstition, but sometimes we must learn to respect and tolerate.
By the way, what are the customs of your Chinese New Year's Eve dinner over there?