Happy Lunar New Year! February 17th marks the start of the Year of the Horse and kicks off dayslong festivities in different communities. Everyone has their own cultural and familial traditions when it comes to celebrating this time of year, and what better way to celebrate anything than with food?
During Lunar New Year, many cultures have traditional foods they eat, sometimes even specific foods on specific days of the new year. But finding cookbooks that delve into this time of year can be a little (a lot) difficult. While we wait for those cookbooks to be published, here are some cookbooks that introduce classic dishes from countries that celebrate Lunar New Year.
China: Former Peak Pick Feasts of Good Fortune is one of the few cookbooks available that has traditional recipes for different Chinese holidays and festivals, including Lunar New Year. The Woks of Life, written by the Leung family behind the popular cooking blog of the same name, uses each family member’s experiences and strengths to introduce Chinese recipes in an approachable way.
Vietnam: In Ăn Chưa?, Julie Mai Trần shares traditional recipes from Northern, Central and Southern Vietnam to celebrate Vietnamese cuisine, culture and history with home cooks. Popular social media chef Tuệ Nguyễn, known as @TwayDaBae on Instagram and TikTok, wrote Di Ân to honor the classic flavors of her culture.
Korea: In Korean Home Cooking Shoui Kim, chef and co-owner of two Brooklyn, NY restaurants, celebrates authentic Korean cuisine and guides home cooks to recreate these dishes in their very own kitchens. The mother-daughter duo behind Umma first became popular on Instagram and TikTok as @ahnest by sharing classic Korean recipes along with stories and conversations about life, and the cookbook is an extension of their unique blend of familial intimacy and Korean food.
Taiwan: Cathy Erway’s The Food of Taiwan introduces the history of the island of Taiwan and its people and how it influenced the food and culture of today, while food journalist Clarissa Wei’s Made in Taiwan takes a deeper dive into Taiwanese culture through interviews with local Taiwanese people who have lived on the island for generations and authentic rarely seen recipes of traditional foods.
Singapore: Shu Han Lee’s Agak Agak encourages home cooks to follow the Singaporean cuisine tradition of adjusting dishes to their tastes through classic and modern dishes. In Makan, former MasterChef competitor and Michelin star-winner Elizabeth Haigh compiles a list of traditional Singaporean recipes that have been passed down through many generations of her family.
Malaysia: Penang Local, by Aim Aris & Ahmad Salim, honors both traditional Malaysian cuisine and the multicultural influences on the country’s thriving food scene. Like the storied past of how Malaysian cuisine came to be, Mandy Yin’s Sambal Shiok pays homage to the different cultural influences that shaped traditional Malaysian food over the years.
~posted by Connie C.