Good fortune, good food

A New Year's resolution, it has been observed, often goes in one year and out the other, so perhaps, like me, you've already forgotten or abandoned yours. But don't despair. You'll get a second chance to start anew next week if, like one-quarter of the world's population, you celebrate Chinese New Year.

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the longest chronological record in history, the New Year, the Year of the Monkey, begins on Jan. 22, and like its Western counterpart, the Chinese New Year has its share of traditions.

For example, at the stroke of midnight on Chinese New Year's Eve all doors and windows in the house are opened to let the old year go out, and on New Year's Day cleaning and dusting are not allowed for fear that good fortune might be swept away.

But by far the most significant symbolism of the holiday involves food. While Americans might single out one food to eat on New Year's Eve for good luck (black-eyed peas, for instance), the Chinese consider literally everything eaten during their two-week New Year celebration to be auspicious.

Some foods have significance when served in their whole or unbroken state. Thus, during Chinese New Year, chicken is served complete with head and feet, representing family togetherness. Similarly, fish is served whole with head and tail intact, hopefully portending a good beginning and ending for the coming year. Great care is taken not to break the fish during cooking, which would be bad luck. Likewise, it is considered bad luck to cut noodles as they represent long life. In fact, using knives or cleavers during the holiday is considered bad luck lest they cut off or divide good fortune.

Other foods are significant to the holiday because of their association with valued words or concepts. For example, the Chinese word for tangerine sounds like the word for luck while the Chinese word for orange sounds like the word for wealth. Thus, tangerines and oranges are copiously distributed during the holiday and proper etiquette requires that a bag of oranges and tangerines be brought along when visiting family and friends any time during the New Year celebration.

Similarly, the pomelo, the largest of the citrus fruits and ancestor of the grapefruit, represents abundance because the Chinese word for it sounds like the word meaning "to have." By the same token, the word for fish is represented by the written character meaning "more than enough." Therefore, on New Year's Eve it is customary to serve a fish at the end of the meal to symbolize a wish for abundance during the coming year. It is never fully eaten, signifying that the family will never want for more.

Other foods are symbolic for more obvious reasons. Sticky rice cake, for instance, is meaningful on a number of levels. Its sweetness represents a rich, sweet life; its layers represent rising abundance in the coming year; and its round shape signifies family reunion.

From lychee nuts to lotus seeds, there's hardly a food at the table during the Chinese New Year celebration that isn't fraught with meaning. Why not join the celebration this year and eat your way to good fortune?

Lucky Lettuce Wraps

The Chinese word for lettuce, "sang choi," sounds like the word meaning "to bring about wealth and riches," making these lettuce wraps a perfect choice for Chinese New Year. The recipe is adapted from the About.com Web site.

Ingredients:

1 head iceberg or romaine lettuce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts

2 green onions

1 stalk celery

1 can water chestnuts

1 slice ginger

1 garlic clove

1 red pepper

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon dry sherry

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons water

Directions:

Wash and dry lettuce. Separate leaves and set aside. Heat sesame oil over high heat. Mince garlic and ginger, chop green onions and add to pan, frying until garlic and ginger are aromatic. Slice chicken and add to pan, cooking until browned. Seed and dice red pepper, rinse water chestnuts and chop, and dice celery and add to pan. Mix together soy sauce, oyster sauce, sherry, and sugar and add to pan and cook over medium heat for a few minutes. Combine cornstarch and water and add to sauce, stirring to thicken. Lay out lettuce leaves, spoon tablespoon of mixture into middle of each, and fold into a package.

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