I know very little about the celebration and traditions of the Chinese New Year. After only scratching the surface, I can appreciate the importance of family during the celebration and the incredible amount of symbolism on the banquet table. Traditionally whole fish and chicken are served, and I mean whole, head to tail and feet, something we don’t often see here in North America. Serving them whole symbolizes togetherness and prosperity through the year; they are also served whole because the act of cutting and slicing has negative connotations, such as severing family ties.

At this time of the year millions of people are preparing for the Chinese New Year and I wanted to show you how to make one of my favourite dishes, Vegetable Lo Mein. This simple recipe is easy to prepare and will feed a lot of people, however due to the large assortment of vegetables there is a lot of knife work. You could start preparing the day before as long as you cover the cut vegetables well when you store them in the fridge. Lo Mein means “tossed noodles”.

One thing I have learned over the years is pick the right person for the job, utilize all of the resources available to you. With this week’s blog theme being Chinese New Year, I went to the Managing Director of the Compliments Culinary Centre, Winnie Chiu, for some assistance. Winnie was born in and grew up in Hong Kong and therefore was much more knowledgeable on the subject then I. Below is some information on some of the customs and rituals involved in the Chinese New Year.