New Year meals featuring the zodiac animal

Kent Wang · January 29, 2006

Is it common to have the New Year's zodiac animal be a primary or featured ingredient in a New Year dinner? Certainly some exceptions would have to be made, e.g. dragon as it is mythical, dog as it is socially unacceptable and tiger as it is endangered.

miladyinsanity · January 29, 2006

I suppose you could always use a dish that shares homonyms with the animal. Or there are always jelly molds. :laugh:

origamicrane · January 29, 2006

hmmm.. don't think we do any zodiac related food stuff.

and chinese new year meals are pretty set like other cultural celebratory meals. like you must have food that sounds auspicious you must have luxury ingredients abalone, conpoy, shittake, hair fungus, dried oysters, noodles, etc.

Actually think it might be a little disrespectful to eat chicken to celebrate the year of the chicken or any other animal that rules the year.

Closest thing I think would be eating lobster on the year of the dragon as lobster in chinese means "dragon prawn/shrimp"

SuzySushi · January 29, 2006

Oh, no!

That would bring bad luck because the animal of the year is supposed to be strong!

Edited January 29, 2006 by SuzySushi (log)

Ben Hong · January 29, 2006

Uh oh, this is the year of the DOG. :blink: :shock:

rjwong · January 29, 2006

Uh oh, this is the year of the DOG.
←

And 2007 is the year of the PIG!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!

hzrt8w · January 29, 2006

Is it common to have the New Year's zodiac animal be a primary or featured ingredient in a New Year dinner?
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Who would like to eat monkeys, horses and rats?

origamicrane · January 29, 2006

Is it common to have the New Year's zodiac animal be a primary or featured ingredient in a New Year dinner?
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Who would like to eat monkeys, horses and rats?
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the french and japanese have a liking for horse meat.

and chinese eat just about everything

remember my dad telling me about eating new born baby rats in alcohol. :shock:

Kent Wang · January 29, 2006

Who would like to eat monkeys, horses and rats?
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I would. I'd eat tiger if they weren't endangered, and I definitely would eat dragon.

Tepee · January 30, 2006

and chinese eat just about everything
remember my dad telling me about eating new born baby rats in alcohol.
←

As a child, I remember I was in my aunt's house when their rat cage snared a pregnant rat. It gave birth to little pink rat babies (er...what do they call them?) bringing much excitement to the household. My uncle promptly put them in a bottle of wine not believing their good fortune. I had the horror of witnessing him down one later. Ewwwwwwww!

M.X.Hassett · January 30, 2006

Who would like to eat monkeys, horses and rats?
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I would. I'd eat tiger if they weren't endangered, and I definitely would eat dragon.
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Ditto.

I have eaten baby mice as mentioned above thread also, crunchy and gamey with a certain sweetness to them.

I agree that eating the animal of that N.Y.s eve would be disrespectful, although I am no expert in Chinese cuisine the holiday honers the animal.

Edit: I have also eaten the aformentioned rats and though palatable I would not seek them out. Horse though is a great meat and I do seek it.

Edited January 30, 2006 by M.X.Hassett (log)

hzrt8w · January 30, 2006

I would. I'd eat tiger if they weren't endangered, and I definitely would eat dragon.
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Dragon is a legendary animal. Can't count that. You can eat snakes or lizzards as a substitute. But... oh no, we already have snake on the zodiac...

origamicrane · January 30, 2006

I would. I'd eat tiger if they weren't endangered, and I definitely would eat dragon.
←
Dragon is a legendary animal. Can't count that. You can eat snakes or lizzards as a substitute. But... oh no, we already have snake on the zodiac...
←

Komodo dragon? although they are endangered and I think they might even be toxic.

just settle for non-endangered animals/ food that have dragon in their name.

herbacidal · January 31, 2006

The only food with dragon in its name that I can think of is dragonfruit.

Although I vaguely recall a dragon candy, but not what it actually looks or tastes like.

Ben Hong · January 31, 2006

Herby, the Chinese name for lobster is what?? :raz:

sheetz · January 31, 2006

longan = "dragon's eye"

Anyways, I don't mind eating snakes, frogs, snails, and brains, but I definitely draw the line at baby rats! No way! I'd rather eat insects.

origamicrane · January 31, 2006

longan = "dragon's eye"
Anyways, I don't mind eating snakes, frogs, snails, and brains, but I definitely draw the line at baby rats! No way! I'd rather eat insects.
←

dragon beard sweets...

lobster...

longan...

there a fish with dragon in the name isn't there?

baby rat ?

close your eyes it tastes like chicken :raz:

sheetz · February 1, 2006

there a fish with dragon in the name isn't there?

Isn't flounder called lung lei, or "dragon's tongue"?

origamicrane · February 1, 2006

there a fish with dragon in the name isn't there?
Isn't flounder called lung lei, or "dragon's tongue"?
←

yep leng lui

not sure what its called in english though.

so we got several things with dragon in the name

now how about dog?

liuzhou · February 1, 2006

Dog is a common winter hotpot favourite around this part of China (Guangxi). It hasn't featured this New Year as we are having unseasonably warm weather.

I have never come across any taboo against eating the animal of the year. Last year we certainly demolished plenty chickens!

(Lobster is "long xia" or "dragon shrimp")

Edited February 1, 2006 by liuzhou (log)

jo-mel · February 2, 2006

[there a fish with dragon in the name isn't there?

Fish with 'dragon' in its name?

I found 'Carangid' in my Chinese Seafood cookbook. The picture of them is like a silvery sunfish. Small and cute. The Chinese name in the book seems to be 龙鱼 - Long Yu, but I couldn't find that translation anywhere. According to Merriam: of or relating to a large family (Carangidae of the order Perciformes) of marine spiny-finned bony fishes including important food fishes.

Also -- I found 'Pipefish' - 海龙 in a classified dictionary. Merriam says:

any of various fishes (family Syngnathidae) that are related to the sea horses and have a tube-shaped snout and a long slender body covered with bony plates

SuzySushi · February 2, 2006

I have never come across any taboo against eating the animal of the year.
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During the rest of the year, sure, but what about for a celebratory New Year's dinner?

liuzhou · February 3, 2006

During the rest of the year, sure, but what about for a celebratory New Year's dinner?

Sorry, I meant during New Year's dinners. Last New Year we certainly ate chicken and I'm certain that we will be eating pork in the year of the pig.

The Chinese name in the book seems to be 龙鱼 - Long Yu, but I couldn't find that translation anywhere

The problem is that many names are regional.

The only fish beginning with "long" whiich I can find in my rather large dictionary is 龙睛金鱼 long jing jin yü, literally "dragon's eye goldfish", buit translated as "telescope goldfish".

Isn't flounder called lung lei, or "dragon's tongue"?

The general translation (at least in Mandarin ) for flounder is either 比目鱼 "bimuyü)or 平鱼 (pingyü). I'm not sure what is meant by leng lei - don't know Cantonese! Do you have the characters?

Ben Hong · February 3, 2006

Lung lei is lterally translated as "dragon tongue" and it refers to fish of the flounder type, including in some cases the sole.

liuzhou · February 3, 2006

Interestingly, a Google search for "lung lei" produces nothing related to fish, that I can see!

Nor can I think of anything in Mandarin which is close to "lei" and means "tongue".

Does anyone have the characters?

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