Sweet Treats for Lunar New Year
2023-01-22
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1Asian families from the United States to China and Vietnam celebrate the Lunar New Year on Sunday, January 22.
2There are new clothes, big meals, and the traditional red envelopes of money for children.
3The red signifies good luck.
4There are also plenty of tasty, sweet desserts to have with tea throughout the day.
5In Beijing, China, people have been lining up outside Daoxiangcun, one of the city's best-known bakeries, for New Year dessert gifts.
6Some of the treats are shaped like a rabbit, the Chinese zodiac animal of honor for 2023.
7In central China's Shanxi province, Lexi Li waited for seven hours in the cold weather to buy baked goods.
8Li told the Associated Press, "I don't really like desserts and pastries, but I just want to bring something home as a gift."
9Lunar New Year desserts in China are usually based in rice or flour.
10They include rice balls, sesame balls, almond cookies, candied lotus seeds and steamed cakes called fat goh.
11The most popular dessert is nian gao, made from rice flour along with taro, date fruit, jujube and red bean paste.
12Nian gao sounds like "higher year" in Chinese, meaning a more successful year ahead. It also expresses wishes for children to grow taller.
13Siu Yan Ho is a Hong Kong-based expert in Chinese food culture.
14Siu said, "Food is memory, and this memory is connected with festivals."
15Vietnam is celebrating the Year of the Cat.
16The traditional sweets for such celebration differ by area. Vietnamese people eat nian gao, which they call banh to.
17They also eat che kho gao nep, a pudding made with sticky rice and a mixture of water, ginger and either sugar or molasses.
18Other treats include che kho dau xanh - a bean pudding made with coconut milk and sugar - and banh tet chuoi, a rice cake with bananas.
19"On Lunar New Year, for three days you go visit family, friends and teachers," said Linh Trinh, a Vietnamese food historian studying at the University of Michigan.
20"So everybody has to store a lot of snacks in their house for people to come visit and have tea.
21It becomes like the pride of the household to serve their traditional snacks."
22Kat Lieu, who is half Chinese and half Vietnamese, now lives in Seattle, Washington.
23She remembers that her mother would make steamed nian gao for breakfast every Lunar New Year.
24Lieu plans to do the same this year for her nine-year-old son.
25"I'm also going to make the steamed nian gao and things like that, and try to have him appreciate it more, too," she said.
26Kelson Herman lives in San Francisco, California. She made bread for the Lunar New Year.
27She topped the bread with an image of a Miffy, a famous rabbit from a Dutch children's book.
28In Queens, New York, Karen Chin made a two-level cake frosted in coconut buttercream topped with a white chocolate rabbit.
29"I told my grandma that I was going to make a cake. And she's like, 'Don't make it too complicated,'" Chin said, smiling.
30American companies are also getting into the Lunar New Year spirit.
31Cupcake company Sprinkles is selling red velvet cupcakes with an almond cookie crust and almond cream cheese frosting.
32And, at Disney California Adventure Park, guests can order milk tea cheesecake with taro mousse.
33I'm Ashley Thompson.
1Asian families from the United States to China and Vietnam celebrate the Lunar New Year on Sunday, January 22. 2There are new clothes, big meals, and the traditional red envelopes of money for children. The red signifies good luck. There are also plenty of tasty, sweet desserts to have with tea throughout the day. 3In China 4In Beijing, China, people have been lining up outside Daoxiangcun, one of the city's best-known bakeries, for New Year dessert gifts. Some of the treats are shaped like a rabbit, the Chinese zodiac animal of honor for 2023. 5In central China's Shanxi province, Lexi Li waited for seven hours in the cold weather to buy baked goods. Li told the Associated Press, "I don't really like desserts and pastries, but I just want to bring something home as a gift." 6Lunar New Year desserts in China are usually based in rice or flour. They include rice balls, sesame balls, almond cookies, candied lotus seeds and steamed cakes called fat goh. 7The most popular dessert is nian gao, made from rice flour along with taro, date fruit, jujube and red bean paste. Nian gao sounds like "higher year" in Chinese, meaning a more successful year ahead. It also expresses wishes for children to grow taller. 8Siu Yan Ho is a Hong Kong-based expert in Chinese food culture. Siu said, "Food is memory, and this memory is connected with festivals." 9In Vietnam 10Vietnam is celebrating the Year of the Cat. The traditional sweets for such celebration differ by area. Vietnamese people eat nian gao, which they call banh to. They also eat che kho gao nep, a pudding made with sticky rice and a mixture of water, ginger and either sugar or molasses. Other treats include che kho dau xanh - a bean pudding made with coconut milk and sugar - and banh tet chuoi, a rice cake with bananas. 11"On Lunar New Year, for three days you go visit family, friends and teachers," said Linh Trinh, a Vietnamese food historian studying at the University of Michigan. "So everybody has to store a lot of snacks in their house for people to come visit and have tea. It becomes like the pride of the household to serve their traditional snacks." 12In the United States 13Kat Lieu, who is half Chinese and half Vietnamese, now lives in Seattle, Washington. She remembers that her mother would make steamed nian gao for breakfast every Lunar New Year. Lieu plans to do the same this year for her nine-year-old son. 14"I'm also going to make the steamed nian gao and things like that, and try to have him appreciate it more, too," she said. 15Kelson Herman lives in San Francisco, California. She made bread for the Lunar New Year. She topped the bread with an image of a Miffy, a famous rabbit from a Dutch children's book. 16In Queens, New York, Karen Chin made a two-level cake frosted in coconut buttercream topped with a white chocolate rabbit. "I told my grandma that I was going to make a cake. And she's like, 'Don't make it too complicated,'" Chin said, smiling. 17American companies are also getting into the Lunar New Year spirit. Cupcake company Sprinkles is selling red velvet cupcakes with an almond cookie crust and almond cream cheese frosting. And, at Disney California Adventure Park, guests can order milk tea cheesecake with taro mousse. 18I'm Ashley Thompson. 19Terry Tang wrote this story for the Associated Press. Hai Do adapted the story for Learning English. 20____________________________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22envelope - n. an enclosing cover for letter, card or money 23dessert - n. sweet food usually eaten after a meal 24bakery - n. place where bread, cake or cookies are made 25zodiac - n. time cycle divided into 12 parts for Lunar New Year calendar 26festival - n. special time when people get together to celebrate 27snack - n. small amount of food eaten between meals 28appreciate - v. to understand the importance of something 29complicated - adj. having many parts