Wondering what dishes to prepare to ensure an auspicious Year of the Rabbit? Malaysia-based author and cook S.C. Moey provides answers to this dilemma in her book Chinese Feasts & Festivals: A Cookbook.

Moey provides not only recipes for such dishes as New Year’s Cakes (niangao) and Traditional Chinese Jiaozi — dumplings which are popular in northern China — but she also gives insight into the significance of the food, as well as describes traditions for the celebration and their meaning.

"It is everybody’s wish to start off the new year well, a desire matched equally by the Chinese love of tradition, symbolism, and ritual," Moey states. She continues by detailing the preparations made in anticipation of the new year: The house is cleaned and decorated with symbols of wealth, luck, and happiness; people shop for food and gifts; debts are settled so as to start off the year with a clean slate; and a big feast, a reunion dinner for the whole family, is created for New Year’s Eve. All of this activity is in anticipation of the New Year, and when it arrives, noisy and bright firecrackers are used to drive away any evil spirits.

According to Moey, "The Chinese believe that the mood of the first day sets the rhythm for the rest of the year," and therefore, everyone is on their best behavior.

Highlights of the first 15 days of the New Year are described in detail in Chinese Feasts & Festivals. For instance, on day seven, also known as Man’s Day or Renri, the favored dish is fish, while on day nine, tributes are made to commemorate the birthday of the Jade Emperor. Throughout the first 15 days, children pay respects to elders and in turn receive lucky red envelopes filled with money and everyone visits with friends and relatives, "except the third day, which is considered unlucky."

Throughout Moey’s description of the New Year’s preparations and celebrations, food plays a starring role. Not only are elaborate feasts prepared at this time, but food is also given as gifts or as offerings to the gods. Moey recommends her recipe for Dried Sweet Barbecued Pork as "an excellent Chinese New Year gift." The recipe, like all the others in Chinese Feasts & Festivals, gives very detailed instructions to make the dish, with ingredients listed in both metric and English units.

While the barbecue pork recipe has ingredients that should be readily available in grocery stores, other recipes in the book — such as Festive Arrowhead Stir-fry, which calls for Yunnan ham and arrowhead bulbs — may require a trip to an Asian market.

The book’s penultimate section, "Vital Ingredients," is a handy reference guide to some of the more unusual items needed to create the recipes. It provides details on the ingredients and their uses as well as substitutions for harder-to-find items — for example, tapioca balls may be used in a recipe instead of sago beads, a starchy item used in Asian desserts.

The information and recipes for the Lunar New Year are only a small taste of what Chinese Feasts & Festivals has to offer. Details on four other festivals — Dragon Boat, Hungry Ghost, Mooncake, and Winter Solstice — are also included, as well as many recipes to create fantastic feasts to celebrate reunions, weddings, anniversaries, or other family affairs. "The food served on these occasions is a combination of symbols and sumptuous flavors, a spiritual celebration and an earthly pleasure," says Moey.

As the Year of the Tiger draws to its end, why not take a cue from Chinese Feasts & Festivals and be ready for a new year full of possibilities with a clean house and a delicious, traditional Chinese meal shared with family and friends?

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Chinese Feasts & Festivals: A Cookbook

By S.C. Moey

Periplus Editions, 2006

Hardcover, 144 pages, $24.95