Monday marks the start of the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Dragon.  Chinese New Year celebrations, like many other holidays in the culture, are centred around food.  The amount of food one consumes is almost like…Christmas in western cultures.  It all begins on New Year’s Eve.  While many people have huge dinners at home, many more go out.  As we noted last year, many restaurants (especially in cities with large Chinese communities like Toronto and Vancouver) offer multi-course, prix fixe dinners (and often no a la carte).

Luo Han Jai

On the first day of New Year, many people abstain from meat, especially for lunch.  There are generally two beliefs as to why – one is that Day One is a “no killing” day, while the other is because people tend to eat a lot, especially a lot of meat during the multi-day celebrations.  The former was what my family told me and the one I choose to believe, since vegetarian food can still be quite filling.  Instead, they eat luo han jai (or simply, jai) also known as “buddha’s delight.”  While is technically anything meat-free, what most people consider jai is made by stir-frying an abundance of ingredients including snow peas, tofu, bamboo shoots, lotus root and wood ear (a kind of fungus/mushroom).  There are also people who “cheat” by eating “fake meat” made out of soy-based products which is, unless cooked by an expert, gross.  Who really wants soggy, sweet and sour sauce covered tofu skin?

Large salad from Whole Foods – this one has kale, bulgar, tabbouleh, quinoa and more

My family doesn’t fully observe this tradition (more on what my family does next week) and as I said earlier, I don’t really understand how jai is any lighter, considering how it’s made. If one were to truly eat lightly, congee with vegetables might be a better route.  Or, do as I would – raid the salad bar at Whole Foods.

First image courtesy of Hot Food Porn

Second Image by author