Lucky Lunar New Year foods: Which dishes to order and where to find them in metro Phoenix

Bahar Anooshahr, Arizona Republic
·4 min read

The Lunar New Year is one of the most important annual celebrations for East and Southeast Asian communities, including Chinese, who call it the Spring Festival or Chūnjié; Vietnamese, who call it Tết and Koreans, who call it Seollal.

Each culture is rich with unique Lunar New Year traditions and foods, which play a big part in the 15-day celebration, as certain dishes and ingredients are believed to bring good luck, wealth, health and longevity in the coming year.

This year, the Year of the Rabbit starts on Jan. 22 and Chinese restaurants around metro Phoenix are preparing to offer special dishes. Chinese culture uses homophone or words that sound alike to attach symbolic significance. For example, the words fish and surplus sound the same. So eating fish — the last course of the New Year's eve meal — is said to bring a year of prosperity.

Other traditional foods include glutinous rice balls, which signify togetherness; dumplings (or jiaozi), sometimes stuffed with a clean coin for good luck. Jiaozi is homophonous with a word that means the moment between the last hour of the old year and the first hour of the new year. The word for shrimp in Cantonese is ha, resembling laughter. Egg dumplings resemble gold ingots and noodles signify silver chains. Finally, oysters with the homonym houxi mean good business. Good-fortune fruits include oranges, pomegranates and other citrus.

Here are seven lucky foods to help ring in the Lunar New Year, and metro Phoenix Chinese restaurants where you can find them.Xīnnián kuàilè!

Dig in:A Cantonese duck recipe and Phoenix's Chinese restaurant golden age

China Village

Fish symbolize abundance and wealth, because they swim in schools and their scales resemble coins. You can order a whole fish, steamed or crispy, priced according to size at China Village. The restaurant has been open since 1985, serving Chinese American and Cantonese classics. Add a pair of egg rolls, which resemble gold bars, for extra prosperity.

Details: 2710 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix. 602-956-9840, chinavillagerestaurantaz.business.site.

A deeper dive: Lunar New Year symbolic foods are based on Chinese homophones

Mekong Palace

Ducks sit waiting to be ordered at Mekong Palace.
Ducks sit waiting to be ordered at Mekong Palace.

Both the supermarket and the restaurant are getting into the spirit with festive Lunar New Year decor, candy and traditional foods to help foster good luck. The restaurant serves both dim sum and an extensive menu of Hong Kong-style dishes to share as a family. Pick up a whole soy sauce chicken from the butcher shop, as serving the whole bird represents unity.

Details: 66 S. Dobson Road, 120, Mesa. 480-962-0493, mekongpalace.com.

For subscribers: How dim sum traditions are changing at metro Phoenix restaurants

Chou's Kitchen

At Chou's Kitchen, prepare for a fascinating trip to Dongbei, the Manchurian region in northeast China, where the emphasis is on wheat, not rice. So you’ll see snacks like the irresistible beef pies, green onion pancakes and fresh-made dumplings filled with pork, shrimp and chives.
At Chou's Kitchen, prepare for a fascinating trip to Dongbei, the Manchurian region in northeast China, where the emphasis is on wheat, not rice. So you’ll see snacks like the irresistible beef pies, green onion pancakes and fresh-made dumplings filled with pork, shrimp and chives.

Kick off Chinese New Year with handmade jiaozi, dumplings that resemble yuanbao, the metal ingots used as currency in ancient China. Order jiaozi and other dumplings, stir-fried noodles, fish plates and northern Chinese cuisine from Chou's Kitchen, an East Valley favorite in Chandler.

Details: 910 N. Alma School Road, Chandler. 480-821-2888, chouskitchen.com.

Shaanxi Garden

Braised Chicken with Noodles at Shaanxi Garden.
Braised Chicken with Noodles at Shaanxi Garden.

Shaanxi Garden specializes in homemade biang biang, long noodles and broad noodles, which represent silver chains. Add some fried wontons to invite wealth in the New Year.

Details: 67 N. Dobson Road, 109, Mesa. 480-733-8888. shaanxibiangbiang.com

Great Wall Cuisine

Scallops are round in shape, like coins, while oysters symbolize good luck. From dry scallops and oysters to lotus delicacies, Great Wall Cuisine offers plenty of traditional fare for New Year celebrations. This longstanding Cantonese restaurant and banquet hall will also host a special Lunar New Year celebration on Jan. 22 with lion dancers and culinary specials.

Details: 3446 W. Camelback Road, #155, Phoenix. 602-973-1112, search 'Great Wall Cuisine' on Facebook.

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Szechuan Cuisine

Dan dan noodle at Szechuan Cuisine in Glendale.
Dan dan noodle at Szechuan Cuisine in Glendale.

Formerly known as Z's Chinese Cuisine, this Glendale restaurant serves a mix of Sichuan, Cantonese and American Chinese foods. Lotus root symbolize abundance, and at Szechuan Cuisine, you'll find a menu that includes Chongqing spicy fish, wonton soup and shrimp with lotus root.

Details: 5158 W. Olive Ave., Glendale. 623-937-2299, szechuancuisine.us.

Donut Parlor

This family-owned shop in Tempe serves freshly made Lunar New Year doughnuts. The limited-edition treats are called "good fortune bundle" and include one fortune cookie doughnut and an almond cookie doughnut.

Details: 1245 W. Elliot Road, Suite 103, Tempe. 480-570-1900, donutparlor.com.

Priscilla Totiyapungprasert and Samantha Incorvaia contributed to this article.

Reach the reporter at BAnooshahr@azcentral.com. Follow @banooshahr on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Chinese restaurants serve lucky Lunar New Year foods