Chinese New Year Recipes

Plan your celebrations with my Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese New Year recipes, from dishes for reunion dinner to vegetarian favourites, Nyonya soups and festive cookies. Whether you’re feeding the extended family or filling a few biscuit tins, you’ll find plenty to cook and share.

Every family has its own favourites, shaped by regional roots, dialect heritage and recipes passed down through the generations. This collection includes traditional Chinese New Year food, Peranakan family dishes and other local recipes that make a lovely addition to your festive table.

Chinese New Year Food in Singapore and Malaysia

The reunion dinner on Chinese New Year’s Eve is one of the most important family meals of the celebration. Beyond that evening come visits to relatives and friends, more shared meals and plenty of opportunities to open the biscuit tins.

In Singapore and Malaysia, Chinese New Year food reflects generations of local cooking and cultural exchange. You’ll find Chinese dishes alongside Nyonya favourites, with ingredients and preparations that differ between families.

Yusheng, also known as yee sang, and the communal prosperity toss called lo hei are familiar parts of the celebrations. But the rest of the meal can take many forms, from a steamboat gathering to a table of individually prepared dishes. There’s room for family tradition and whatever everyone looks forward to eating.

Reunion Dinner Recipes: Fish, Chicken and Soup

For a meal with several dishes to share, choose a mixture of flavours and textures. A richly seasoned chicken dish, a tangy fish dish and a comforting soup each bring something different to the table.

These recipes are a good place to start:

Ikan chuan chuan – fried fish served with a savoury, tangy sauce of salted soy beans, tamarind and aromatics. This Nyonya favourite is also enjoyed in Eurasian households. You can use a whole fish or fillets, depending on how you’d like to serve it.
Kam heong chicken – an aromatic chicken dish with curry leaves, curry powder, dried shrimp and a deeply savoury sauce. It’s a flavour-packed option for a festive meal, especially with rice.
Itek tim – a Nyonya duck soup with salted vegetables, preserved plums and dried tamarind slices. Its distinctive sourness makes a welcome change alongside richer dishes, and it’s a festive favourite in many Peranakan families.

For another soup option, try my Eurasian prawn ball soup. The prawn balls are homemade, and the soup has a lighter flavour that works well as part of a larger meal. It’s a recipe shared with me by my old friend Hyacinth, and one I’ve treasured ever since.

Vegetarian Chinese New Year Recipes

Vegetarian food has its own place in Chinese New Year celebrations. Some families observe a vegetarian meal on the first day of the new year, and lo han chai is a particularly familiar choice.

My lo han chai, or Buddha’s Delight, is a vegan braise with a variety of vegetables and ingredients such as dried shiitake mushrooms, lily buds, tofu and glass noodles. Fermented bean curd adds depth to the sauce, while the different ingredients give each mouthful its own texture.

You’ll also see the name written as lo han jai or luo han zhai. Recipes vary between households, so the combination of vegetables and dried ingredients isn’t always the same.

Serve it with steamed rice as a meal in its own right, or include it among the dishes on your reunion dinner table.

Rice for the Festive Table

With several richly flavoured dishes to share, steamed white rice is often all you need. It gives everyone something to enjoy with the sauces and broths.

If you’d like another option, my Chinese egg fried rice is a straightforward recipe with eggs, garlic and spring onions. It works as an accompaniment to a larger spread or as a simple lunch between festive gatherings.

Not every meal over Chinese New Year needs to involve every pan you own.

Chinese New Year Cookies and Kuih

The visiting and snacking are part of the pleasure, and a homemade selection of Chinese New Year cookies is always lovely to share.

In Singapore and Malaysia, our festive biscuit tins often include treats enjoyed across several communities and celebrations. Pineapple tarts, peanut cookies and crisp kuih rose are good examples.

Pineapple tarts, or kuih tart – crumbly pastry with a sweet pineapple filling. My recipe comes from my granny and includes eggless and vegan versions.
Biskut kacang – peanut cookies, also known as biskut Mazola, with a crumbly texture and plenty of nutty flavour.
Kuih rose – crisp, flower-shaped rosette cookies, also called kuih loyang or kuih goyang. These are made with a patterned mould and fried, so they’re a useful addition when the oven is occupied with other baking.

If you’re making pineapple tarts, start with my homemade pineapple jam filling. It’s cooked down until thick and lightly flavoured with cinnamon and cloves. Preparing the filling separately lets you divide the work into more manageable stages.

Planning Your Chinese New Year Menu

For a small gathering, you could put together a generous meal with:

One fish or chicken dish: ikan chuan chuan or kam heong chicken.
One soup: itek tim or prawn ball soup.
A vegetable dish: lo han chai.
Rice: steamed rice or egg fried rice.
Something sweet afterwards: pineapple tarts, peanut cookies or kuih rose.

For a vegetarian meal, build around lo han chai, steamed rice and another vegetable or tofu dish that your family enjoys.

Think about the cooking as well as the eating. Choose a mixture of dishes that simmer, braise or cook quickly, so they aren’t all competing for the same wok just before dinner. And spread the festive baking over separate sessions if you’re making several kinds of cookies.

For a wider collection of dishes from East and Southeast Asia, visit my Chinese New Year recipes on LinsFood.

Have a family recipe you’d like to share with me? I’d love to hear from you. And if you’re looking for something you don’t see here, just let me know.