New Taipei Mayor Hou Youyi today (19th) gathered around the stove with new residents from various countries in advance, and shared their hometown dishes for Chinese New Year.

(Photo by reporter He Yuhua)

[Reporter He Yuhua/New Taipei Report] On the last day of work before the Lunar New Year, New Taipei City Mayor Hou Youyi gathered around the stove with new residents from various countries in advance today (19th) to share the hometown delicacies of different countries. The cake symbolizes "good luck" and "stepping up", and is a must-eat food for Chinese New Year. I hope it will bring good luck to everyone and celebrate the new year together.

Hou Youyi shared the New Year’s food from his hometown with new residents from various countries around the stove. He brought home-style radish cake to share. He said that when he was a child, he liked the New Year the most. When his grandma and mother were busy peeling radishes and grinding rice, he would eat He would stand by and wait for the scent of radish cake to come out of the steamer, and he couldn’t help drooling. His father once told him that the steamed radish cake would be dense and delicious only if the shredded radish was mixed evenly with glutinous rice water; The most important thing is to worship the ancestors and gods first, and then the descendants can eat it, which represents respect for the sky and compassion for others.

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Bian Rouyun from Vietnam, who has been rooted in Taiwan for 22 years, is now a master of 3D jelly art creation. She has won the champion of the Busan International Baking Competition in South Korea and the gold medal in the Belgian Sightseeing and Food Festival. From the first day to the seventh day of the new year, after the New Year’s Eve, they will go to the nearby temple to worship and break some tree buds to go home, which symbolizes new life; the bitter gourd soup with broth that every family must eat means that all hardships will be rewarded.

Mu Yani, who came to Taiwan from Indonesia to work as a caregiver and later became a Taiwanese daughter-in-law, said that during Ramadan before the Chinese New Year, Muslims will fast and abstain from sex. Zong, bless each other with new hope.

Zhang Liying, who used to be a flight attendant for Myanmar Mandalay Airlines, landed in New Taipei City for her love. She specially made Myanmar shredded coconut rice balls. She said that Burmese people are used to eating rice balls during the Chinese New Year, hoping for auspicious reunion.

There is also Noriko Yongye, who is originally from Japan. She said that on the eve of Japanese New Year’s Eve, the bells of Buddhist temples all over the country will ring, and everyone will go to shrines or Buddhist temples to pay homage. Layers of blessing and happiness are stacked, which is called Osechi Cuisine.

He Yanzhen from Lianhua County, Jiangxi Province, Mainland China. The famous Chinese New Year dish in his hometown is lotus blood duck, which is made by stir-frying with spices and duck meat.