The Chinese New Year celebration was the biggest holiday in my family. We’d pay the traditional homage to our ancestors by burning incense at the small family altar that stood at one end of the living room. My job was to rub honey or sugar water over the kitchen god poster on the kitchen wall so he could report only sweet and good things to the Jade Emperor in heaven. Then the New Year’s food preparation would begin.
At the New Year table, certain foods were always served because they symbolise particular good and noteworthy aspirations. Fish, which represents abundance and good fortune, was essential. Chicken, a symbol of fortune, was served because what good are abundance and good fortune without the time to enjoy them? My mother, being a good and faithful Buddhist, always served apples, symbolic of peace, which is what she wished for us and the world.